# Cool new isopods added to my growing collection



## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I got some new isos in today and thought I would share.They are different and very cool.Before these,I had orange,d.white,d.purple,d.grey stripe,powder blues,giant canyon,and recently as of a month or so dalmations.I want to find plain dwarf greys at some point too.New as of today are;zebras,peach,and calico.

pics 1&2 are of the zebras.They are pretty fast.
pics 3&4 are of the peaches.A bit lighter than the oranges with a dorsal stripe(and a different species all together)
Pics 5&6 are of the calico.These pics don't really show the variation in color patterns,but they are grey and orange mottled.Some are greyer some are more orange.
pics 7&8 are of the dalmations,which are starting to breed.


I will be getting in some other species down the line,and I will update this thread with pics of them as well.


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## Dart guy 16 (Jan 16, 2012)

I need all of them


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

Out of all your isopods, which do you feel are teh most prolific?


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Dart guy 16 said:


> I need all of them


You and a bunch of people 



goof901 said:


> Out of all your isopods, which do you feel are teh most prolific?


Obviously,I can't judge the new guys yet,but I would say the dwarf purple.


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## hamz77 (Mar 17, 2013)

Such cool isos!


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Here's a powder blue.They are pretty quick too.The leg set on these guys are a little odd looking,almost straight out the sides which I think has something to do with how fast they are.You can kind of see it running in the pics.It's hard to get the powdery slate blue sheen it has in the pics.They look bluer when they shed.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Love em, Lou! If only I had somehow managed to scoop everybody and get on your list first, weeks before anybody else even knew about them!


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

the zebras look pretty cool


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Pumilo said:


> Love em, Lou! If only I had somehow managed to scoop everybody and get on your list first, weeks before anybody else even knew about them!


What makes you think you aren't at the top of the list  







Julio said:


> the zebras look pretty cool


They are even nicer in person.The jet Black with white stripes really makes them pop.


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## irishanaconda (Nov 12, 2010)

I am weird about my isopods, and i have quite a few different kinds as well. I just checked on my adult dalmations and there finally producing! But my zebras are still slow to go lol


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## irishanaconda (Nov 12, 2010)

*Here are some*

Should be dalmations, spanish orange, dwarf white, dwarf striped, zebra, Giant canyon, curly, and some arizona local i picked out here in mesa that are massive. 
Here is a folder for all who want to see
Bugs Photos by shanethebarroomhero | Photobucket


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## toostrange (Sep 19, 2013)

I just got some dwarf grays at the NARBC. I do believe they were from Glassbox,but I'm not sure. Picked up some oranges and dwarf purples also. But still don't have near the collection you do, but I'm tryin.


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## Kimberly (Mar 13, 2014)

I know this sounds extremely childish of me, but I love doodle bugs.. I knew, yet didn't realize, that was what isopods were.. lol! So this means I should put doodle bugs in my viv? they eat... dead plant matter I'm guessing? I always thought they ate roots, and therefore would be terrible in a viv. -.- sorry for my off the wall demeanor


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

toostrange said:


> I just got some dwarf grays at the NARBC. I do believe they were from Glassbox,but I'm not sure. Picked up some oranges and dwarf purples also. But still don't have near the collection you do, but I'm tryin.


I takes time.You'll get there.I dig my bugs almost as much as my frogs.I found someone who has some dwarf greys for me,so I should be good with them too.




Kimberly said:


> I know this sounds extremely childish of me, but I love doodle bugs.. I knew, yet didn't realize, that was what isopods were.. lol! So this means I should put doodle bugs in my viv? they eat... dead plant matter I'm guessing? I always thought they ate roots, and therefore would be terrible in a viv. -.- sorry for my off the wall demeanor


Different species grow and reproduce at different rates.some of the native species take a while.You can collect them from outside,but you should "clean" them so to say.Basically you let them breed,take out the adults and release them back into the wild,then grow out the babies and repeat for another 3 or so generations always getting rid of the adults and raising the babies.This theoretically takes out the possibilities of pathogens and nasties,leaving you with a clean culture.This can take some time,but you should be good to go at that point and be deemed "clean",or you can buy some of the go to species that has already had the hard work done for you.It's not childish,I think my bugs a great too.Certain other bugs I can do without though


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I need to expand. I do still have the Tor Linbo Isopods that not many people seem to have. Would love to get the zebras and some of the other larger ones


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

frogparty said:


> I need to expand. I do still have the Tor Linbo Isopods that not many people seem to have. Would love to get the zebras and some of the other larger ones


I'm not familiar with them.How big are they and do you have any pics?


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Small but elongated. Longer than a dwarf white, but not as wide.

I got them from Tor at the 1st microcosm. He got them from the Dutch hobby side of things I believe. 

I'll try to get some pics.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Cool,pm me when/if you can set me up with a starter culture.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

I'm asking Pumilo to be first on HIS list.... Lou, how long is YOUR list???


