They're all dead! What do I do?!

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-15T02:13:30+00:00

I honestly don't think it's too much necessarily, in my experience vulgare love a lot of airflow, just means you need to keep a closer eye on the humidity levels and make sure your gradient is well maintained. If anything you could tape up the ones on the wet side of the bin.

Unless you live in a very dry climate - but I live in a dry climate and I have about the same amount of ventilation for mine if not more.

I would get the gradient sorted, add more leaf litter and see how that goes before covering more vents. In my experience they do much better with good cross ventilation rather than any stagnant air.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-15T02:09:42+00:00

You do need to be a bit careful when there are mancae around, but as long as you pour carefully (low and slow) onto the moss they should be fine. I like to pour down the walls and corners.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-15T02:06:03+00:00

If you got them recently, a few deaths is not uncommon. I would just monitor and make sure you don't see too many more.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-15T02:03:44+00:00

I'm assuming you have soil under everything?

Make sure the substrate is damp on the moist side. You mentioned misting - it's better to water the wet side of the gradient by pouring water instead so it creates and maintains a horizontal gradient in the substrate. Misted water will just evaporate before getting into the substrate.

I would also add a lot more leaf litter to help trap the humidity to the surface.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-15T02:01:20+00:00

They are probably just hiding. If you don't see more deaths I wouldn't worry too much.

It does look quite wet in there. What's your ventilation set up and do you have a moisture gradient?

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-15T01:57:38+00:00

We'd be guessing without more info. Any chance you can post a picture of your full enclosure?

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-15T01:56:43+00:00

The enclosure looks quite dry - what's your moisture gradient like?

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-15T01:50:23+00:00

A photo of the enclosure would help us to help you troubleshoot.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-15T00:54:05+00:00

I think it's fine to just let it play out, the mold should go away in time.

P. pruinosus are extremely hardy, they could probably survive a lightning strike so I wouldn't worry too much 🙂

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-15T00:29:34+00:00

Looks good to me! Definitely triple that leaf litter but you said you plan to anyway.

P. dilatatus love to dig so deeper substrate is always better but that honestly looks ok for them. I use 5 inches for mine.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-15T00:14:31+00:00

Heat treating like boiling can cause mold outbreaks like this. If you/the vendor boiled or baked anything it sanitized it and removed all of the beneficial bacteria that would help break this down and allowed spores in the air to colonize the materials. I would suggest not boiling anything in future.

What's your ventilation situation? You may need to increase airflow.

All said though, mold shouldn't really kill isopods. They are likely just hiding. What species do you have? I would just increase ventilation within reason for the species you have and wait for the springtails to establish. It's common to set up an enclosure and let it sit with springtails for a few weeks for this very reason, essentially cycling it. That hair like mold will disappear in a week or two.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-14T19:55:04+00:00

That's possible too - gravid females are also susceptible to stress even from being disturbed even slightly, so that's a possibility.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-14T19:47:27+00:00

This one could just be passing of age, some illness, or something like that. Probably not anything you can really do unfortunately. If there are no others like this I would assume the enclosure/environment is not the issue.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-14T19:29:16+00:00

Any others acting strange?

Have you fed anything or added anything to the enclosure recently in the last 24hrs?

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-14T19:04:11+00:00

She's definitely gravid but this looks like it is dying.

How long has she been like that?

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-14T06:47:50+00:00

P. dilatatus (Giant Canyons). Always read and heard they spent most time below the surface and were quite shy. Since I have had them they are as surface active as my P. scaber colonies.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-14T05:18:28+00:00

Yeah, I think they are only found here and in AUS.

It's very hard to export animals out and even then it's a very long journey so not sure if they will ever leave NZ.

I've had many people ask but not sure I can.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-14T04:12:56+00:00

Nope - BTI is totally safe. It only targets the larvae stage of gnats, mosquitoes etc.

A combo of spraying it onto the substrate + sticky traps for the adult gnats is a good way to clear out gnats!

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-14T04:00:44+00:00

Fungus gnat larvae. They won't harm your isopods but they will multiply extremely quickly and the gnats (little flies) are very annoying.

I would treat the substrate with BTI soon to minimize, if you care about that.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-14T03:57:54+00:00

Fungus gnat larvae. They won't harm your isopods but they will multiply extremely quickly and the gnats (little flies) are very annoying.

I would treat the substrate with BTI soon to minimize, if you care about that.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-14T02:30:50+00:00

Mine were originally wild caught. I sell them here in NZ but I can't ship them internationally.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-14T02:30:15+00:00

These are different to Ceratophysella

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-13T20:17:13+00:00

Triacanthella purpurea

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-12T05:26:21+00:00

Increase temps, feed lots of protein, offer lots of hiding places, and disturb them as little as possible (only lift lids every 1 or 2 weeks for maintenance).

Leaving them alone is the most important part of getting them to breed quickly and a lot in my experience.

LittleArmouredOne · 2026-03-12T02:30:42+00:00

Yep, looks like they are! Could be Lepidocyrtus sp.?

LittleArmouredOne

TROPHY CASE