Spanish Isopods

[jamest0o0]

Some of these can reach almost 2". They seem to be new to the US and are very expensive atm(some almost $200/dozen), but apparently aren't too difficult to breed. With their shells they'd make a gutloadable calcium rich feeder. Plus they look pretty cool. Anyone have thoughts of trying these guys out or have experience with them?

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Are they also called Giant Orange Isopods? That is one of the results I get when I search Spanish Isopod.

 

[jamest0o0]

That is one of them, but those aren't as large as some of the others

 

[Longhorn1234]

Porcellio scaber "orange" or the Spanish orange doesn't get big and reproduces very slow. They are smaller than giant canyons.
I think you're talking about Porcellio sp. Seville and Porcellio expansus. I know P. Seville is quite prolific but like you said they are expensive so if you want a decent size colony to start is going to cost you. Honestly I would just wait until the price drops once more people in the hobby are breeding them, unless you have the money to spare haha

 

[jamest0o0]

@Longhorn1234 I agree I was just seeing if anyone else happened to work with these or planned on using them down the road. Maybe one day they'll become a staple in the reptile hobby who knows lol.

Btw I was mainly looking at P. Hoffmannseggi p expansus and p magnifis (I think that's the spelling at least). There are others too, but those I have read about so far.

 

[Longhorn1234]

Well the thing within this hobby is that nobody wants to try anything new, which is understandable. So, I doubt anyone would use them down the road. Maybe you'll be a pioneer lol. But I agree with you, they are underrated since they are high in calcium, gutloadable, and very easy to care for. Isopods and roaches are almost no maintenance feeders.

Hoffmanseggi get huge! I've been trying to get my hands on some of them but they are expensive. Hopefully the price drops down soon, otherwise I don't know if I'll be able to wait for that long and might just end up doing an impulse buy haha

 

[jamest0o0]

I can agree with that, this hobby definitely has some stubborn people lol. All good though, I guess some are just iffy about doing something different with their beloved animals which is totally understandable. It just takes time though, I don't think people will start using them overnight, but years down the road? Maybe!

The hoffmannseggi are awesome, I'm tempted to try them, but I would hate to screw up and kill any of them.

 

[Longhorn1234]

Yeah, it will take time but hopefully one day.

Yeah, Spanish isopods have very specific care requirements that I would be sad/mad if I lost an expensive colony. I've heard they need plenty of room and good airflow ventilation. Also, they seem to like it their substrate dry, with a moist side of course. That is the complete opposite of the most common kept isopods in the reptile hobby, which is moist and with a few holes for ventilation haha.

 

[jamest0o0]

Yeah the main points I read about them are
1)more space
2)ventilation
3)more dry conditions/low-medium humidity

None of this would be too difficult, it'd just be annoying misting part of the bin every day since proper ventilation would cause it to dry out pretty fast.

One thing that makes me wonder though, they say the same thing about giant canyon isos, but I keep mine in a very humid bin, airtight, with no airholes. A member here gave me that idea for keeping surinams and green banana roaches and it works great. I've had thousands of giant canyons reproduce in very humid conditions. I wouldn't want to risk it with these expensive isos, but just thought that was interesting.

 

[Longhorn1234]

Giant canyon seem to be more hardy and the Spanish isopods a little more delicate. I keep my giant canyons in moist substrate and with a couple of holes for ventilation and they are reproducing well. I also have some of them in my surinam bin and once that bin dried out, then stayed bone dry for like a week or two and the isopods and surinams were still doing fine. I've read that giant canyon are more tolerant of drier conditions but never assumed to that extent haha

 

[dshuld]

@Longhorn1234 do you have any info on keeping porcellio sp. sevilla?

 

[Longhorn1234]

@Longhorn1234 do you have any info on keeping porcellio sp. sevilla?

Care for them is similar to other isopods. Give them substrate and leaf litter. Coco fiber is probably the best and give them dead dry hardwood leaves (oak, maple, magnolia). They prefer their substrate on the dry side, but make sure you keep a moist side. Also provide more ventilation than you would for other isopods. Cork bark or wood is good for hiding and stuff again make sure is from hardwoods or cork bark. They'll breed at room temperature fine, but you can also keep them warmer. I've read they're fine up to 90°F but honestly I wouldn't want to risk and find out if that's true or not with such expensive isopods haha

 

[dshuld]

Care for them is similar to other isopods. Give them substrate and leaf litter. Coco fiber is probably the best and give them dead dry hardwood leaves (oak, maple, magnolia). They prefer their substrate on the dry side, but make sure you keep a moist side. Also provide more ventilation than you would for other isopods. Cork bark or wood is good for hiding and stuff again make sure is from hardwoods or cork bark. They'll breed at room temperature fine, but you can also keep them warmer. I've read they're fine up to 90°F but honestly I wouldn't want to risk and find out if that's true or not with such expensive isopods haha

Thanks, I'm shopping around for Lola's enclosure. How dry do ornatus need it? Veiled humidity and temps ok for them?

 

[jamest0o0]

I keep sevilla with success so far, they are growing fast. I keep it generally dry with a moist pile of sphagnum moss. I keep the lid open a few inches for air exchange while keeping some humidity in. They were expensive while still only being half the price of some of the other Spanish isopods. I wouldn't use them in a cham enclosure for that reason unless you had a huge colony over time with some to spare. They are said to like it dry too, but they say the same about giant canyons and my giant canyons thrive in 100% humidity. I wouldn't test it on such expensive isopods though, I'll stick to the tried and true method for now.

For an enclosure/feeders, assuming your using a substrate, giant canyons will be your best option. Dwarf whites are also great. The giant canyons are hardy and once established clean better than other CuC I've had. An adult dead roach or large cham poop is easily cleaned up in a few hours over night in my enclosures.

Only thing is, I wouldn't trust them with fertile cham eggs or any feeder colonies that lay eggs(wondered why I wasn't getting snail eggs for over a year... isopods kept eating them all). On the other hand, you could just leave your infertile cham eggs in there to be eaten by them.

 

[dshuld]

Thanks. Guess I'll seed from blue's group of giant canyons then. I may still grab the ornatus that are local I mentioned in the pm to "dip my toes in" with the spanish isos.

 

[jamest0o0]

Yeah go for it if you can, I would definitely like to hear about how it works out. The Spanish isopods are very new to the US. Still so much for us to learn about them I'm sure.

 

[dshuld]

Think I will, it's 20+ for $30. Said they have other species available too but waiting on their list of species they have lol.

 

[dshuld]

Bought the ornatus and my wife will be meeting them to pick up Monday afternoon. Other then spring tails and dwarf purples they didn't have anything else currently available that struck my fancy atm lol. I may still pick up the sevilla at some point too though if the ornatus work out for me.