I feed my new zebras once a week, my new scaber once-twice a week and I have a LOT of dairy cows and feed them every two-three days. It definitely depends with feeding. Each species is different as well as colony size. My spring tail colony gets Extra food as well. If there is a little food left with my spring tails and it molds a little I skip a feed or two and they will eat the mold! Love having these guys as not just clean up crews but they really do make cool pets.
I just want to say that I love your videos and appreciate how much effort you put into the videos. Even after 3 years of uploading this, I am binge-watching all of your videos right now. Thank you, Wally!
i chuck food in the enclosure once every few days, alternating veggies, fish food pellets, and Supreme Gecko isopod chow. going ok so far, it's a new colony and I'm a new keeper so I'm still learning.
Very valuable info! I agree...your isopods should always have something to nibble on, especially leaves! I was curious to see the Namibia capensis’Party mix’ but they cleverly skipped out! 🤣👍
Thanks for watching Rus. I actually found the video running a bit too long so I 'clipped' the 'party' a little early. :) Nice catch. Hope it didn't break the flow too much.
I have a planted bioactive terrarium and I have actually never fed them. I have plenty of various types of bark and leaf litter in there... & they've been thriving for several months without me ever directly feeding them. But, just 2 days ago, I put a tiny leaf cutting into my tank to propagate, and they gobbled it up! 🤭 (Maybe I'll give them a slice of cucumber once a week. They seemed to enjoy the juiciness of that leaf.)
You didnt show us the last party mix species😪. Great vid, thanks for sharing your experience. Wow those Punta cana...rainbow of colors, wish we had something like that in Australia. Beautiful.
i'm rather new to isopod keeping, few months in, and it's good to know some tips for feeding times to keep their population in check! also, that's a very beautiful and vibrant colony of punta cana
I think I just found my new favorite UA-cam channel! I just got into Insect keeping and your channels are filled with so much information! Thank you so much.
Great video as always! All the tips you gave were great and could really help out both new comers and people who have been keeping isopods for a while. I struggled for years to figure out what I was doing wrong keeping isopods, but after some research and questions and videos like this I'm having much more success keeping all my isopods happy.
Outstanding. So glad I could help. If, by chance you would ever be looking for more isopods, I am thinking of starting a frog setup or two and would be interested in trading if you would.
@@TCSDartFrogs Outstanding that you are open to this option. I'll be doing some setup this week and will need a month or so for them to establish. Also, by March, maybe we'll see some warmer weather too :)
I just started my colony today with giant canyon, seems to be that they can go without feeding for 3 to 4 days, (but I will keep an eye on it) question How do you know they are starting to get hungry again , PS enjoyed your video learned a lot today from your video.
This was a huge mistake I made when first getting into them. I would have food in new cultures pretty much at all times. It ended up leading to a lot of issues with mites and fungus gnats. I didn’t experience very much mold personally. My isopod populations got rather large because of how much food they always had but the mites just got worse and worse so I cut back. Now I feed my cultures roughly once a week or so.
Thanks for watching. Yes, I too HATE mites. Very difficult to get rid of them. The next time I get them though, I will be trying a trick- 1" of petro jelly around the top of the tub. Wipe down 2x day.
Hi! I'm having an issue with those gnats and somehow I think grain mites got in there. I'm seeing more and more now. I let the tank dry out a bit for a week, I was watering a bit too much but I thought the springtails and isopods would dry out. I am worried about it being too dry. I can see a moisture line about an inch under dry substrate along the tank so I know there's some kind of water in it. How do I know it's too wet or too dry for my CUC? Is it ok to just water where my plants are or does the whole tank need to moist? I found a dead dairy cow this morning and other than that I've only seen 1 oreo about a week ago. He was alive so that's a plus lol. I should have kept the ones I bought in a container like in the video for a while before putting them in the tank. I didn't know what I was doing and I'm afraid I wasted a lot of money lol. I do see springtails on the bottom of the water dish so that's good. I have palm bark in the tank for them but never see anything on it. I hope I'm not bombarding you with questions but you have experienced what I'm dealing with and hope you can help me 🙂. Thanks and have a great day
Nice vid! The Punta Canas are gorgeous! I feed our homeblend isopod chow and/or some dried insects, every other day to once a week, depending on the species and the size of the culture like you mentioned. I keep leaves and cuttlebone in at all times. I keep a dry erase board on the critter room door and mark off feeding days.
