I've seen my pods moving food all over the container. The dairy cows will grab a granule of bee pollen and run off with it super excited. I've seen some of those granules show up at the very bottom of the substrate.
Great topic. I was looking into terracotta & also found the risk for lead contaminants. The sea shell idea is really amazing. We have a lot of freshwater clam shells that will work awesome for this idea!
I cleaned some mussel shells from a meal and threw them in with various colonies hoping that they would be gnawed on for calcium. My dwarf purples like hiding under them even more than under cork bark (when they're upside down), and even my armadillidium hide under them sometimes. Time to try flipping some over and using them as trays!
I use 3D printed feeding bowls in all of mine, they're great but the main food I use for protein is pond sticks and the isopods drag them all out of the bowls anyway, lol. Also for my bigger cultures I give them like a fistful, which kind of buries the feeding bowl, lol.
I actually just bought the Stroodies trays for all my isopod cultures! I had been using the cork bark previously, but had noticed that the food was getting into the texture of the bark like you talked about in the video, so I changed them all over. So far they seem to be working really well.
Thank you so much for your videos. Your videos made me decided to keep isopod. I took the plunge and build a few 6 quart containers for them. Now I’m just waiting on the isopod to come in. Now I’m obsessed with your blue death feigning beetles. The beetles look so cool. I’m glad you found a way to breed them. Are you able to sell them? I didn’t see the, in your website. Thank you again for all your help. Your videos are loaded with great information.
I love to hear that my videos have helped som you be choose to keep isopods! Have you received your isopods yet? Which species did you choose? I don’t breed BDFBs in commercial numbers, but that may change in the future.
I ordered from supreme gecko, I got a few different isopods. They should be coming tomorrow. Armadillidium vulgare punta Cana Armadillidium klugii Montenegro Armadillidium macalatum zebra Armadillidium nasatum - peach Porcellio laevis orange Porcellio scaber lottery mix Venezillo parvus - dalmation Yesterday I got the blue death feigning beetles delivered. I got 3 blue and 3 black. Thank you for your videos, I have learned and still learning how to take care of all this beautiful pets.
For the UVB, I use a Vivtech SurSun UVA/UVB Jungle Cover bulb. For heat, I currently use a 50 W daytime basking bulb. Thinking of upgrading to halogen for the heat though.
@@Aquarimax thanks, can you send me a link to the basking bulb (I just sent this to you a couple minutes ago but it didn't seem to go through on my half, so you might have to replies to this)
I like to add a "spike" attached under the carved wood feeding tray that I made and roughed up and charred the outside of, which makes it tend to want to stay upright and move less. For the "spike", I used a piece of hardwood lump charcoal that i shaped to look like a giant nail and put a hole in the middle of the food dish for it to go through, then connected it with hot glue. I know hot glue doesn't last forever, but the charcoal "nail" has a "head" on it, so that it won't pull through.
I have two bins and both are on my desk, i can see my dairy cows congregate over the food as I place it near the walls so i can see 'em. I dont use dishes as I check pretty often what and how much food they eat. I use a toothpick to dig through the substrate in the rare case it gets buried. I also use solid food (scraps of veggies or meats) I will consider food trays if it ever becomes a problem (specially with mold) but for the 5 months ive had them, it all seems pretty ok and manageable. Of course i only have 2 bins instead of billions of bins
Im about to get my first isopods (blue powder) problem is the terrarium im going to keep them in has some CEDAR wood decor and I dont know if thats harmful or not (I know its poison to insects but isopods are crustaceans so Im not sure if the same applies does anyone know the answer?
Hi James, your trays need improving. They have limited access and should be made as a half or full circle. The access slope should be all the way around. A central pillar for tweezer/forceps pickup would be useful, for both retrieval and insertion. The terra cotta trays are a risk to very small specimens as they could crush mancae. I will stick to seashells as I have a good supply for free. All the best.
