Breeding Isopods

[nightanole]

So i have 2 dozen pill bugs. They are in a tupaware container with a lid. Media is 50/50 peatmoss/compost. I sprinkled some wheat bran from the super bedding, and put down a layer of live oak leaves. Media is very moist.

So what is next? Do i feed them lizard poop or something till i see a sea of mites that are really pill bugs? These will just be for cleaners, not food.

 

[jamest0o0]

Are these just an outdoor species or do you know in particular? I have like 10 different species. Just got some new ones today actually.

They love cucumbers and mushrooms. People say fish flakes help a lot as well. I'd just throw old veggie scraps and whatever in there. They mostly eat decaying leaf litter. If the environment is right, their population will explode.

 

[nightanole]

Just the grey outdoor ones that can curl up completely into a round ball, not the semi flat ones.

 

[insectovore]

I don't know how fast they will breed. I have some of those but mostly the flatter kind. I put some untreated boards in weeds and the boards hold moisture under them. Can usually catch quite a few at a time.

 

[jamest0o0]

That works amazingly for catching them^

How's it going with them OP? I just throw leaf litter, chunk of carrot, cuttlebone and the occasional dead feeder or random protein source in with mine(which doesn't seem necessary, but it helps). My Isos and springtails that live in my snail bin grow so fast and out of control too for whatever reason.

Random thought... Do we know if isopods have a positive calcium : phosphorus ratio? I know their shells are supposed to be high in calcium similar to a snail.

 

[nightanole]

I have a few babies!

I took a few skoops of my tegu dirt. So i have a layer of peat/dirt, some cutt up oat leaves, and another layer of peat/dirt. I also sprinkled a little gut load in it.