Thanks for sharing this info super helpful. I'm looking to start getting into the hobby and I had no idea there where that many different species and sub species. I truly don't know where to start . I have heard Dairy Cows are an easier species...? They are all truly beautiful in their own way. Its truly astonishing and I now know why people spend big bucks for these little ones. I think its still crazy but definitely understand as to why. Have a great day
It is crazy but I've done it too. And, if you are looking for a place to start, I did a video about a month ago on the best beginner isopods (but you can always ask me here or on FB).
Question:. New to the isopod hobby and after following your videos I went to home depot for wood chips. Several stated they didn't have any more or grilling season is over just wait for next season. My question is can the aspen snake bedding be used in lieu of the wood chips.
Make sure the aspen is NOT treated with anything. Also, I would not use a lot in your substrate. Just enough to act as a non-compaction material rather than one offering a food value. Make sure you watch our live stream from the prior Friday (if you have not already).
I am getting Porcellio dilatatus. I would feed them like once a week, (I have shells for calcium) but would probs feed them veggies or fruit minced. Like a pinch or 2.
Yes, I did. Nice catch. As the director, producer, writer, actor, camera man, I sometimes do things backwards. :) Hope there was also something good that you pulled from the video :)
So, I put in less food than I have been and when i checked it last night, they were out of food (besides leaves), so I gave them more food and they went running to it to eat, so I felt bad. I am going to study this video. I started out way too wet with way too much food, now i'm not feeding them enough. I am going to do like you said and keep a written log of quantities. Of course as the babies grow up, they will be eating more food, but i can log that too.
@@SupremeGecko I have two kinds: Porcellio Ornatus Yellow Dot and Porcellionides Pruinosus Powder Orange. The Yellow Dot is just a fun pet for me since they come out more. The Powder Orange will be taking care of my new bioactive enclosure for my crested gecko.
That's where I'm at too, once or twice a week very small amounts. My cultures are new as well but most are starting to produce babies. Isn't it exciting finding new ones in there 😊
@@RisingFromTheAshes97 All of my cultures are booming,. I've only added two more species since last year. I even had one of my colonies crash. But luckily I had enough babies that they made through on their own and are booming again also. I'm still only supplemental feeding once a week. Between the leaves, palm bark, paper bark, and wood pellets ground up in the soil they are good to go. I'm getting ready for a long over due split of my colonies hopefully by next weekend.
@@toxicevangelist750 mine are just starting to have their first babies appear but they are only 2 month old cultures. I'm glad yours are doing so well and the ones recovered. Mine get lots of leaves, wood etc too and probably don't need fed really. I only offer the tiniest pieces of occasional veggies but mostly offer a few fish pellets or something for protein so they hopefully don't decide to eat the babies. Most of the time it's about once a week.
Iv just been winging it with mine I collected a bunch around my house and made one of those culture cups with some coco fiber and dirt and bits of wood from where I was getting them and crushed some leaves up in it Iv been feeding them a fish flake or two a day and the coco fiber stays wet for so long I don’t think I need to add any but overall I think they’re doing well I honestly have no idea
ARE these varieties like Armadillidium vulgare "Punta Cana", are they nothing more than a color morph and can breed with Armadillidium vulgare to increase genetic diversity, which i would assume would create healthier isopods? Also: Is it possible to selective breed Armadillidium vulgare to get color morphs?
I really enjoy helping people with questions. Leave a question and I will try to answer in a day at the most. No, I have found no issues with keeping springtails with any of my isopods.
@@SupremeGecko ooh sorry, is it really we can not crossbreed armadilidium vulgare with armadilidium vulgare magic potion and armadilidium vulgare st. Luis? Because I think thats weird, they're from same species but only from different variant 🤔
I wish my orange vigors would give me some babies. They are the last of my original 5 species to reproduce. My wild caught A vulgare ones in the terrarium are going crazy with babies everywhere even though it's moister then I thought they would like.
Interesting. Feeding a lot of veggies? Mine are taking off incredibly well. If you wish, send me a short video to FB or IG and I will take a look for you.
