Which Isopods and Springtails Would You Trust as Cleaner-Crews with Your Tarantulas?

EricSJCA

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Messages
32
I have thousands of springtails, starter culture sold to me by as Tropical Pink Springtails (Sinella curviseta) by Cape Cod Roaches (though none of them seem to be 3mm, and I don't see any pink)
They thrive in the coco "Eco-Earth" substrates with my roaches, and make a modest living hanging around the "water coolers" in three terrariums of adult Brachypelma albopilosum (Honduran Curly Hair) and in three sling enclosures of Grammostola pulchripes (Chaco Golden Knee). No problems there, but they aren't that numerous there and aren't all over the cages.

In my two Poecilotheria metallica enclosures, both the springtails and isopods (Porcellio scaber) swarm throughout the substrate. When the arboreal T's are feeding, the springtails even climb and gather around like hungry jackals. I've watched a P. metallica flick a springtail off a pedipalp in annoyance. I got really concerned when the two P. metallica molted, and it seemed like springtails were gathering like vultures, but everything turned out fine.

I've been collecting pillbugs (Armadillidium vulgare), hoping they would do as well in the drier terrestrial enclosures as the Porcellio scaber do in the moister arboreal enclosures, but then I read this:
"During social interactions, individual woodlice can even cannibalize weaker individuals from the same or different species if the prey is injured or caught in the middle of a molting period."
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Armadillidium_vulgare/
What do you think? Can I trust my molting T's with Armadillidium vulgare?

By the way, this site has an amazing amount of information on those isopods and these:
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Porcellio_scaber/
 

Bugmom

Arachnolord
Joined
May 28, 2012
Messages
646
I highly highly doubt that pillbugs or any other isopod will munch on a molting T. They want decaying matter, which a molted T is not. The only time I've had issues with pillbugs in an enclosure is when the pillbugs were ate by the spider :rofl:
 

EricSJCA

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Messages
32
I know this is an old thread, but in case anyone else comes across it, there's a guy named Adam on this thread,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1772022706363299/permalink/2034489673449933/
who says the following:

The only isopod I trust with my inverts is P. Dilatatus. They seem to be able to subsist on the least amount of food, and get big enough that they are eaten before they overpopulate....
I have 29 centipedes, spanning 11 different species, in with dilatatus. Been using them for over a year. I feel pretty safe saying they're pretty safe...​
 

Gaherp

Arachnofarmer
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 27, 2007
Messages
218
Have not had an issue with CR Dwarf purple isopods or the dwarf whites in my T enclosures. Now the large ones we have native to Ga. have nibbled on micro gecko and dart frog toes in the past. This is the main reason I purged any larger isopods from any setups that had them. The other insects I use are springtails and have never seen an issue involving them.
 
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