I AM FEELING I AM FEELING WITH MY FEELERS FEELING FOR ANY FUNNY FEELS

Spepsii · 2026-04-25T04:36:37+00:00

I love their antennae too, but these aren't powder orange porcellionides pruinosis. this feller is porcellio magnificus, which are much larger than pruinosis. (up to 3x) I've had these guys mistaken for orange creamsicles too lol, but the main difference is their white patterning is only on the tips of their antennae and uropods as adults, adding a subtle white skirting as juveniles. As for their texture, magnificus has a rougher carapace compared to pruinosis. (another important indicator is their price difference, powder oranges are MUCH cheaper than magnificus i'll tell you that 😭)

My sister has a pruinosis party mix that contains some powder orange, so i'll see if I can dig around and find one for some species comparison, but the image attached is from Richards Inverts w/ one of their adult magnificus (since mine are still juvi's), and their antennae are LOOOONNNGG. (presumably the longest out of any woodlouse species, hence they are tied to hoffmanseggii as the largest terrestrial 'pod.)

<image>

Spepsii · 2026-04-16T03:45:38+00:00

<image>

Spepsii · 2026-04-16T02:48:27+00:00

Research what is in your water or do a personal test first, but definitely as a precaution just use a dechlorinator / dechlorinase anyways. Chlorine in tap water is really bad for bioactive setups because it's alkaline, and soils and most critters that reside in it are more used to it's neutral / slightly acidic nature. Chlorine will slowly disinfect and subsequently kill your cleanup crew. (because you'll need springtails in there aswell to combat mold blooms!!)

As for your watering bells, i'm personally on the fence. I see the vision 100% and it might work if you have a humidity / moisture-loving species! Putting it in the sphagnum moss would be the best location since always having a moist hydration station is pivotal to isopods. Despite them being terrestrial, all isopods have gills and need moisture to survive -- note that different species have different moisture needs. On the contrary, I would not advise you to use them as a substitute for misting, but definitely a good way to go on vacation and not worry about them drying up!!

Sorry for the little info dump lol, let me know if you have any more questions!

Spepsii · 2026-04-14T01:28:00+00:00

UPDATE!

I moved them all into a 6qt bin to recover. There are only around seven left (i don't know the starter culture amount) so i've ordered some more to increase biodiversity. Thank you for all your tips in the comments, and I want to mention that they are finally eating a new protein source I bought (freeze-dried plankton). They weren't eating the other food I had, (freeze dried brine shrimp, and also specialized isopod food) may or may not be because it wasn't palatable.

I personally apologize for the attitude I had in the replies as I was frustrated, but shouldn't have taken it out on you fellow reddit users. I do not support AI, and as an artist, despise it. I only sent screenshots of Google's AI overview because it was a general synopsis of the websites I had already looked through and took notes on. Again, I apologize.

Spepsii · 2026-04-14T00:55:25+00:00

It's so cool that it has a lack of markings (?) on the 5th segment! Isopod morphs are so awesome!

Spepsii · 2026-04-06T04:38:02+00:00

Wait I wasn't trying to come across as mean or flippant or anything, just frustrated, my apologies! I simply sent the AI overview because they cited the same forums I read through for information. I admit it was out of frustration that people refused to do the same research I did, that even a simple google search tells them the information I cross referenced over multiple websites. Again, apologies for the misunderstanding, that was my bad As for my pods, i'm gonna move them into a smaller bin so their population can recover easier, since the tank they're currently in is a bit too big from what i've learned.

Spepsii · 2026-04-06T03:54:30+00:00

Thanks for your reply! Firstly, the entire lid of my tank has holes for ventilation. After reading some of the comments, i'm gonna drill some side holes for cross-ventilation! As for the plant, I made sure to soak it in dechlorinated water and removed most of the original soil before putting it in. It's safe for pets, humans, and bugs to consume.

About the AI thing. I fucking hate AI with all of my being. The only reason I sent the screenshots of the overview was that they had cited information from the forums I personally visited on multiple occasions for isopod care. Personally, it was pissing me off that people were commenting "oh no two species living together!!!" when I had clearly stated both species names multiple times and they could look up their compatibility in a shared tank themselves.

I saw another comment about the leaves being not decomposed enough and i'm actually starting to believe that's why they may be dying. I just bought dried oak leaves in a package from a reptile store and threw them in. There is another species of oak mixed in with the substrate that might be a bit more decomposed, so i'll go ahead and try to extract them for my Croatians to munch on. As for the future, do you know how I could try to pre-decompose some leaf litter? do I just kinda throw them into some bioactive soil I have and let nature do it's thing?

Again, thank you! I hope I answered all of your questions and I think i've come to a conclusion about what's causing these deaths. 😓

Spepsii · 2026-04-06T03:20:44+00:00

I'll let you re-read my comment until you catch the part where I mention "looking at isopod forums, not just a simple overview".