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## Dart girl (Sep 25, 2013)

I have a colony of whites and I want to add them to a viv how do I get some out of the culture.?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

Dart girl said:


> I have a colony of whites and I want to add them to a viv how do I get some out of the culture.?
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Try some corrugated cardboard (the plain kind that hasn't been printed on). Soak it in water, and add it to the top of your culture. The dwarf isos will move into the cardboard's structure. Remove the cardboard, after a few days, and shake out the isos into the viv of choice...


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I use a plastic spoon and just scoop some out from under the veggie scraps or you can put a piece of cardboard in there,mist the cardbord to get it moist, wait a couple of hours or a day and take it out and tap it in the viv.A piece of paper eggcrate works sometimes too,but I like the spoon thing.I can see how many are going in and there will be babies in the dirt too.


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## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

oddlot said:


> I use a plastic spoon and just scoop some out from under the veggie scraps or you can put a piece of cardboard in there,mist the cardbord to get it moist, wait a couple of hours or a day and take it out and tap it in the viv.A piece of paper eggcrate works sometimes too,but I like the spoon thing.I can see how many are going in and there will be babies in the dirt too.


That's funny. I do the same thing. I don't know what I took the spoon in my frog room for, but its the perfect tool.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Yeah it really is.There's usually a high concentration under the dinner pile,so it's lift and scoop a freshly fed pile of isos.I have plastic spoons by all my cultures now, even my springs ( I'd grab a couple extra here or there when we went to the convenient store or where ever).


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## Dart girl (Sep 25, 2013)

I wanted to get a couple of other species of ISOs to go with the white like maybe purple or orange where could I get some. The spoon trick works great too


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I sent you a pm.I'm glad the spoon thing worked out for you.I like that method the best too.I'm hoping to add some more species soon.I'll keep the thread updated.


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

Hey Lou,
Peter has pretty cool video on Booklice.
I don`t know if he`s selling them yet. Might be a nice addition to your collection.
I might give em a try. I`ll keep you posted.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I didn't see any for sale,but it would be worth a shot.Let me know if you find out more info on them.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Zookeeper Doug posted a method of collecting isopods from a culture that I have found very useful.
Sometimes you might want ONLY the isopods, with a minimum of substrate, or no substrate. Perhaps you are making new cultures, and you want to keep any mites out. Anyway, scoop a couple small holes in the culture, and nestle a couple of tiny, 2 oz deli cups in. Get the top of the cup level with, or even below, the top of the substrate. Bait the cup with their favorite food. Make sure the food is something that stays wet for a couple days. I like banana, or Repashy Bug Burger for this. Bugs crawl in and cannot crawl back out. They don't care though, as they continue to feast until you harvest them in 1 to 3 days.
Thank you Zookeeper Doug!

From here I like to dump them on a clean, white, dinner plate, and sort them with a tiny, modeler's paintbrush. It allows for a close inspection if you are trying to restart a clean culture from a mite or springtail contaminated one.


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## jckee1 (Mar 22, 2011)

I have used small square pieces of corrugated cardboard. Just leave it in for a day and tap into a new culture. 

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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I'll be adding 3 more species to the list in the next couple of weeks.I'll post pics when they come in.I hope to add some new really cool springtails too, but they will be a couple of months out.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Here are the three new species as promised  

P. spinicornis; These guys are just plain cool looking

















with a flash and white background









T. rathkii;What I like about these guys is that they are very variable in color.They range from light beige to jet black.










You can see the color difference a little better with the flash










Hylo/Trichoniscus; These guys are so small that they make dwarf cr purples look big.Unfortunately only four made it to my house,but I'm getting some more.










Even with the flash,it's hard to see this little bugger.I think these will be perfect for froglets,even the smallest ones











Still working on some more.If you have any I don't have,pm me please.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Anyone else working with the "Tor Linbo line". Does anyone have an ID on them?


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## stu&shaz (Nov 19, 2009)

Lou would you be able to identify this little guy for me,I figured you might have a chance with the ever growing size of you iso collection. It's either from Cuba,or Colombia,my apologies,it was the end of a great frog meet and my brain was fried. It is a bit smaller than GO, say 3/4 very fast. Poo photographic skills are showing colour paler than it is. Although I suspect it does go paler just before a shed. I've only had then a few weeks and not yet into proper quarters.










Once I have them on my proper LL and bit's of rotten wood media,I'll have a better idea of just what it is like to culture and what conditions,so if you do know what it is any pointers would be fabulous
Many thanks

Stu


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

It looks to me from what I can tell by the pics to be powder blues/ Porcellionides pruinosus

Species Porcellionides pruinosus - BugGuide.Net


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## stu&shaz (Nov 19, 2009)

Massive thanks Lou!!

take care

Stu


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