-
Are you a Tarantula hobbyist? If so, we invite you to join our community! Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your pets and enclosures and chat with other Tarantula enthusiasts. Sign up today!
Removing extremely small uneaten food insects
- Thread starter Will-batayte
- Start date
- Messages
- 1,079
- Location
- Mt Barker South Australia
Most people will say no, they much prefer dead material to live. They are very commonly used in bio--active enclosures housing all sorts of creatures and are generally thought to be safe. When I looked into them I chose the "rough Slater" species, Porcellio scaber, over the "pill bug" sort (can't remember the Latin off the top of my head, but the shiny ones that curl tightly) because they don't burrow as deeply and the scientific data didn't include live foods at all whereas the pill bugs were listed as being less fussy and more opportunistic and it was thought may eat a pupating insect, but they were just basic observations made by scientists. All that was available to research really were basic "environmental impact" observations of wild populations because of them being an introduced species in many countries. Anacotal observations by hobbyists suggest that either species are harmless when used as clean up crews. When I was (trying to) research them initially it was to house them with tiny communal scorpions, I never had a problem with them bothering moulting scorpions at all, even though they were bigger than the young scorpions that were moulting. I haven't read any stories of isopods harming any living animal at all, I can't imagine them bothering a spider.
- Messages
- 1,079
- Location
- Mt Barker South Australia
The other critters would be springtails most likely, the two are often sold together as a clean up crew. By all accounts they are both thought of as harmless. Because you can't really control the amount of food available to them the populations can be controlled by limiting moisture in the substrate.
Inventory Full
New Member
- Messages
- 8
- Location
- Arizona
When would be a good time to add isopods? Is it better to wait for the Ts to become juvenile or mature before introducing them into the environment? I wouldn't want to stress out my little guys unduly but I have been contemplating adding isopods to help clean the boluses that are just too small for my bad eyes to find.