@@SupremeGecko not a lot but I try to keep some kind of food available such as a veggie piece or fish pellets. There is always plenty of leaf litter and wood etc, a damp end with moss and a dry end. I only got 12 to begin with and did lose a couple so I'm starting to wonder if I have only males left.
I completely do not understand this. Is this a good thing or a bad thing. I truly want to put out information that helps people keep their animals better. If' I do something that takes away from this, please do let me know.
@@SupremeGecko The food grows mold and I don't have enough springtails. I am going to setup a springtail / charcoal thing inside with my isopods and hope for the best. I am also going to work on feeding them less, more often.
@@FusionDeveloper I have no issues raising springtails in the isopod cultures. Make sure you have a clump of sphagnum moss moist all the time and the STs thrive. Hope this helps.
It's been a couple years so it would be hard to tell now. What signs are you seeing? Also, these groups have been producing strong for the past few years. Thanks for your comment.
Did you know you can order the Supreme Isopod Chow HERE- supremegecko.com/shop-online/isopod-food-and-supplies (or contact me at Supreme Gecko on FB).
.
I feed my new zebras once a week, my new scaber once-twice a week and I have a LOT of dairy cows and feed them every two-three days. It definitely depends with feeding. Each species is different as well as colony size. My spring tail colony gets Extra food as well. If there is a little food left with my spring tails and it molds a little I skip a feed or two and they will eat the mold! Love having these guys as not just clean up crews but they really do make cool pets.
Sounds like a perfect schedule. Thanks
Those punta canas remind me of fall! How cool!
Right? Jelly Bellys in the Fall.
This channel definitely has the best isopod videos that I have been able to find on youtube.
Awwwww thank you! Much appreciated.
I usually feed mine twice a week and mine have lots of dry leaves and decaying wood. Thank you again for the video.
Perfect Barb. Thank you for watching.
I just want to say that I love your videos and appreciate how much effort you put into the videos. Even after 3 years of uploading this, I am binge-watching all of your videos right now. Thank you, Wally!
Thank YOU!!! I enjoy the research and ability to put these videos out to help others. Thank you for this wonderful comment.
i chuck food in the enclosure once every few days, alternating veggies, fish food pellets, and Supreme Gecko isopod chow. going ok so far, it's a new colony and I'm a new keeper so I'm still learning.
Keep me posted on how they like the SIC.
They LOVE those big maple leaves. I must go collect more.
.
Very valuable info! I agree...your isopods should always have something to nibble on, especially leaves! I was curious to see the Namibia capensis’Party mix’ but they cleverly skipped out! 🤣👍
Thanks for watching Rus. I actually found the video running a bit too long so I 'clipped' the 'party' a little early. :) Nice catch. Hope it didn't break the flow too much.
I have a planted bioactive terrarium and I have actually never fed them. I have plenty of various types of bark and leaf litter in there... & they've been thriving for several months without me ever directly feeding them. But, just 2 days ago, I put a tiny leaf cutting into my tank to propagate, and they gobbled it up! 🤭 (Maybe I'll give them a slice of cucumber once a week. They seemed to enjoy the juiciness of that leaf.)
Crystal, sounds like the perfect setup! All self contained. I've always thought that additional food supplements cannot hurt, right?
Another great video! Wally is great to work with if you are looking to buy Isopods!
Thank you so very much!
You didnt show us the last party mix species😪. Great vid, thanks for sharing your experience. Wow those Punta cana...rainbow of colors, wish we had something like that in Australia. Beautiful.
:) Thanks for noticing! And thank you for the kind words. I am fascinated by the species of geckos you have in Australia!
Nambia capensis (spelling?) He said it at the very start. 😊
i'm rather new to isopod keeping, few months in, and it's good to know some tips for feeding times to keep their population in check! also, that's a very beautiful and vibrant colony of punta cana
Thank you very much. I think you will find that I answer all questions within a day. Just let me know if I can help with anything.
I think I just found my new favorite UA-cam channel! I just got into Insect keeping and your channels are filled with so much information! Thank you so much.
Welcome aboard! Thank you so much for the wonderful comment. I appreciate that and let me know if you have ANY question or suggestions.
