# Fishingguy12345's isopod caresheet



## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Hi everyone, I thought it would be good for me to share this here too. This is a general caresheet on how I culture Isopods. I currently culture 20-25 types of Isopods using these general principles.

Setup:
Plastic bins work very well for culturing Isopods. I start with 3L bins for new colonies and then increase the size of the bin as the colony grows.

For substrate I use a mix of: coco fiber, coco husk, topsoil (or other inexpensive soil with no chemicals or fertilizers)

I usually add 3-5 cm (1-2") of substrate, I then add leaf litter (primarily oak leaves), bark, and chunks of lump charcoal on top of the substrate. I also use some sphagnum moss on one side to make a humid area.

I feed a combination of vegetables (carrots and potatoes as they are what's always available in my house), Repashy bug burger and Repashy morning wood, fish food, dog food, etc. Dehydrated fish (dog treats) are a fun, but smelly, treat for the Isopods, they will clean the fish down to the bones

The main changes needed for different species is the amount of ventilation and humidity.

For Dwarf white Isopods (the ones most used in dart frog vivariums), I keep their bins quite damp and position them where they'll stay the warmest to speed up reproduction.

I'll add some more information on other specific species later.
Here are some pictures of my bins:


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

Thanks for posting this, FG!


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## pierso (Oct 5, 2020)

Thanks!


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## kennyb123 (Oct 20, 2019)

@fishingguy12345 

When you feed your isopods, whether it be carrots, potato, dog food or otherwise, do you cover the food in leaves or do you just set it on top? I just have dwarf purples and whites but I find that when I try to feed them they don't actually eat whatever I put in there container. I have tried carrots, squash, and pumpkin. They ate a little bit of the pumpkin.

I have also placed a piece of cuttle bone as I heard this is a good source of calcium but I have never seen any of my isopods anywhere near it.


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## Caietaro (Jun 16, 2020)

Thanks for sharing!


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

kennyb123 said:


> @fishingguy12345
> 
> When you feed your isopods, whether it be carrots, potato, dog food or otherwise, do you cover the food in leaves or do you just set it on top? I just have dwarf purples and whites but I find that when I try to feed them they don't actually eat whatever I put in there container. I have tried carrots, squash, and pumpkin. They ate a little bit of the pumpkin.
> 
> I have also placed a piece of cuttle bone as I heard this is a good source of calcium but I have never seen any of my isopods anywhere near it.


I put the food on top of the leaves. The powder/fish food I put in a dish. But carrots I just put them on top of the leaves. 

Dwarf white Isopods don't tend to be as calcium needy as Porcellio or Armadillidium species are in my experience.


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## kennyb123 (Oct 20, 2019)

fishingguy12345 said:


> I put the food on top of the leaves. The powder/fish food I put in a dish. But carrots I just put them on top of the leaves.


And they’ll just come out in the open to eat??

I think I’m doing something wrong because that has not been my experience


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

kennyb123 said:


> And they’ll just come out in the open to eat??
> 
> I think I’m doing something wrong because that has not been my experience


They will come out and eat if you keep them in a dark place


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## geginn64 (Jun 24, 2020)

It is great information that I can definitely use.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk


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## klc21473 (Jan 13, 2021)

Yes, thank you!


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