Common Backyard Isopoda Species

This care sheet applies to pretty much all the commonly found backyard isopod species, Armadillidium vulgare, nasatum and maculatum, Cylisticus convexus, Oniscus asellus, Porcellio dilatatus, laevis, scaber, Porcellionides floria and pruinosus, Trachelipus rathkii, etc.

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Housing:

Any size container from 16 oz Tupperware to a 24 qt bin can work for an enclosure, I would generally suggest a gallon sized enclosure to start though, any smaller than that and adults of some species, especially O.asellus, may kill each other over territorial disputes, (and lack of surface area). All life stages can be kept together safely.

A substrate like coconut fiber, peat moss or potting soil, at least half an inch or two deep should be provided, and on top of this there should be plenty of dead, hardwood leaves, (which are essential to their diet if reproduction is desired). All these species appreciate a humid enclosure, but some like A.vulgare, Porcellio dilatatus and the Porcellionides can handle or even prefer semi-humid setups, while O.asellus and T.rathkii like things on the wet side.

Plenty of hides in the form of bark, eggcartons, small logs, etc., should be provided, the more surface area the better, especially since adults of some species can attack each other when too crowded.

Some species don't need much ventilation at all, (O.asellus, C.convexus, T.rathkii), whereas others like A.vulgare do best with a decent amount of airflow, otherwise adults start dying off. When in doubt, offer a moderate amount of ventilation.


Diet:

Dead hardwood leaves are usually treated as the main diet, with dog/cat/chick food and various fruits and veggies being enjoyed as supplemental foods. Protein is important in their diet, or else some species will cannibalize each other on a purely leaf based diet.

Despite what some breeders may say, sterilizing your leaf litter, bark and substrate usually does not lead to limited reproduction or stunted growth in isopods, I've kept many isopod species and morphs, and sterilized almost all their leaf litter, substrate, etc., yet most of them thrived for me, heck some of my colonies could even have been called overpopulated! So obviously sterilizing these materials doesn't usually cause many problems for isopods, and can save you from heartache in the form of mites, fungal pathogens, annoying molds, etc.


Temperature:

Most of these species enjoy room temperatures, from 68-75F°, many of them will have die offs in the higher range of that spectrum, especially O.asellus.


Breeding/Life cycle:

Adults of most of these species can live for a year or more depending on the amount of space they are provided with, and just how many cage-mates they have. The mating process is rarely observed, and the orange eggs that the females carry around in their marsupiums seem to take a month or two to incubate depending on the species, (Armadillidium typically take a bit longer to incubate their eggs). The resulting mancae are tiny, and depending on the species they can take around 3-6 months to reach sexual maturity, and they continue to grow after doing so.

Overall, these isopods are very easy to keep and breed, and what with their variable coloration and the vast selection of color morphs in the hobby, they are quickly gaining popularity as one of the more trendy invertebrates in culture!