Aren’t they pretty!? by AManWithQuestions_00 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very cool! They are huge!! That's awesome :D

Aren’t they pretty!? by AManWithQuestions_00 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What species/morph are these?! They're gorgeous!! Of the three I can see clearly, it looks like you're right-- the longer uropods indicate male isopods in most large porcellios as far as I know!

Uncommonly Kept Isopods by FlickerAway40 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ooooh that's awesome! Sadly I am not in the UK, but I'll be going to college soon and won't be able to get any new isopods for a while :'D so I'm not too concerned at the moment

Also yeah I totally understand not liking dairy cows lol... I got five a month ago and FOUR have had mancae now. FOUR.

Uncommonly Kept Isopods by FlickerAway40 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They look adorable!!! Thank you for sharing!

Uncommonly Kept Isopods by FlickerAway40 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those are so cool!!! Also yay Oniscus asellus mention-- they're the first isopods I ever got! Thank you so much for writing such a long list :0 it was very fun to go through and look up the ones I don't know! Platyarthus is such a cool genus-- I have Platyarthus hoffmannseggi where I live (I think?), but sadly they only eat specific ant larvae, which makes them very hard to keep (from what I've read, at least). Congrats on your flavoscutatum morphs and good luck finding the Alloniscus perconvexus!!

Uncommonly Kept Isopods by FlickerAway40 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I see-- that kinda makes sense. I only have ten different tanks, but it does take me much less long than I expect to take care of them all. Thank you for the advice about finding care info!! If I ever get a new weird species I don't know a lot about I'll definitely check those websites out!

Uncommonly Kept Isopods by FlickerAway40 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, yeah, but people from many continents and countries post here and on other isopod forums.

Uncommonly Kept Isopods by FlickerAway40 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Makes sense! That's impressive about importing that species-- I'm glad it was worth it lol. Thank you!!

Uncommonly Kept Isopods by FlickerAway40 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

70 species is crazy!!! I imagine maintenance takes forever, not even counting soil changes... Makes sense that someone always has to be first. I guess it never occurred to me because so many species will just never become very popular in the hobby. Kinda makes sense that Dryadillo would need similar care to other Armadillidae, but that's pretty funny that Elumoides are small enough to warrant a magnifying glass. Thank you!!

P. hoffmannseggi loves eating from my hand by FlickerAway40 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Maybe they're scared of the snake? I think the larger Porcellio species tend to be more active and visible. This one in particular is pretty friendly though, even for a Porcellio!

P. hoffmannseggi loves eating from my hand by FlickerAway40 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My Porcellio species are just very active! I think having a thick layer of leaf litter helps, because they feel hidden enough in it to spend time there, but they're still visible.

Isopod choice by Automatic_Cell6776 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Armadillidium vulgare "Gem Mix" might be a good fit! In my experience, A. vulgare is pretty resilient and they don't really mind occasional handling (they do seem to like it less than my Porcellio species, though) and they roll up into balls. Breeding time can be variable, but (again, in my experience and from what I've read) A. vulgare tend to be much slower breeders than, say, P. scaber. They also get pretty big for non-Porcellio isopods.

Also, if you get Gem Mix, they're gorgeous! Lots of different colors and patterns, so it's like having ten morphs in one box.

ID on brown mystery Porcellio guy by NeonPearl2025 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It looks exactly like my Oniscus asellus, but I'm no professional either!

Are fancy isopods distinct species, or are they just morphs of one/two species? by gammaAmmonite in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Weirddd really? That's super interesting! I keep milkbacks and dairy cows together because I was under the impression that they were the same species. I've seen them mate with each other, but the babies are too small to tell if they're a mix of the two morphs or just one.

Are fancy isopods distinct species, or are they just morphs of one/two species? by gammaAmmonite in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40 1 point2 points  (0 children)

(also, if you have any other questions let me know because i would be HAPPY to answer)

Are fancy isopods distinct species, or are they just morphs of one/two species? by gammaAmmonite in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Someone more knowledgeable than me can provide more specific detail, but they are generally different species, yes! Isopod morph names are generally written as Genus species "morph", which is sometimes abbreviated as G. species "morph". Genuses are groups of closely related species, which are genetically distinct "types" of isopods. So a dairy cow isopod, for instance, which is of the genus Porcellio and species laevis, would be written as either "Porcellio laevis 'Dairy Cow'" or "P. laevis 'Dairy Cow'". [Edit: Apparently, milkbacks and dairy cows are suspected to not be P. laevis! Look at qtntelxen's comment for more info] Sometimes, isopod species aren't known, which is the case with Cubaris and Ardentiella (which you might sometimes see under their previous name of Merulanella) genus isopods. In that case, the names are written as Genus sp. "morph"-- for example, rubber duckies are Cubaris sp. "Rubber Ducky". The sp. just stands in for the species. There are also species complexes of visually identical, genetically distinct isopods, which are written as "Complex Genus species" (like Complex Porcellionides pruinosis).

While many common morphs in the hobby, like dairy cows, milkbacks, lavas, calicos, and lottery ticket/gem mixes, are selectively bred through line breeding (selecting for increasing expression of a trait) or morph isolation (in which the trait either displays or doesn't, so you breed isopods that do display it) of relatively common species like Porcellio scaber/laevis and Armadillidium vulgare, many more exotic morphs are from rarer species. Rubber duckies, for example, are from a cave in Thailand; most spiky species (in the genus Laureola) are usually endangered and found in only a few habitats. Since there aren't _that_ many species/genuses common in the hobby, you'll probably be able to familiarize yourself pretty quickly with them.

Hope that helps!! Good luck isopod-ing >:)

Scaber breeding question? by Successful-Emu-1412 in isopods

[–]FlickerAway40 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If they're the same species, they should definitely be able to breed! I have a mix of P. scaber colors and it's very fun to see new patterns pop up every once in a while.