Will isopods eat my snails

[biggus dickus]

After having no luck in my neighbourhood I found some grove snails in a local classified ad.

Ive never kept snails long term before, but they sound pretty similar to keeping isopods and millipedes, which I have.

I know snails need a clean up crew. Should I use isopods for this or just mites+springtails? I call my isopod tank the cannibal tribe cause they eat everything including each other. So I am worried those isopods may attack the snails. Im cool with them eating the eggs.

Also, can I keep multpile snail species together, and if I provide dead leaves do they still need greens.

Any other tips appreciated, thanks

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

A lot of people keep isopods with snails without issues (the slime probably protects them from getting chewed on for the most part, most arthropods that aren't specialized snail eaters don't like getting their mouthparts gummed up).

The exception may be if they're deprived of protein and/or overpopulated in the snail enclosure, so it should be fine if you provide protein sources and don't let them get out of control.

 

[biggus dickus]

Hmm okay. The more protein i give the faster the isopods will reproduce, so ill just have to cull them periodically.

Also, can I keep multpile snail species together, and if I provide dead leaves do they still need greens.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Considering that isopods are usually fine with snails I imagine you'll notice if they're getting out of control well before they become a problem, and even if they do start nibbling on the snails its unlikely they'll be harmed if you intervene quickly.

Some people recommend against mixing snail species because they can be irritated by other species and their slime, but people mix closely related species (like grove snails, Cornu aspersum, and Helix sp.) without issues.

 

[Wolf135]

Most likely not, if ants have a hard time taking down slugs then I would assume isopods are no match.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Most likely not, if ants have a hard time taking down slugs then I would assume isopods are no match.

Slugs like that do tend to produce thicker, often chemically protected mucus in larger quantities compared to most snails since mucus is their primary defense. But yeah, the mucus is probably why isopods normally leave snails alone.

 

[biggus dickus]

I had a vhs showing that exact thing when I was a kid lol

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

If you don't properly treat materials the local land snails get in the isopod enclosures and breed like crazy (drying out to eliminate pests does not work well with snails since they can sit back in their shells for months).

 

[paumotu]

ive heard some say more protein-hungry species of the glass snails (oxycheilus?) can be inclined to snack on mancae when their numbers are high enough