# Woodlice Studies



## davecalk (Dec 17, 2008)

I have been researching woodlice as as a food source and have found very little overall information about the specifics about the various species. 

Specifically I have been research the dwarf Isopods. I know many of you are using orange woodlice, dwarf striped,the pigmy as well as the dwarf white.

Most people feel that they are nocturnal, that they like to come out at predominately at night. 

In the following study the author felt that the humidity and temperature might have more to do with their nocturnal behavior then does the preference to darkness.

Study of light wavelength on Terrestrial Isopods

Thus varying the temps and humidity would seem to bring them out during the day when our frogs are active.

I also tried to do a search here for information about the life cycles and breeding times, sizes, etc. of the various species but found nothing. 

I started this quest in the food section but got only one response which was about where to purchase different species of woodlice, and nothing about the various details of the species.

Could we pool our knowledge and come ups with a listing of data for these feeders?

Dave


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

I see my dwarf whites out in the day all the time...especially when there is something yummy to eat...


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## markbudde (Jan 4, 2008)

I also see the dwarf whites out all the time. They grow best in the upper 80s, so I culture them on top of my rack. Once I seed a tank though, I never have to reseed. They do a pretty god job of sustaining in a viv. The will crawl to the surface and get eaten, I don't think anything special is required on that end. They are live bearers, able to have a clutch every several weeks. They first become fertile after about 2 months, but are not full sized yet. The clutches when they are young and small are smaller than when they are older. IMO, they are a great invert to seed your tanks with.
-Mark


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

AGREED. Everything seems to love to eat them too. Sometimes it takes a while for frogs to get used to them if theyve been on a ff only diet for a while, as they can be a bit bigger, but the younger ones are st sized. Putting food for them above ground definitely helps to encourage above ground activity


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

frogparty said:


> AGREED. ....Putting food for them above ground definitely helps to encourage above ground activity


What do use as food. I use wet cardboard in the culture container.


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

phender said:


> What do use as food. I use wet cardboard in the culture container.


I use wet cardboard in the culture container and add veggies every week. They can decimate some squash!


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## markbudde (Jan 4, 2008)

I feed moldy dogfood and keep them in a cardboard like substrate.

See this post.
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/46452-how-i-culture-woodlice-isopods.html


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## davecalk (Dec 17, 2008)

markbudde said:


> I also see the dwarf whites out all the time. They grow best in the upper 80s, so I culture them on top of my rack.


This reinforces the thought that it is the temperature and humidity are more critical than light.



> Once I seed a tank though, I never have to reseed. They do a pretty god job of sustaining in a viv. The will crawl to the surface and get eaten, I don't think anything special is required on that end.


Having these seeded into a tank in addition to springtails is does indeed sound like a good idea for maintaining and keeping a tank clean.




> They are live bearers, able to have a clutch every several weeks. They first become fertile after about 2 months, but are not full sized yet. The clutches when they are young and small are smaller than when they are older. IMO, they are a great invert to seed your tanks with.
> -Mark


This is excellent information about the dwarf whites. Quite a while ago I believe it was Ed that had mentioned that some woodlice can take over a year to reach sexual maturity. Because of this, I have googled and read everything that I could trying to determine which species had the quickest breeding times.

How large are the dwarf white adults?

Can anyone share their observations about the other species, the Oranges, the Pigmies, and the Dwarf Striped?

Dave


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

oranges get BIG, 2/3 inch easy. seem to breed faster for me than the whites. Very active
dwarf temperates, same size as whites. Also seem to breed faster for me. more apt to be nocturnal it seems. Always hiding in wood crevices. 
All 3 are worth culturing. I cant imagine how excited a terribilis would be to see an adult orange iso for lunch. The young are relished by all my frogs


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## davecalk (Dec 17, 2008)

The problem with moving the thread back here is that it originally started here in the Food & Feeding section and had no posts or responses to the initial post in several days of being around, that's why I moved it to the general area where folks responded right away.

Anyone who raises the Dwarf Striped or Dwarf Pygmy care to chime in with any data or observations?

Dave


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## somecanadianguy (Jan 9, 2007)

i see mine out in the tanks lots . more if a food source is there. they breed quite easily in cocco fiber {coir for those it bugs} with bits of card board and the occasinal fish flake.
size on the dwarfs if u seen a ciggarete before this will give u an idea


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

davecalk said:


> The problem with moving the thread back here is that it originally started here in the Food & Feeding section and had no posts or responses to the initial post in several days of being around, that's why I moved it to the general area where folks responded right away.
> 
> Anyone who raises the Dwarf Striped or Dwarf Pygmy care to chime in with any data or observations?
> 
> Dave


I have the Dwarf Whites and the Dwarf Stripes. Their containers are usually in low 70's, and the tanks are usually in the mid to upper 70's. I keep them on coco and sphagnum, mixed at about a ratio of 70/30, with pieces of cardboard on top. About once a week I will slide whatever veggies I have that are getting old. Kept this way, I get decent productions, but the Striped clearly outproduce the Whites. At these temps, at least, the whites aren't nearly as active. 

Once introduced to the tanks, I see them rarely...never in the tanks where the soil stays wet. The only exception to that is my cobalt tank which is larger, tends to stay dryer, has a much greater range of microclimates, and a decent springtail population which the frogs seem to concentrate on...I can spot a few in there at any given time.


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