# Wild Caught Isopods



## Editorialsalmon (Mar 21, 2012)

I know many of you are fully against anything wild caught, by I live on a large property where we use no pesticides or herbicides. Has anyone ever used wild Isopods as decomposers in their vivs?


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## a hill (Aug 4, 2007)

I've read many people collect then use F1. 

I read a research paper that suggested trapping them with a hollowed out potato. It was a pain to hollow but works well. 


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## Hayden (Feb 4, 2007)

The P. pruinosus cultures that I have started as 4 WC adults. I collected them legally from a nature reserve so I know there was no danger of pesticide use, but I still didn't want to take any chances so I bred them for a while before introducing them into any vivs. I have at least a dozen cultures from those 4 WC adults now. Isopods reproduce crazy fast (for the most part) so you might want to try culturing them for a while before introducing any WC isos into your tanks.


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## Aldross (Dec 30, 2013)

I was thinking about starting a culture of Armadillidiidae. I have them all over. Not sure if they would work well though.


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## Tazman (May 26, 2013)

I have them in my viv and they are far more active and clean up the tank better than most of the Isos in the hobby. They come out as soon as I feed my frogs and clean up any supplements, they leave the area spotless. In my breeding tank where I don't have them there are supplements all over the leaves.


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## Jake H. (Mar 23, 2010)

I have tried a few times to culture Armadillidium vulgare in a viv but each time they died off pretty quickly. In my regular culturing of this species I have found them to be pretty sensitive to high moisture levels. 

However, I also culture A. nasatum and they seem to be a bit more tolerant of the moisture, but I have yet to try them out in a viv. These are the two main Armadillidium species found in the US, if you live here in the US their range is pretty extensive, most of the eastern and western coast. 

There are at least dozens of species found in the US that could possibly be successful in a viv. Hayden mentioned a pretty good one being Porcellionides pruinosus. There's also Trachelipus rathkii, Porcellio scaber, P. laevis, P. spinicornis, P. dilatatus, Cylisticus convexus, Philoscia muscorum, and Oniscus asellus just to name a few.


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## slimninj4 (Dec 31, 2013)

My daughter catches them outside and harvests them now. She is about 3-4 generations deep. I do wonder if I can use those new ones in my tanks. As it stand I do find harvesting ones I bought breed more than wild caught ones.


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## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

slimninj4 said:


> My daughter catches them outside and harvests them now. She is about 3-4 generations deep. I do wonder if I can use those new ones in my tanks. As it stand I do find harvesting ones I bought breed more than wild caught ones.


I don't see any real downside in using them, other than a probable inability to ID the genus/species. Shouldn't be any possible pesticide issues in 3rd or 4th generation...


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

radiata said:


> I don't see any real downside in using them, other than a probable inability to ID the genus/species. Shouldn't be any possible pesticide issues in 3rd or 4th generation...


heard that they tend to be more aggressive towards eggs and such and have eaten anole eggs that were buried. dunno if they would eat any frog-eggs or tadpoles. Does anybody have problems with them nibbling away the plants?


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## Tongue Flicker (Oct 30, 2014)

You could always just breed them first or if no one will eat them inside the viv and you're sure the place you got them from is a chemical-free place then go!


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## Fantastica (May 5, 2013)

Remember to wash your hands after you touch them! After my second rash I realized the culprit was the isopods I collected in my yard to feed my gecko.


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## a hill (Aug 4, 2007)

Fantastica said:


> Remember to wash your hands after you touch them! After my second rash I realized the culprit was the isopods I collected in my yard to feed my gecko.



Are you allergic? Or did you walk through poison oak/Ivey etc?

As a child I collected hundreds of these things (had no idea people would buy them...) and never once had any rash or anything except dirty hands and pants. 

-Andrew

Ps. I agree that hands should be washed. I am not saying you are wrong either. I am just really curious because I've never heard of these causing problems. 


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## Fantastica (May 5, 2013)

a hill said:


> Are you allergic? Or did you walk through poison oak/Ivey etc?
> 
> As a child I collected hundreds of these things (had no idea people would buy them...) and never once had any rash or anything except dirty hands and pants.
> 
> ...


Quite possible, but I know I'm not allergic to poison ivy. Could be something else in my location? Just saying, if you forget and have a mysterious rash, it's probably from the isopods.


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## a hill (Aug 4, 2007)

I would be very surprised if it is them, now a fungus or mold that they are eating on the other hand... Highly likely, which yes it is them but not the organism themselves. 

Sorry for being nitpickie and I hope you don't feel like I'm accusing you of anything, it's just really curious to me. Especially if you aren't allergic to ivy. 

Eh, weird. I recommend taking a few and smearing them on you to double check. . Please don't though! PETA will be outraged. 


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## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

a hill said:


> I would be very surprised if it is them, now a fungus or mold that they are eating on the other hand... Highly likely, which yes it is them but not the organism themselves.
> 
> Sorry for being nitpickie and I hope you don't feel like I'm accusing you of anything, it's just really curious to me. Especially if you aren't allergic to ivy.
> 
> ...


Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if he's allergic to the isopods. It's possible to develop muck weirder allergies. I do think something like mites are more likely to be responsible, though. Mite allergies are pretty common and they definitely have an affect on me. 

It's hard to narrow down what exactly is causing the reaction and really it is just pure speculation at this point.

John


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