Nathant's Isopod Journal (Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum, Trachelipus rathkii)

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Nathant
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PostNathant 1/19/2017, 3:23 pm

12/18/2017

  Hello! I'm planning on maintaining a journal on my various Isopod species, all wild caught. The species are Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum and Trachelipus rathkii.

Nathant's Isopod Journal (Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum, Trachelipus rathkii) QV0hCiD

  Here is the setup. Conveniently the fish tank same with two dividers. Oniscus asselus A population count is 7. Porcelio scaber A population count is 7. Philoscia muscorum A population count is 23. I find dozens of them in my front yard under rocks. Oniscus asellus B population count is 1, since he/she is slightly orange colored, I am isolating it and I will try to find a bright mate for it to further intensify their colors. Trachelipus rathkii A population count is 2. I found both of them in a forest last week, hoping on finding some more soon, they are cool looking!

  To all my colonies, I have fed onions, oats and even any dead bugs I find that I keep too. I always make sure there is a steady supply of decaying  hardwood leaves, though. I have not spotted any breeding or mancae, but I'm expecting it any day now, as I have been keeping them for over a month. Pretty excited! The substrate is wood shavings for now, but I'm planning on Coconut fiber soon. I always water them with a syringe every day (planning on getting a spray bottle instead) and provide wet cotton balls for a moisture gradient.

Oniscus asellus A

  Nathant's Isopod Journal (Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum, Trachelipus rathkii) 5TCKUmN

  These guys are ALWAYS under their wood. I have never seen them come out, but I'm sure they do when I'm not looking. Really big and cool looking otherwise. I find them when I'm walking when I flip rocks, and In/under wood in forests.

Nathant's Isopod Journal (Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum, Trachelipus rathkii) NnhHyEs

Porcellio scaber A

Nathant's Isopod Journal (Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum, Trachelipus rathkii) ZZthDOw

  I find these guys walking as well. Same with Oniscus asellus A, they always hide under their wood.

Nathant's Isopod Journal (Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum, Trachelipus rathkii) JaOnLcU

Philoscia muscorum A

Nathant's Isopod Journal (Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum, Trachelipus rathkii) 0IupSdz

  I find them in my yard exclusively, and are my biggest culture. They like hiding in the wood crack a lot, but they are actually pretty active and like crawling around. They are speedy too. I provided Sunburst Ant Nectar, a sugar substance made for ants, but I see my Isopods stick their heads in once in a while.

Nathant's Isopod Journal (Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum, Trachelipus rathkii) RgHjWjs

Oniscus asellus B

  Nathant's Isopod Journal (Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum, Trachelipus rathkii) MtKl2tX

  I call this loner Hermit, who will be presented with bright mates soon, hehe. I am trying to get some color morphs going, this will be my experiment since this one is brightly colored than most others. Found him/her in a forest.

Nathant's Isopod Journal (Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum, Trachelipus rathkii) C64lR2J

Trachelipus rathkii A

Nathant's Isopod Journal (Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum, Trachelipus rathkii) 0BVNBhk

  They like hiding under their shavings. Found both of them in a forest and they are beautiful!

Nathant's Isopod Journal (Oniscus asellus, Porcellio scaber, Philoscia muscorum, Trachelipus rathkii) 6MlHD6z


  Sorry for the bad pics, amatuer photographer here. I'll update soon as something happens.
T.C.
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PostT.C. 1/19/2017, 5:51 pm

Cool setup. I have never used wood chips before. Looks real good. Wink
Nathant
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PostNathant 1/19/2017, 5:56 pm

T.C. wrote:Cool setup. I have never used wood chips before. Looks real good. Wink

Thanks! I'm planning on coconut fiber as I said. I find the Wood shavings to be tremendous at holding moisture, but I want to go for the natural-looking setup in the long run.
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PostHisserdude 1/19/2017, 9:37 pm

Nice collection, I do have a couple concerns I would like to address though.

Firstly, I'm not so sure feeding them onions is a great idea. I could be wrong, but onions seem like a volatile food to be feeding most bugs, and while I have yet to hear that onions are actually harm insects they are fed to, I would still feed the carrots or something instead. Again, I could be wrong though, and if they are doing fine being fed onions then there should be nothing to worry about.

Second, they are not getting nearly enough dead leaves to reproduce. Ideally you want a layer of dead leaves an inch deep covering the entire substrate, and while I've never given my isopods quite that much, I do make sure the substrate is at least mostly covered with a thin layer of dead leaves. A single leaf fragment in each enclosure will do little to induce reproduction.

Other than that things look good, keep us updated on you isopods, especially the Philoscia, I've heard they are particularly hard to keep alive.
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PostNathant 1/20/2017, 5:30 am

Hisserdude wrote:Nice collection, I do have a couple concerns I would like to address though.

Firstly, I'm not so sure feeding them onions is a great idea. I could be wrong, but onions seem like a volatile food to be feeding most bugs, and while I have yet to hear that onions are actually harm insects they are fed to, I would still feed the carrots or something instead. Again, I could be wrong though, and if they are doing fine being fed onions then there should be nothing to worry about.

Second, they are not getting nearly enough dead leaves to reproduce. Ideally you want a layer of dead leaves an inch deep covering the entire substrate, and while I've never given my isopods quite that much, I do make sure the substrate is at least mostly covered with a thin layer of dead leaves. A single leaf fragment in each enclosure will do little to induce reproduction.

Other than that things look good, keep us updated on you isopods, especially the Philoscia, I've heard they are particularly hard to keep alive.

I'll go leaf hunting tomorrow or the next. As for the onions, I think I'll take them away. It was smelling up the enclosure a bit anyway.

I got advice over at roachforum that Philoscia was difficult to raise as well. I find them by the dozens in my yard and they are very common, so if there is a die off I've got backup! I'll watch them closely.
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PostT.C. 1/22/2017, 10:25 am

I was thinking that the onions weren't a good idea. However I have never tried it soI figured just don't say anything. Have you ever tried feeding them moist fish flakes? Mine love it.
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PostNathant 1/22/2017, 11:58 am

T.C. wrote:I was thinking that the onions weren't a good idea. However I have never tried it soI figured just don't say anything. Have you ever tried feeding them moist fish flakes? Mine love it.

I have never fed fish flakes but I'm planning on it soon. Removed the onions too, they were smelling up the enclosure anyway.
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PostNathant 1/27/2017, 3:31 pm

I released all of my Isopods. Long story. bounce
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PostHisserdude 1/27/2017, 4:20 pm

Nathant wrote:I released all of my Isopods. Long story. bounce

Aww, sorry to hear that. Sad
Nathant
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PostNathant 1/28/2017, 7:01 am

Hisserdude wrote:
Nathant wrote:I released all of my Isopods. Long story. bounce

Aww, sorry to hear that. Sad

It's no problem. I just need to find some other arthropod to keep me company during winter, while my ants are hibernating. I go out of my mind if I am deprived without insects for a while, haha.
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PostT.C. 1/28/2017, 12:58 pm

Sorry to hear it. Good luck finding something new.
Nathant
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PostNathant 1/28/2017, 6:38 pm

T.C. wrote:Sorry to hear it. Good luck finding something new.

Thanks. I've been thinking of Earwigs.
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