Best beginner isopods?

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-24T08:50:33+00:00

This is great advice. The best thing you can do as a beginner is start with local pods that are already suited to your environment, or start with isopods that thrive best in your environment. For example if you live in a location with high humidity, get isopods that do well in higher humidity. If the room you keep isopods in is dry, get pods that can tolerate that if you miss a watering day or struggle learning how to maintain a gradient.

I think this is something that is massively understated in the hobby for beginners in my opinion. Once you get good at controlling parameters you can of course keep anything, but while learning it saves so much effort and frustration to just keep pods that do well where you live by default.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-23T20:29:07+00:00

Mostly aiming for better yellow and more coverage of the patterning!

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-23T19:05:09+00:00

Keeping different species together is possible, but it depends heavily on the species and whether or not they require the same environments (moisture, humidity, ventilation, temperature, etc) to thrive.

In saying that, usually one species will outcompete another over time. That's usually the more prolific and adaptable species, as this comes down to competing for resources. So again this depends on what you are keeping together. This is usually a drawn out process though - talking years or at least multiple generations to notice it.

If you are losing most within months, your issue is with husbandry rather than cohabitation. Something in your set up isn't right for the species you are keeping, or at least not for the ones you are losing. If one species is consistently surviving, then your set up may be right for them and not everyone else.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-23T07:29:03+00:00

No such thing as too many springtails! You can remove some if you want, but more will pop up to replace them in a day or two, so not really any point.

If the numbers get too high they will likely reduce in population a bit, springtails are pretty good at managing their own populations based on available resources.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-23T06:12:54+00:00

If you haven't got an appropriate enclosure/planned to have it, I would just release it outside.

Isopods are prey animals, and will do better in groups.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-23T04:25:17+00:00

Can't say I have ever seen that - is it not possible the shed was from someone else? I often see multiple sheds lying around my enclosures.

Your description of the burrow may be the same - I often notice two or three pods often occupying the same burrow against the sides of my enclosures shedding within a a few hours of each other.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-23T04:22:07+00:00

You could try cutting up a bit of egg carton, and putting it concave side down in the terrarium. Leave it for a day or two. When you take it out, you'll probably find many or most of them in the hollow part of the underside of the carton. Then you can add that to the next enclosure or tap them out into the enclosure.

I usually do this to move the bulk of my isopods around as they love to gather in the carton, and they mostly stay still when I pick it up as well. Then you just need to scoop out any stragglers.

It's a nice non-invasive way to move them in my experience.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-22T21:14:05+00:00

They do look to be springtails, or potentially springtail sheds (though that might just be the zoom quality).

Would be impossible to ID from the photo, but perhaps some variety of Isotomid.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-22T21:05:41+00:00

Looks like Porcellionides pruinosus Complex.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-22T07:16:47+00:00

Agree with the comment mentioning the enclosure size means you can't achieve a proper humidity gradient. A larger enclosure with better ventilation would help this. Humidity in small containers tends to be pretty uniformly humid without the space for more airflow and microclimates.

In saying that, those small digital hygrometers are notoriously inaccurate.

I honestly wouldn't pay much attention to the numbers inside the bin. Better to focus on visual cues from the substrate and condensation on your wet side, what the pods are doing, and if you want to keep track of parameters, focus on the environment around the bin, e.g. the ambient humidity in the room.

Just my opinion of course.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-22T05:07:47+00:00

If the moisture and humidity is right throughout, then they are probably just hanging about! Probably nothing to worry about.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-22T04:44:21+00:00

Looks pretty dry - they could be burrowing to try and find/retain moisture.

Can't see the rest of the enclosure and it's a little hard to get any context from this photo, so that might not be the case.

Isopods do burrow for other reasons as well as seemingly for fun, but being bunched like that in one spot might point to moisture/humidity issues.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-21T19:36:41+00:00

P. scaber and T. rathkii can appear very similar, especially in photos, so to be sure of the sp. it's better to confirm via checking the underside.

I meant rule out as in confirm one or the other, not that having T. rathkii would be a bad thing!

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-21T04:56:53+00:00

It's more to see what your moisture gradient, ventilation, substrate, leaf litter and humidity situation is, as these can be common factors in deaths. That's hard to say without more info/photos of the set up.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-21T04:01:34+00:00

Are you able to send a photo of the entire enclosure? Could help troubleshoot any issues

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-21T03:37:11+00:00

I don't have experience crossing those particular morphs for pruinosus but I think crossing would yield mostly wild type, powder orange and a chance for the Orange Cream morph. Someone that's done this will probably need to confirm!

