I didn’t know keeping isopods as pets existed, I think I may have found another hobby to get into along with keeping tarantulas, one of my favorite tarantula RU-vid channels posted about this video and it got me interested in keeping a colony of isopods for myself as well
Thanks for posting these videos. I found some rollie pollies in a flower pot gifted to me by a neighbor was keeping outside and (gently as I could) placed them in side my moss terrarium. The information you've provided has helped me adapt that reappropreted fish bowl into a more comfy place for it's three new residents.
As I only acquired mine for CUC originally, but decided to house the extra my friend sent, I made the enclosure from a clear plastic box which had pastries in. Made loads of holes with a needle. Moisture gradient from corner to corner. My friend sent substrate and spagnum moss with the critters so I was sorted for that. I added cork bark, cuttlefish and maple leaf litter which I'd baked. Now my only worry is they might be too well 😳😜
I keep Isopods to use as Clean Up Crew for my Leopard Geckos Bioactive Enclosures ❤. I find the Powder Orange and Blue are suitable for Tropical or Semi Arid Environments. They breed fast too.
I'm getting some rubber ducky isopods soon and I am so excited, the person who is giving them to me recommended your videos and they have been so helpful! Thank you!!
Thank you Russ, because of your collab with Clint, and now because of your own videos I have just ordered 5 species of Isopod. I think I am going to go with 5.5 gallon aquariums with custom made acrylic lids. $11 a pop at petco right now. I intent to set everything but the dwarf whites up as a display. The dwarf whites I got really just for dart frog CUC duty
I have mine in a pretty big tote because I have a bigger colony of them, I do work with some breeders (like ones that are slightly mutant or have beautiful color and genetics). Gotta love em their very nice lil pets. Most of mine really like moss and wood I’ve found out, I’m pretty sure they love eating the bacteria off of the strictures.
I have "spilled" isopods a few times so I only use plastic boxes with locking lids! I do like the acrylic ones you showed; I'll look into those. Take care of yourself, Rus. You look a little pekid. :(
Hey Rus! I have several isopod cultures and just today noticed a baby porcellio dilitatus in my culture! I am very excited. This has prompted me to wonder how long it takes for different isopods to grow and mature individually. I know some species breed faster than others, but how fast is that? I can’t find much online. I think it’d be awesome if you could do a video talking about each species amd how fast they grow and mature. Thank you! I appreciate your content and your help. Keep doing what you do. :)
Hi russ. I like to use shoe storage containers with the hinged lid from the container store and I add 1inch vent cover to each end. If I could add a pic I would. There a little pricey at 17$ each but are nice looking and a little cheaper then the tarantula cribs enclosure. Not that I dont love the tarantula cribs enclosure. Because I do. 😁
I prefer using containers with gasket seals, when I kept dart frogs I had fungus gnats get into my dwarf white culture because I was using containers like the sterlite tubs that arent air tight. I don't use open holes for vents either, since the container I use is thick plastic I used a woodboring drill bit to make a series of holes in a line, and then laid some insect proof mesh over, and then used aluminum duct tape around the edges of the vent. Idk if you've talked about this in any previous vids but could you talk about when do you know its time to upgrade your isopods to a larger container?
I have used the method you describe as well. It can help keep fungus gnats out in my experience as well. I have found that fungus gnats disappear or are reduced to very small numbers over time, and that some of the most open ventilation seems to have fewer problems with fungus gnats. I have discussed that question in some videos in the pass l, but I will try to cover it again. 👍👍🏽👍👍🏽
I ant an acrylic enclosure just for display. But the 2 dollar stackable bins u find in Walmart are the way to go! Im going to Walmart in a few days just so I can split my colonie for the first time. Im super excited!
Great video. You have a lot of knowledge and I am glad that you share it with others. I am a beginner breeder and while I am watching your videos I'm learning a lot of new things about these animals.👍
@@Aquarimax Dwarf whites and powder orange. Along with some temperare springtails of course! I met a local breeder who has a couple other species I'm debating over but I'm telling myself to take it slow. Haha plus, I actually have a use for the whites in my currently seeded bioactive viv.
Iv also raised scorpions lizards snakes me and my buddy had a pet store I was a partner but I only dealt with snakes tarantulas scorpions most of lizards like bearded dragons and such corn snakes and a couple of smaller boa species like green tree boas. We had zebra beauty tarantulas Cobalt blues Goliath bird eaters and just Rose hair and pink toe tarantulas as well I've always been fascinated with creatures
Are they Dairy Cows or Milkbacks, or another type? The first two may overrun a planted terrarium pretty quickly. The other types are a little less prolific and could work better. Armadillidium nasatum or one of the Porcellio scaber morphs could be good options too. What is the ventilation like?
I actually have a couple of vivariums in 5 & 10 gallon aquariums. Both have isopods (Locally caught. No idea what species though.) as some of their inhabitants. And I just got a new 10 gallon today exclusively for isopods.
They. can make good enclosures…silicone can male an escape route though, and depending on the lid, too much ventilation can make it challenging to keep up with moisture needs. Other than that, they can be great!
@@Aquarimax Rus, I am impressed how aware you are - recognizing this (my) comment. You do a great job. If I could - I would love to chat with you about biodiversity in bioactive enclosures ... Springtails ✅ Isopods ✅, but what about introducing bacteria, fungi, other species like earthworms, millipedes, snails/slugs, silverfishes ... Are isopods and springtails just the best bioactive-clean-up-crew-team ? Or could you add to that team ??? Well, I tend to write too much, sorry.
I just bought 20 dalmatian isopds from Amazon. Should be getting them next week or so. I also got some food, small wood, and substrate for them I'm going to the store tomorrow to get a container to house them in. Any extra tips for caring for them? Love your videos, have a great day every day!!!
