A big isopod (+ springtail) update
Howdy everyone! It’s been a while since my last update about the little guys. As I posted previously, the zebra isopods all died. Unfortunately, it looks like all the rubber duckies died as well. It’s interesting. I took care of all my isopods the same way. I mist one side of the enclosure every 3 days or so. I feed them Repashy on those days as well. What I did notice is the only thing different between the 3 species I kept — the panda king isopods are in a different container than the rubber duckies and zebras. I mean, all three were in separate enclosures, but the containers I used to house the rubber duckies and zebras were the same. I’m starting to think that’s the issue. The panda kings are in a 6qt Sterlite containter with 3 holes drilled on each long side. That’s it. The rubber duckies and zebras were in much larger containers (I’m not sure of the company, but I got them at Jungle Bob’s—a fabulous reptile shop near me on Long Island!). Those containers had many, many more holes for air flow. I honestly wonder if there was TOO much airflow and they simply dried out. I had a hard time keeping both moist, so that’s gotta be it in my eyes. It’s definitely something I’m going to keep an eye on in the future when I get more isopods, whatever kind I choose. I’m sad both species didn’t make it, but especially the rubber duckies because they were so expensive.
In brighter news, the panda kings finally had babies! I saw some juveniles running around the enclosure for the last few weeks and I’m happy they finally reproduced. Actually, a few months ago, I picked up a piece of cork bark and found two of the pandas “doing the do.” I’m glad it worked out! I’m going to be keeping them in the 6q Sterlite container until there’s many more, so it’ll probably be a bit before I upgrade to a bigger enclosure.
Something else I noticed—the springtails in my panda king enclosure have exponentially exploded in number. I see bigger ones and even tiny ones that I hope never escape out of the air holes (let’s be honest, springtails, though very necessary, are nasty looking little creatures that I don’t need also exploding in my house). If I do upgrade the pandas to a bigger enclosure it might have to be because there are springtails EVERYWHERE. They’re also eating all the Repashy I put in. Definitely going to keep an eye on them.
The Long Island Reptile Expo is in a few weeks and I’m thinking about purchasing some new isopods—maybe more panda kings because they’re my favorite, or maybe I’ll try my hand at zebras or rubber duckies again. What would you like to see me get? Let me know in the comments!