Thank you so much for this, I was really worried about overfeeding them or ruining their enclosure with it. This video helped a lot, thank you! :}
Thank you for the nice comment. Really glad it helps.
Thanks for this! I JUST started my first enclosure with Armadillidium klugii. These little clowns are so awesome. Thanks for this!
Thanks Steve. Good luck with the clowns. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you. We needed this video. Calendars, lists and check marks--it doesn't get better than that! 😊
Are you a check mark person too? :)
Great video as always! All the tips you gave were great and could really help out both new comers and people who have been keeping isopods for a while. I struggled for years to figure out what I was doing wrong keeping isopods, but after some research and questions and videos like this I'm having much more success keeping all my isopods happy.
Outstanding. So glad I could help. If, by chance you would ever be looking for more isopods, I am thinking of starting a frog setup or two and would be interested in trading if you would.
@@SupremeGecko Yeah I'm sure we could work something out! Let me know when you are ready.
@@TCSDartFrogs Outstanding that you are open to this option. I'll be doing some setup this week and will need a month or so for them to establish. Also, by March, maybe we'll see some warmer weather too :)
@@SupremeGecko Ok sounds great just let me know and as always if you have any questions at all feel free to contact me
@@TCSDartFrogs thanks
I missed this upload! Lol but saw it eventually I'm falling behind 😂
I sometimes fall behind too. No worries. Hope you enjoyed the video and Thank You for watching Kayla.
This is pretty informative (new sub!)
Thank you so very much.
Oh wow, you are wearing one of the new Aquarimax Pets's shirt.
It's actually a shirt I ordered about 6 months ago from Jabberworks' Etsy store. But, yes, the same shirt.
Just a bunch of beautiful isopods!
Thanks my friend.
I just started my colony today with giant canyon, seems to be that they can go without feeding for 3 to 4 days, (but I will keep an eye on it) question How do you know they are starting to get hungry again , PS enjoyed your video learned a lot today from your video.
Thank you! You really don't know until you feed again and they eat all the food up so quickly.
This was a huge mistake I made when first getting into them. I would have food in new cultures pretty much at all times. It ended up leading to a lot of issues with mites and fungus gnats. I didn’t experience very much mold personally. My isopod populations got rather large because of how much food they always had but the mites just got worse and worse so I cut back. Now I feed my cultures roughly once a week or so.
Thanks for watching. Yes, I too HATE mites. Very difficult to get rid of them. The next time I get them though, I will be trying a trick- 1" of petro jelly around the top of the tub. Wipe down 2x day.
Hi! I'm having an issue with those gnats and somehow I think grain mites got in there. I'm seeing more and more now. I let the tank dry out a bit for a week, I was watering a bit too much but I thought the springtails and isopods would dry out. I am worried about it being too dry. I can see a moisture line about an inch under dry substrate along the tank so I know there's some kind of water in it. How do I know it's too wet or too dry for my CUC? Is it ok to just water where my plants are or does the whole tank need to moist? I found a dead dairy cow this morning and other than that I've only seen 1 oreo about a week ago. He was alive so that's a plus lol. I should have kept the ones I bought in a container like in the video for a while before putting them in the tank. I didn't know what I was doing and I'm afraid I wasted a lot of money lol. I do see springtails on the bottom of the water dish so that's good. I have palm bark in the tank for them but never see anything on it. I hope I'm not bombarding you with questions but you have experienced what I'm dealing with and hope you can help me 🙂. Thanks and have a great day
Nice vid! The Punta Canas are gorgeous! I feed our homeblend isopod chow and/or some dried insects, every other day to once a week, depending on the species and the size of the culture like you mentioned. I keep leaves and cuttlebone in at all times. I keep a dry erase board on the critter room door and mark off feeding days.
Great idea with the board. I love feeding dried insects.
Both are definitely handy!
I personally feed a bit of isopod chow, some fish flakes and some carrots once a week.
That is about me too- but I will mix in a bunch of other foods also like dried crested gecko diet, muchrooms, etc.
