# Name that isopod!



## Marinarawr (Jan 14, 2009)

So I went scavenging today for some woodlice and I found bunches! I think I have three different types, but I'm not entirely sure. If anyone knows about woodlice then try to identify these please . I've posted them on a bug id forum too but I'm mainly interested in breeding these and introducing some into my vivarium. From the concentration that I found, at least the very smallest type is extremely prolific, if not all three types. 


















If anyone has any tips on raising these guys I'm all ears . I've searched many ways to set up woodlice cultures, but that doesn't mean I'm not curious about tips and tricks that others have found to be tried and true (especially if you've dealt with these species before). Thanks!

*EDIT* So it seems that I'm dealing with Philoscia muscorum, Oniscus asellus, and Porcellio scaber. If anyone has anything to add or corrections to make feel free to post .


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## sNApple (Mar 19, 2007)

Woodlice


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## Marinarawr (Jan 14, 2009)

Thank you for the prompt response . I did find this and other articles while doing a Google search but does the US share many of the same isopod species with the UK? They do look just like the 2 larger types of woodlice that I have.


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## salix (Mar 28, 2008)

Marina,

I'm culturing three types; normals (whatever normal is), dwarf tropical whites & spanish orange.

For all three I've done the same thing. I took a plastic shoebox, put 1-2 inches of cocofiber mixed with coco chips. I sprayed until it was damp, added a sprinkle of fish flakes, threw on a few leaves (oak is what I had available), a thin layer of cardboard and then gave the whole thing another spray of water. Then I just placed them on a shelf with my springtail cultures.

When I remember (every couple of weeks), I add another sprinkle of fish flakes and another spray of water. I recently had to add a few more leaves. It took them quite a few months to get established. The normals and the oranges each only stared with around 20. The whites with around 50.

When I last checked, all three cultures were teeming with isopods of every size. I'm finally getting ready now to start harvesting them to put into my vivs. I didn't want to pull them before they really got established.

I don't know if the instructions would be any different with the species you have, but I doubt it would vary too much.

Good luck with them.

Deb


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## pigface (Apr 28, 2006)

I culture mine in a 190 tub with a couple inches of "substrate " like base and a bunch of magnolia leaves . And I mist and feed cucumbers and or just throw in some green plant cuttings every couple weeks . My big grey ones and dwarf white's are starting to boom and the spanish orange are starting to grow better this way. I used to have cardboard in with them but they have since been doing better without it .


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## Marinarawr (Jan 14, 2009)

So I've discovered that either these particular woodlice don't fair well at room temps or it may have been too much of a temp shock (we still haven't past the point of "spring frost" overnight ). I may have to wait until the weather is reliably warm (at least over 50 at night), and do a recollection. I feel rather guilty bringing a couple dozen of these guys into my care only for them to perish but... live and learn I suppose. I must say though that the ones to survive were the Porcellio scaber (of which I only found maybe 6 specimens), and a few Oniscus asellus. This could have been attributed to the fact that these two species are oriented toward burrowing more than the little above ground runners (Philoscia muscorum) that I collected so many of. I also managed to scoop up many neonates that seemed to fair much better than the adults so I'm hoping to have more alive than I can see at the moment. I'll toss up an update if I have any success with either of the surviving species (Porcellio scaber and Oniscus asellus). Thanks for the help and advice all !


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## Trey (Sep 10, 2008)

Hmm .. im new to the idea of feeding woodlice, but as far as all of the ones I have seen, they seem to be pretty large. Im having trouble grasping how you would feasably remove the tiny offspring from the culture. Also wouldnt large bugs crawling around a viv stress out the frogs?


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## Marinarawr (Jan 14, 2009)

From what I've read the woodlice aren't as important as a food source, but they're good viv janitors. I also heard somewhere that they eat mites? I could easily be manifesting that last part though . I've been told that the frogs will eat small woodlice if they come across them and the big ones are pretty much just tank inhabitants. It's also nearly impossible to find the big guys strolling around in the open. Taking into consideration how hard I had to dig and search just to find them, I'm not expecting to even be aware if they're still alive or not if they do make it into the viv. To get them out of the culture you simply pick up the piece of cardboard, or whatever you're using to provide a humid hiding spot, and shake a few bugs into the viv. This is all info that I've researched or had explained to me by someone else though. So far my experience with woodlice is what little you can read on this page, so it'll be a trial and error process .

*EDIT* These woodlice are also not as big as they appear in the photos. They are ~1/2" long as adults.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

my frogs LOVE woodlice. they chase em down! The dwarf white and dwarf fast I have are all approx 1/2 cm as adults. Perfect for most frogs. My oranges are huge, but their babies are great sized, and I imagine a bigger frog could take down one of the bigger ones if it wanted to.


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