I'm new to the hobby, actually don't have any yet. The only enclosure option I have currently is a 10 gallon aquarium, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to fix ventilation issues with it since I don't have a drill and it's a glass tank... any suggestions are welcome.
@Aquarimax It came with 2 lid options, one is a metal grate, the other is a slightly beveled plastic lid with a place for a light, and a notch cut out of the top (by the manufacturers). Edit: The isopods I'm researching are Armadillidium granulatum and Armadillidium maculatum "zebra". By this point I've already watched both of your videos on these isopods.
@@Strix1213 the grate lid is probably best, but just make sure to keep their hydration station moist. That should do it! FWIW, I think you’ll end up seeing the zebras more of those two species.
i want to have isopods in a vivarium later on, my boyfriend is getting my a tank for christmas but is an open aquarium i planed to have only plants in, so i am curious as if they would get out of it if it does not have a lid or any climbing surface, just plain old glass.
Hi! Do i have to worry about any sort of toxicity from the super cheap plastic containers? I need to ship mine soon to my new home and I purchased dollar store containers but not sure if there is outgassing or other contamination risks? Thank you!
What do you recommend to keep dwarf whites in? I ordered a culture of 20 and spring tails. They are my first isopods and I want to make sure I don’t kill them!! Some of them will be going into my gecko enclosure!
With just 20, you might want to start out somewhere between a 16 oz deli cupnand a 6-quart tub. Low ventilation, warming temps (75-82 F) and 2” of substrate. They should do great for you!
Hey Rus! Hope you are doing well. I have had hermit crabs for quite a long time and have been looking into adding some isopods into their tank once I have an isopod enclosure established and running well. As a first-timer watching your videos, I am really enjoying your content so far since you do a great job explaining things for beginners such as myself; I also really appreciate all the links you put in the description. In any case, I was wondering if you were familiar with having isopods in hermit crab enclosures? I have done a fair bit of research, and it seems that isopod species that are either: 1. fast reproducing, or 2. protein loving, are NOT suitable to put in a hermit crab tank (eating a molting crab is a significant concern). Cubaris murina and Armadillidium seem to be good options, but I wanted to know your take on something like this and what species you would recommend for this situation? Thanks a bunch, Eric
Armadillidium seem like a great option, and I expect Canaria Miriam would work too, although I have not kept that species. Fun fact: when I started researching isopods years ago, they were commonly kept in two types of vivaria: dart frog habitats and hermit crab habitats.
@@Aquarimax That's awesome! I can't believe I've been missing out w/ isos in my crab tank this entire time haha. Thank you again for your recommendations 👍
Is a fairly tight fitting lid ok given the springtails could potentially try and escape? Or is that a non issue? Also could one of the same totes work for springtails?
You can use similar totes for springtails. I haven’t found it necessary to try to prevent springtail escapes , as the springtails typically kept with isopods need quite a bit of humidity to survive.
Looks like Isonova has gone out of business (at least their web site isn't working). Do you have a recommended replacement other than the spider enclosure?
I have some pocellio laevis caramel, and they don't seem to be breeding. What might you say is essential for them to breed? heat, substrate, protein? I don't have a big collection of isopods, but it just seems like they are some of my slowest in breeding. Thanks!
@@Aquarimax , thanks. I hope so. Any specific food that you would suggest other than fish food or fish pellets? I have given them protein and am waiting :) I'll let you know if they do surprise me with babies.
I clicked on the isoviva link and it didn't link to site. I tried to google them, but didn't see anything show up that I could find, is this company still in business?
Critter keepers tend to dry out rather quickly, but that might work if you provided lots of leaf litter on top, since the leaf litter isn’t just substrate, it is their main food source.
This is probably a silly question, but I’m new to the hobby…. Are Monkai (spelling?) new babies of ANY/ALL isopods, or only of the particular species/morph you showed/mentioned???
Here you go: aquarimax.creator-spring.com/listing/get-10-reasons-i-love-isopods?country=US¤cy=USD&nohelpkit=1&product=2&tsmac=google&tsmic=youtube&YT-AGNkefCKpWYI5SteUuHx3qEVRJdyGLzgqb22nm08s4_ZBQrD80QmEKWasWQmuQCg-VqmDXcx3m1LpXVqm_nlX6OHeHFOv2VDKG3hDDFnY0GObxZj88G0rGhK7__UReTBpuEl10e4X6SkLQ1F6UdHvy2z2kLG6bBEE7adr1gSgf-Ht-1numEpfY4JDTx5FGm_kJYMyJiZmqCpp7CNQnFVoPQOEwcwC1E%3D&variation=2122&view_as=USA
@@Aquarimax i do. Ive been trying to add more to outcompete. They haven't become too concerning in number but I want to make sure it doesn't get out of control.
I know I'm a bit late to the party but would an exo terra faunarium be suitable for something like a powder blue, or would they be able to easily escape through the vent holes?
Are there any species of isopods that don't need ventilation and can survive in an fully enclosed ecosphere/vivarium and long as there are enough plants producing oxygen?
(P.S, the mantis doesn't eat them for two reasons, one, they taste nasty, two, they tend to spend most of the time burrowed, and the mantis likes to stay at the top of the enclosure.)
@@fatdamon4167 Nope! It's a glass container I bought from Petco. I keep it bioactive with live plants, so the oxygen production probably helps. But regardless, there's cracks where the door hinges are, and little vents below them, plus the top is a screen mesh that has an optional plastic cover that covers *most* of the top. There's still a section of screen that doesn't get covered by the lid, for air circulation. The openings are big enough for fruit flies to squeeze through, so I find them crawling on me in my bed sometimes lol
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