Thanks for sharing this info super helpful. I'm looking to start getting into the hobby and I had no idea there where that many different species and sub species. I truly don't know where to start . I have heard Dairy Cows are an easier species...? They are all truly beautiful in their own way. Its truly astonishing and I now know why people spend big bucks for these little ones. I think its still crazy but definitely understand as to why. Have a great day
It is crazy but I've done it too. And, if you are looking for a place to start, I did a video about a month ago on the best beginner isopods (but you can always ask me here or on FB).
Question:. New to the isopod hobby and after following your videos I went to home depot for wood chips. Several stated they didn't have any more or grilling season is over just wait for next season.
My question is can the aspen snake bedding be used in lieu of the wood chips.
Make sure the aspen is NOT treated with anything. Also, I would not use a lot in your substrate. Just enough to act as a non-compaction material rather than one offering a food value. Make sure you watch our live stream from the prior Friday (if you have not already).
Great information
Thank you.
I am getting Porcellio dilatatus.
I would feed them like once a week, (I have shells for calcium) but would probs feed them veggies or fruit minced. Like a pinch or 2.
Perfect.
Did you put the sphagnum moss in the wrong side in one of the setups? You had one of the boxes with the vent holes facing you :D
Yes, I did. Nice catch. As the director, producer, writer, actor, camera man, I sometimes do things backwards. :) Hope there was also something good that you pulled from the video :)
So, I put in less food than I have been and when i checked it last night, they were out of food (besides leaves), so I gave them more food and they went running to it to eat, so I felt bad. I am going to study this video. I started out way too wet with way too much food, now i'm not feeding them enough. I am going to do like you said and keep a written log of quantities. Of course as the babies grow up, they will be eating more food, but i can log that too.
Sounds like a great idea. Let me know how this works for you
These are great tips wally thanks for sharing
My pleasure entirely
Very helpful! Thank you.
Glad this helps. What isopods are you keeping (if I may ask)?
@@SupremeGecko I have two kinds: Porcellio Ornatus Yellow Dot and Porcellionides Pruinosus Powder Orange. The Yellow Dot is just a fun pet for me since they come out more. The Powder Orange will be taking care of my new bioactive enclosure for my crested gecko.
@@Melissa-hc9gs Sorry for earlier message on another video. Missed this one. Cool. I hope they are both doing well.
@@SupremeGecko Yes thank you! I've had the powder oranges for a long time, so I got a good amount. Yellow dots are still adapting, but seem happy. :)
great information wally I keep a close eye on the food in my containors
Thanks
Great video! Thanks. I enjoy seeing the millipedes included
You know that was especially for you! Took me hours and hours........ ;)
Great video! Thank you for all your help 🙋🏻♀️
It is my pleasure. Thank you for all your support :)
Supreme Gecko I wouldn’t be succeeding with my isopods without you & Rus 👍🏼👍🏼
Hey sir , love your channel! Just got my first isopods today and was wondering if you put springtails in with your isopods?
Nevermind you just touched on that in the vid.
Absolutely do! A lot of my later videos show the enclosures and show tons of isopods. Congratulations on your first isopods.
Ahhh, no worries :)
Great video as always! Love your info!
Thank you so much. I greatly appreciate the nice comment.
Early squad great info brother 👍 👍
Nice job as first!
Any success with Amber bee and porcellio haasi?
We have P. haasi breeding.
Once a week, My three cultures are newer and smaller but are starting to boom with babies.
Thanks for watching. Once they get going, they really take off.
That's where I'm at too, once or twice a week very small amounts. My cultures are new as well but most are starting to produce babies. Isn't it exciting finding new ones in there 😊
@@RisingFromTheAshes97 All of my cultures are booming,. I've only added two more species since last year. I even had one of my colonies crash. But luckily I had enough babies that they made through on their own and are booming again also. I'm still only supplemental feeding once a week. Between the leaves, palm bark, paper bark, and wood pellets ground up in the soil they are good to go. I'm getting ready for a long over due split of my colonies hopefully by next weekend.
@@toxicevangelist750 mine are just starting to have their first babies appear but they are only 2 month old cultures. I'm glad yours are doing so well and the ones recovered. Mine get lots of leaves, wood etc too and probably don't need fed really. I only offer the tiniest pieces of occasional veggies but mostly offer a few fish pellets or something for protein so they hopefully don't decide to eat the babies. Most of the time it's about once a week.
