Honest opinion on Isopods?

[Kymura]

I worry about the bits my slings don't eat, (messy brats both of them),
problem is they are horrible housekeepers and the bits stay deep in the burrows,
I would have to almost dig them up to clean it up.
Should I consider one of the dwarf isopods to assist?
The idea makes me a bit nervous with the slings being small, so hoping some of
you can give me some advice here.

 

[micheldied]

I worry about the bits my slings don't eat, (messy brats both of them),
problem is they are horrible housekeepers and the bits stay deep in the burrows,
I would have to almost dig them up to clean it up.
Should I consider one of the dwarf isopods to assist?
The idea makes me a bit nervous with the slings being small, so hoping some of
you can give me some advice here.

I can't remember if I ever used isopods with Ts, but I did use them with pedes before, and they never even harmed newborns. These were tropical isopods, in Southeast Asia, so I'm not sure what species they were.

 

[MassExodus]

I worry about the bits my slings don't eat, (messy brats both of them),
problem is they are horrible housekeepers and the bits stay deep in the burrows,
I would have to almost dig them up to clean it up.
Should I consider one of the dwarf isopods to assist?
The idea makes me a bit nervous with the slings being small, so hoping some of
you can give me some advice here.

You shouldn't worry too much Kymura, all of our spiders have leftovers in their enclosures that we miss, or can't see. It's only a problem when we don't put any effort into keeping them tidy, I think. Mites are by no means rare, either, I think most people who keep spiders have had to pull one out and completely clean it's enclosure a few times. I know I have. If it ever becomes a problem, remember that most spiders can do well in a completely dry enclosure for a month, no water dish or misting. Mites can't. Any left over from an enclosure wipe will die very quickly without water or prey remains to eat. I've never used isopods, but I've been considering them for my moisture dependent species. I've never read anything bad about them at all, just remember they don't do well in dry enclosures either..

 

[Kymura]

You shouldn't worry too much Kymura, all of our spiders have leftovers in their enclosures that we miss, or can't see. It's only a problem when we don't put any effort into keeping them tidy, I think. Mites are by no means rare, either, I think most people who keep spiders have had to pull one out and completely clean it's enclosure a few times. I know I have. If it ever becomes a problem, remember that most spiders can do well in a completely dry enclosure for a month, no water dish or misting. Mites can't. Any left over from an enclosure wipe will die very quickly without water or prey remains to eat. I've never used isopods, but I've been considering them for my moisture dependent species. I've never read anything bad about them at all, just remember they don't do well in dry enclosures either..

Well, they are moist but not sloppy by any means, the G. rosea hates it and won't settle if it even spills the water dish lol
I guess for now I'll watch and wait, Just want them to be clean and healthy,
be glad when they get just a bit larger and I can rehouse them.
Whats the largest I could go with these little ones, (both about an inch) without stressing them?

 

[MassExodus]

Well, they are moist but not sloppy by any means, the G. rosea hates it and won't settle if it even spills the water dish lol
I guess for now I'll watch and wait, Just want them to be clean and healthy,
be glad when they get just a bit larger and I can rehouse them.
Whats the largest I could go with these little ones, (both about an inch) without stressing them?

I keep little ones in rather small enclosures, but here's my only sling in it's new house, she's about an inch and a half, and just reached this point where I gave her a bigger house. before this she was in that low flat case I showed you the other day, talking about enclosures. Well this like 2/3 of the enclosure

 

[MassExodus]

And I forgot to add, you can't really stress the spider out much with a large enclosure, terrestrials, especially slings, will just burrow and web up their own little corner and ignore the rest of the space, usually. I've only found my GBB slings to be an exception...they were very bold and had no issues exploring.

 

[Kymura]

wonderful, I'm going to move them up a bit then before they get ready to molt so they have time to settle.
Also, researching some old threads on another forum and found that they say you can keep isopods even in a dry habitat by simply supplying them with a slightly damp paper towel to get under, keeps one tiny area moist enough for them without significantly changing the basic habitat, if I can find some of the tiny ones cheap enough I may try them. Damn shipping is whats so expensive. ^*^

 

[MassExodus]

wonderful, I'm going to move them up a bit then before they get ready to molt so they have time to settle.
Also, researching some old threads on another forum and found that they say you can keep isopods even in a dry habitat by simply supplying them with a slightly damp paper towel to get under, keeps one tiny area moist enough for them without significantly changing the basic habitat, if I can find some of the tiny ones cheap enough I may try them. Damn shipping is whats so expensive. ^*^

Interesting..I may try it out with my Lp, If I get some isopods for my genics and pampho. I keep her mostly dry but a little damp substrate doesn't bother her, and she leaves boluses and waste everywhere, I'm constantly picking up chunks in her enclosure. Just because she eats so much. Thanks for the info

I like the powder blue isopods

 

[micheldied]

You shouldn't worry too much Kymura, all of our spiders have leftovers in their enclosures that we miss, or can't see. It's only a problem when we don't put any effort into keeping them tidy, I think. Mites are by no means rare, either, I think most people who keep spiders have had to pull one out and completely clean it's enclosure a few times. I know I have. If it ever becomes a problem, remember that most spiders can do well in a completely dry enclosure for a month, no water dish or misting. Mites can't. Any left over from an enclosure wipe will die very quickly without water or prey remains to eat. I've never used isopods, but I've been considering them for my moisture dependent species. I've never read anything bad about them at all, just remember they don't do well in dry enclosures either..

This is truth. Unless you're keeping the substrate super moist, the leftovers shouldn't really lead to too many problems. Plus they're slings right now, and you're going to be rehoming them a couple of times.

 

[Kymura]

I like the powder blue isopods

Wait!! Powder blue! Dammit....now I have to find some powder blue ones. They claim they keep feeder enclosures clean as well including the dreaded...crickets 0.0!