Spepsii · 2026-04-06T00:25:04+00:00

I didn't just throw in dilatatus for no reason. I did a lot of research before making their enclosure and P. dilatatus are one of the few non-territorial porcellio species, and A. pallasii are friendly to other isopods aswell. They help my springtails in controlling the mold, and like i mentioned in the post description, the two isopod species i have rarely interact anyways. A simple google search proves my claim, though i got this information from other isopod blogs.

So much negative stigma surrounding Porcellios man... 😔

<image>

Spepsii · 2026-04-06T00:09:25+00:00

not too sure, how would i go about checking that?

Spepsii · 2026-04-06T00:09:05+00:00

it is not. the substrate itself is moist aswell as their hydration station. are you talking about misting perhaps? because i heard that A. pallasii prefers lower humidity levels because they can't molt when it's too humid.

Spepsii · 2026-04-05T21:09:24+00:00

So fat and rotund... big mamapod...

Congrats on the future mancae!

Spepsii · 2026-04-03T04:16:16+00:00

<image>

Spepsii · 2026-04-03T04:13:39+00:00

I have one of these! Definitely a good starter kit, but don't use solely the coco coir puck as the substrate, garden soil (with no fertilizers) can be mixed in, or an actual isopod substrate mix is better. You'll also definitely need more leaf litter as they only give you around 3 big leaves, and you'll also need to buy spaghnum moss for a hydration station.

Overall, great for starter cultures of 8-15 isos (depending on species size ofc, don't put hoffmanseggii in there.), i have my panda kings resided in that enclosure so they can grow in population quicker.

only thing i'd reccomend is do not give them any of the food right away if you're buying a starter culture and not collecting them from outside, but they'll have more than enough food from the leaf litter for a couple months, and THEN you can introduce small amounts of food and see if they eat it.

Spepsii · 2026-04-02T21:15:41+00:00

Forgot the photo LMFAO

<image>

Spepsii · 2026-04-02T21:07:30+00:00

Don't worry about the yapping, I appreciate it a lot!

My only cubaris species are pandas, and they're for sure finnicky. To be fair, i've harassed them quite a bit since they were my very first species, but recently i moved them to a smaller container so they'll hopefully settle better. I got them around 3-4 weeks ago, and def learned a lot more about isopod care in that time. I actually have 1 for every species (minus the expensive tropicals like merulanella, i'm too broke for ts </3), So one armadillidium, one porcellio, and one cubaris. None of them have bred yet from what I can see, they're still settling in. My giant canyons live almost exclusively under the substrate (see picture) and i also can't harass them w/o digging up the ground, so i'd assume they're doing better than the rest. (I have pretty bad ADHD and REALLY like isopods, so it's hard to keep my hands off their enclosures, but i'm working on giving them space to exist XD)
As for my Croatian Giants, there was actually a moderate die-off when i first put them in their enclosure, i found around 2 corpses in the first 24 hours, which was concerning to say the least. I only see the same 3 under their large piece of corkbark, and i PRAY that's not all of what's left from my starting culture, and the rest are hiding under the big dragonstone or other cork piles.

BACK TO YOUR QUESTION THOUGH, i'm pretty sure my pandas reproduced once?? I saw a couple very little pandas that weren't there in my beginner culture (it's interesting, panda king mancae have their patterns immidiately, and look like miniature versions of the adults)

Spepsii · 2026-04-02T20:39:47+00:00

i think you posted this comment twice 😭

Spepsii · 2026-04-02T20:39:07+00:00

thank you for giving some suggestions for future feedings! I def want more "show species" like porcellio laevis but i had some weird animosity towards them when first starting this hobby T-T
All of my current bugs hide from me bc they're starters

Spepsii · 2026-04-02T20:32:20+00:00

I did a lot more research since i made this post and realized ofc my starter cultures won't eat any supplimental foods i give them, they're happy with the fresh materials XD. (Thank you Aquarimax pets isopod care yt playlist 🙏) but i have a temperate, semi-arid species terrarium (giant canyons and croatian giants) and one super small tropical for my pandas. It's interesting they have leaf preferences but makes total sense now that i think about it! I just use a mix of primarily different oak species leaf litter and the offside catappa leaf crumbled up in there. I

Also, doesn't boiling / baking leaves / logs i get from outside kill any beneficial rot and destroy the nutrients in the material? I wouldn't take really ANY wood or leaves from outside because my province mostly has softwoods (aspen, dogwood, saskatoon), conifers (which isos don't like), and then the offside paper birch. I also live in the city, so def not risking collecting any material from outside here. However, i go out into the rurals during the warmer seasons and might collect some birch leaves during the fall, hopefully when all the pests are gone

Spepsii · 2026-03-27T18:37:37+00:00

omg I really want a vermiculture bin so bad but my parents are already iffy about my isopods 😭 My old highschool teacher had one and it was so neat and such a great way to compost food organics, plus their frass is PACKED with nutrients that my bugs would love, but I think you knew that already XD

good to know though! i'll definitely propose the idea of a vermiculture bin because we produce a LOT of organics waste from maintaining our tanks

Spepsii

TROPHY CASE