Hey I've noticed 2-3 giant dairy cows keep dying in everyday, I'm not sure if they have reached their maxinum ages already or no but others which are still young are doing very fine, do you have any ideas about this? The dying isopods always big size tho
So my biggest problem is mites I guess... Im sure that they arent grain mites because they arent pale white but brown instead. But some of their body parts are white too. Its kinda hard to tell because they are very small. maybe as small as springtails or maybe smaller. I really need help with this. Because seems like good husbandry, No over feeding, Springtails wont help much
I have a question i found a big isopod (i think its one )that dark gray with a orange-ish color on its edge it had also i black head i found it in new jersey anyoen know what i found?
Personally I find no reason for a feeding tray because I remove my food a day after it's set anyways. I have repashy but think it's more convenient to skin a slice of apple after cutting one up and just plopping it in. They're always a nice addition to counter mold spread, though.
I learned that if you dilute hydrogen peroxide enough, it is harmless to snails and can still kill mold but i still like to quarantine my snails in a seperate container for a day. Better safe than sorry¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I've seen my pods moving food all over the container. The dairy cows will grab a granule of bee pollen and run off with it super excited. I've seen some of those granules show up at the very bottom of the substrate.
Definitely! Larger particles will get carried off for sure. Feeding trays are most useful for powdered food.
Thanks for introducing me to Isopods. I had no idea that keeping them is a hobby.
Fascinating creatures for sure 👍
Great topic. I was looking into terracotta & also found the risk for lead contaminants. The sea shell idea is really amazing. We have a lot of freshwater clam shells that will work awesome for this idea!
I cleaned some mussel shells from a meal and threw them in with various colonies hoping that they would be gnawed on for calcium. My dwarf purples like hiding under them even more than under cork bark (when they're upside down), and even my armadillidium hide under them sometimes. Time to try flipping some over and using them as trays!
OMG they are too adorable 😍😍😍😍 I love it when they eat.
The platform is so cute! Clamshells have caught my interest now lol I normally use a flat piece of bark up front where I can see them :D
I use 3D printed feeding bowls in all of mine, they're great but the main food I use for protein is pond sticks and the isopods drag them all out of the bowls anyway, lol. Also for my bigger cultures I give them like a fistful, which kind of buries the feeding bowl, lol.
I've been using a small plastic shotglass laid on its side.
I actually just bought the Stroodies trays for all my isopod cultures! I had been using the cork bark previously, but had noticed that the food was getting into the texture of the bark like you talked about in the video, so I changed them all over. So far they seem to be working really well.
I like them a lot! I’d like the Stroodies even better than I do now if there were a deeper lip.
I'm very excited to get isopods now that I know more about them!
These little fellas eat supreme isopod chow like I eat Ben and Jerry's 🍨
Great video!! Thanks for the shoutout!!
Thank YOU for the idea!
Excellent Video Rus
Thank you Russ. I just ordered some.
I may have to try this for my isopods great video
Thank you so much for your videos. Your videos made me decided to keep isopod. I took the plunge and build a few 6 quart containers for them. Now I’m just waiting on the isopod to come in.
Now I’m obsessed with your blue death feigning beetles. The beetles look so cool. I’m glad you found a way to breed them. Are you able to sell them? I didn’t see the, in your website.
Thank you again for all your help. Your videos are loaded with great information.
I love to hear that my videos have helped som you be choose to keep isopods! Have you received your isopods yet? Which species did you choose?
I don’t breed BDFBs in commercial numbers, but that may change in the future.
I ordered from supreme gecko, I got a few different isopods. They should be coming tomorrow.
Armadillidium vulgare punta Cana
Armadillidium klugii Montenegro
Armadillidium macalatum zebra
Armadillidium nasatum - peach
Porcellio laevis orange
Porcellio scaber lottery mix
Venezillo parvus - dalmation
Yesterday I got the blue death feigning beetles delivered. I got 3 blue and 3 black.
Thank you for your videos, I have learned and still learning how to take care of all this beautiful pets.
Hey Rus, what basking lights do you use for your garter snakes? I'm gonna get 1 in a few months.
For the UVB, I use a Vivtech SurSun UVA/UVB Jungle Cover bulb. For heat, I currently use a 50 W daytime basking bulb. Thinking of upgrading to halogen for the heat though.
