Post by stuckyteacher on Oct 4, 2009 7:27:34 GMT -6
I saw somewhere that people were using isopods in their T cages. What do you guys think about doing this? How does it work? Are they hard to raise and keep in the cage? Are any of you guys using them currently?
Yep I use them, I went and got some from outside this summer in an area I know pesticides were not used, put them in 2 delicups, let them procreate for a while, then put some in the delicup housing my P. cambridgei. Haven't had problems with mold, mites, or cricket remains since. They only work in humid enclosures though, because they have gills and need moisture to survive. They do great though at cleaning up. If you make your own colony of them to have on stock, throw some lettuce or carrots in their every so often and you'll find it eaten later. Keep them in a dark place, it promotes mating and survival. Some people talk about these running over your enclosure, but as long as you don't put more than 10 they usually don't. Especially if you are using a larger enclosure. The biggest I've used them in was a delicup.
hope that helps. Oh I forgot to mention. If you make a colony and let them breed and get a ton of them, you can sell them by the hundreds online. Cheap easy profit for gettin bugs outside. Check under logs and stones outside, even in this cool weather there should still be plenty out there.
Oh and most of the time tarantulas don't eat these. They secrete ammonia as waste and that must not be appealing to the spiders, but it doesn't hurt them. Occasionally if the tarantula hasn't eatin in a while say 2-3 weeks, it might snatch an isopod if it's out in the open.
In short, yes they are great. If you have trouble finding them I have a colony that I can give you or something.
don't think i could have put it better myself. i've never actually used these in T cages before, but i almost always make sure to have them in with my centipedes since many of them like it nice and moist.