General Information About Isopods
General Care
Isopods need moisture, decaying plant matter, calcium, and moderate temperatures.
If you provide these then your isopod colony will survive and slowly grow.
Additions such as supplemental food and more specific temperatures and moisture levels can help them thrive, but if you get the basics right then barring any freak temperature changes or other rare crises you will be able to enjoy your isopods for years to come. for us to use.
Moisture
Isopods don't have lungs, they have gills. Many species are aquatic (including the giant deep-sea species that can grow to 50cm in length), terrestrial isopods have evolved to have structures that aren't true gills, but for purposes of keeping our pets this isn't a distinction we need to go into.
The key factor is that isopods can only survive if they can keep their breathing structures moist. They don't have to be in moisture all the time, but without it they will die.
At the same time they don't thrive in an overwhelmingly moist environment. To moult well they do best with some dry or drier areas in their enclosures.
We normally achieve this through creating a moisture gradient. Your enclosures should have a wet end and a dry end and we generally aim for between half and two thirds of the enclosure being moist. This allows the isopods to move to whatever level of moisture they prefer at any given point in time.
The simplest way to achieve this is to have the wet end of the enclosure consist of sphagnum moss rather than substrate. You can then wet the moss regularly and let the water seep into the substrate.
Never let your isopod enclosure completely dry out, you risk total colony collapse if you do this.
Decaying Plant Matter
Isopods are detritivores, this means in the wild they primarily eat rotting and decaying plant matter - rotting wood and fallen leaves for the most part.
If you've ever gone looking for wild isopods like us, then you'll know looking amongst fallen leaves, or lifting pieces of rotting wood will reward you with the sight of them scurrying round.
For this reason it should form the core of the food available to your isopods.
This is most easily achieved through providing plenty of leaf litter, and things like flake soil or white rot wood. It's fair to say it is hard to provide too much leaf litter to your isopods, the worst that will happen is it'll be harder to spot them in their enclosure.
You can buy leaf litter or white rot wood from places like us; or you can harvest your own.
If you choose to forage for them then stick to hardwoods (or broadleaf trees if you prefer). Evergreens can contain chemicals that are potentially toxic to isopods.
We also strongly recommend you don't put your foraged leaves or wood straight in with your isopods. Check them over for hitchhikers, let them dry out thoroughly then freeze them for at least a week. This should minimise the risk of pests and invaders entering your enclosures.
Calcium
Isopods must have calcium in order to be able to moult successfully. No calcium will likely result in mismoults and potentially death.
​
Sources of calcium include:
​
-
Cuttlefish bones
-
Tufa rock
-
Limestone
-
Natural chalk (rather than the stuff used to draw on pavements and chalkboards)
-
Calcium carbonate powder.
​
We sell a selection of these here -
​
It is theoretically possible to give too much calcium however; it can affect the soil PH and turn it too alkaline for ideal isopod health. Putting in 2-3 chunks of something and keeping an eye on it running out is the safest option. They won't go through it fast so if you're checking on them regularly you'll spot when you need to add more in plenty of time.
General Care
While the exact ideal temperature range can vary for different isopod species or general, keeping them between 15 C (59 F) and 25 (77 F) will work fine.
​
We keep nearly 30 species and morphs and find all of them thrive when kept in this range.
Getting too cold for brief periods can make them sluggish, but so long as they don't go below freezing they can manage for at least a few days. Getting too hot is generally a bigger risk, especially as this comes with an increased chance of drying out. Anything above 30 C (86 F) poses a significant risk.