Iv just been winging it with mine I collected a bunch around my house and made one of those culture cups with some coco fiber and dirt and bits of wood from where I was getting them and crushed some leaves up in it Iv been feeding them a fish flake or two a day and the coco fiber stays wet for so long I don’t think I need to add any but overall I think they’re doing well I honestly have no idea
Hope they are doing well for you as it seems you know what you are doing.
@@SupremeGecko thanks I wasn’t quite sure I did
Love this video you rock man !!!
Thank you!
ARE these varieties like Armadillidium vulgare "Punta Cana", are they nothing more than a color morph and can breed with Armadillidium vulgare to increase genetic diversity, which i would assume would create healthier isopods?
Also:
Is it possible to selective breed Armadillidium vulgare to get color morphs?
Sorry I missed this comment! It certainly is.
@@SupremeGecko Awesome! Thank you.
Hi wally ! I waight when its gone.
Oh wauw thank you!!! I wil do that. Great!! Greets Netherlands
Thank you for watching all the way across the pond :)
4:20 omg they're so cute
Thank you so very much.
Hope someone will help me with questions, i am new with isopod. Is the springtails not out compete the isopod for same resources?
I really enjoy helping people with questions. Leave a question and I will try to answer in a day at the most. No, I have found no issues with keeping springtails with any of my isopods.
@@SupremeGecko hmm.. Ok, one question answered, then 1 question left, please reply on my other comment. Thanks so much, good Sir🙂
@@Cleeon It is far better to comment on one post instead of crossing videos like this. Just gets confusing.... and I am easily confused :)
@@SupremeGecko ooh sorry, is it really we can not crossbreed armadilidium vulgare with armadilidium vulgare magic potion and armadilidium vulgare st. Luis? Because I think thats weird, they're from same species but only from different variant 🤔
I looked up: Armadillidium vulgare "Punta Cana", but im looking up pictures and not seeing those colors.
Where are you looking them up. Can you share a link?
How come you don't sell the normal gray isopods? (Armadillidium vulgare)
Do you own the normal gray isopods? (I do)
I believe the normal can come from any of the morphs. I actually do have a bin of them. But due to how common they are I decided not to carry them.
I wish my orange vigors would give me some babies. They are the last of my original 5 species to reproduce. My wild caught A vulgare ones in the terrarium are going crazy with babies everywhere even though it's moister then I thought they would like.
Interesting. Feeding a lot of veggies? Mine are taking off incredibly well. If you wish, send me a short video to FB or IG and I will take a look for you.
@@SupremeGecko not a lot but I try to keep some kind of food available such as a veggie piece or fish pellets. There is always plenty of leaf litter and wood etc, a damp end with moss and a dry end. I only got 12 to begin with and did lose a couple so I'm starting to wonder if I have only males left.
@@RisingFromTheAshes97 Let me know if I can help.
@@SupremeGecko it is a fairly new culture I just realized I've only had them 2 months so I'm probably just impatient.
@@RisingFromTheAshes97 mine took a bit to get going, but once they did!!!!
Depends when they've eaten everything lol - usually every other day.
Makes sense. Good job
I cannot BELIEVE the amount of food my dairy cow colony of around 250 can go through 😲
:) It's staggering! Mine just finished off a 32 oz steak I was saving for myself!! :)
✌✌👏👏
Thanks for watching.
Pause it at any moment when he looks at the camera and his face could be in a meme(no hate)
I completely do not understand this. Is this a good thing or a bad thing. I truly want to put out information that helps people keep their animals better. If' I do something that takes away from this, please do let me know.
I feed mine way too often.
As long as they are eating and nothing is molding, you are fine.
@@SupremeGecko The food grows mold and I don't have enough springtails. I am going to setup a springtail / charcoal thing inside with my isopods and hope for the best. I am also going to work on feeding them less, more often.
@@FusionDeveloper I have no issues raising springtails in the isopod cultures. Make sure you have a clump of sphagnum moss moist all the time and the STs thrive. Hope this helps.
4:23 Some of them look like they are infected with iridovirus
It's been a couple years so it would be hard to tell now. What signs are you seeing? Also, these groups have been producing strong for the past few years. Thanks for your comment.