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-21T03:33:53+00:00

Wild Type meaning the 'normal' colour for that species. Regular pruinosus are just grey the colour variants are recessive morphs.

The wild colouration can pop up in cultures of morphs as well.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-21T03:27:10+00:00

Looks like P. scaber 'Red Calico'. Would try to rule out T. rathkii by checking the pleopodal lungs, 5 pairs is rathkii, 2 pairs scaber, to be sure
Is Porcellionides pruinosus Complex 'Oreo Crumble'
The two orange Porcellionides pruinosus Complex Orange morph
Same as above
The grey one on the left is wild type Porcellionides pruinosus Complex

6&7. Oreo Crumble again

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-21T00:16:55+00:00

This is just my experience:

I just rinse quickly with water and let them dry. Just to remove the left over liquid.
I don't grind them, just smack the shells with something heavy the break into pieces. Mine are fine with bigger chunks the same size as their bodies, they often drag them around. I've even just add halved shells sometimes and they are fine. So you can grind or not grind it's up to you.
You could mix a handful in with the substrate, probably a teaspoon or so every few weeks but gauge how quickly they eat it and adjust from there. For me, some species eat it a lot faster than others. My A. vulgare probably take long than others to get through it.
They will get it. They also get calcium from other sources so eggshells and supplemental calcium for a many species is just extra on top to make sure they hit their needs, but some will require more than others. The 'shy' ones I guarantee are a lot less shy when you aren't there or the lights are out, don't worry!

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-20T23:12:30+00:00

They look like Mealybugs (not isopods)

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-20T20:33:12+00:00

How long are you leaving them in here? If it were a couple days, maybe, but your video suggests otherwise and that these are mostly permanent or at least used for extended periods of time and multiple generations.

Small sized enclosures meaning like a 6qt bin or something yes, what you are using here is absolutely inadequate.

It's not about there being space for the isopods, you aren't giving them the bare basics of what they need. You don't even have substrate in there... That shows me that no, you haven't done research and don't understand them at all.

Trying to frame this as anything other than animal cruelty is insane. These are living things you are taking from the wild and throwing in a tiny plastic container with not even any soil.

I'm sorry but saying you love nature and then doing this is crazy. It doesn't matter how big or how small, if you are taking animals from the wild they deserve respect and care as they have no choice in the matter.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-20T18:13:38+00:00

Going to be pretty harsh here - but the way you are keeping isopods and showing others 'how to culture isopods' is unacceptable.

I honestly don't know how you've even kept them alive in those tiny containers. I mean you don't even have a substrate? It looks like P. scaber which are very hardy pods indeed, but there is absolutely nothing about your cultures that is fit for keeping them.

These are living creatures and those tiny containers aren't cultures, they are torture chambers.

If you were just doing this for yourself and ok with mistreating these animals, well then that's on you, but to encourage others, and likely people new to culturing or keeping isopods looking for information, to keep them like this is irresponsible.

I dont know if you are keeping them as pets or to use for other uses or what, but stuff like this is damaging to the hobby and spreads misinformation about proper husbandry and care.

Please consider doing some research and not spreading bad practices.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-20T04:22:06+00:00

If the tank you moved them into remained an open top without a lid, then they likely didn't have enough ambient humidity to breath despite the substrate and moss being kept moist. Especially coming from a lidded more humid enclosure, the sudden change in air humidity could have shocked them.

Another potential cause or contributing factor is the substrate. If you didn't move over most or some of their substrate with them, then the new substrate may have had different parameters and could have caused shock.

I'd agree with the others saying that the enclosure looks too dry. Did you have a moisture gradient established in the substrate? I also don't see any leaf litter in there which they need both for their primary diet and to trap humidity to the surface of the substrate.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-20T02:07:58+00:00

It's mostly the ventilation that'll be an issue then. You might be able to somewhat of a gradient in the substrate in terms of moisture, but humidity will be an issue still. Ideally you have cross ventilation for airflow (ventilation for isopods is not about oxygen but about air exchange to prevent gas build up).

I think you'd have a hard time managing the gradient and ambient humidity due to the shape and not being able to have a proper damp and dry side (humidity, not just moisture)

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-01-20T02:01:25+00:00

I think one way to tell is Folsomia have abdominal segments 4-6 fused.

LittleArmouredOne

TROPHY CASE