@@Aquarimax thanks, can you send me a link to the basking bulb (I just sent this to you a couple minutes ago but it didn't seem to go through on my half, so you might have to replies to this)
I like to add a "spike" attached under the carved wood feeding tray that I made and roughed up and charred the outside of, which makes it tend to want to stay upright and move less.
For the "spike", I used a piece of hardwood lump charcoal that i shaped to look like a giant nail and put a hole in the middle of the food dish for it to go through, then connected it with hot glue.
I know hot glue doesn't last forever, but the charcoal "nail" has a "head" on it, so that it won't pull through.
Nice solution for keeping it in place !
if the seashells have been treated with mineral oil to make them shinier, are they still safe to use as feeding dishes?
Good question…if there is not excess oil on them, it is probably ok.
I have two bins and both are on my desk, i can see my dairy cows congregate over the food as I place it near the walls so i can see 'em.
I dont use dishes as I check pretty often what and how much food they eat. I use a toothpick to dig through the substrate in the rare case it gets buried. I also use solid food (scraps of veggies or meats)
I will consider food trays if it ever becomes a problem (specially with mold) but for the 5 months ive had them, it all seems pretty ok and manageable. Of course i only have 2 bins instead of billions of bins
It an certainly work that way, with two bins it is quite feasible to keep an eye on the foods as you are able to do 👍🏼
Great advice! Just wondering if I've collected seashells myself, they have been disinfected and dried. Is it okay to use?
Should be fine once they are clean and free of any soaps or chemical residues. 👍🏼
@@Aquarimax Thank you! Also love your videos, always a joy to watch them. So keep up the great work.
Thank you! 😁👍
No need to disinfect, just wash in water.
Isopods are detrivores and eat dirty and decomposing stuff all the time in the wild.
Im about to get my first isopods (blue powder) problem is the terrarium im going to keep them in has some CEDAR wood decor and I dont know if thats harmful or not (I know its poison to insects but isopods are crustaceans so Im not sure if the same applies does anyone know the answer?
It partly depends on how much it has aged and how well it is ventilated
I guess, that isopod feeding trays, only available at USA?
No, you can now find them in many different online shops ☺️.
Hi James, your trays need improving.
They have limited access and should be made as a half or full circle.
The access slope should be all the way around.
A central pillar for tweezer/forceps pickup would be useful, for both retrieval and insertion.
The terra cotta trays are a risk to very small specimens as they could crush mancae.
I will stick to seashells as I have a good supply for free.
All the best.
Awesome suggestions!! I’ll have to prototype a new design! Thank you 😃
How do you clean your seashells?
Hey I've noticed 2-3 giant dairy cows keep dying in everyday, I'm not sure if they have reached their maxinum ages already or no but others which are still young are doing very fine, do you have any ideas about this? The dying isopods always big size tho
How many do you have in the enclosure?
So my biggest problem is mites I guess...
Im sure that they arent grain mites because they arent pale white but brown instead. But some of their body parts are white too. Its kinda hard to tell because they are very small. maybe as small as springtails or maybe smaller. I really need help with this. Because seems like good husbandry, No over feeding, Springtails wont help much
@@Aquarimax I really need help because I dont wanna lose my BIG DAIRY COW colony
I have a question i found a big isopod (i think its one )that dark gray with a orange-ish color on its edge it had also i black head i found it in new jersey anyoen know what i found?
Try looking up Philoscia muscorum and seeing if it looks similar.
I think so mine seems to have less patterning
I use empty cuttlefish bones as food tray for my isopods.
Personally I find no reason for a feeding tray because I remove my food a day after it's set anyways. I have repashy but think it's more convenient to skin a slice of apple after cutting one up and just plopping it in. They're always a nice addition to counter mold spread, though.
Isopods do my dirty work
I just use bottle caps. Not so pleasing to the eye though.
I learned that if you dilute hydrogen peroxide enough, it is harmless to snails and can still kill mold but i still like to quarantine my snails in a seperate container for a day. Better safe than sorry¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Quarantine is always another level of security 👍🏽
Rubber ducky’s cost a ton for twenty dollars I got one rubber ducky’s are we really that fond of you.
Hi
First
Hi