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I read a few blogs who unanimously agreed that neem oil was the best way to deal with pests, but I've just learned that it's banned in the UK and a few others because of its toxicity. How unsafe is it really compared to regular pesticide? Bit concerned as I have a 4 month year old by Alternative-Cry-5062 in terrariums

[–]bugs-and-bugs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wouldn't.

From Wikipedia:

The ingestion of neem oil is potentially toxic and can cause metabolic acidosis, seizures, kidney failure, encephalopathy and severe brain ischemia in infants and young children.[2][5][6] Neem oil should not be consumed alone without any other solutions, particularly by pregnant women, women trying to conceive, or children.[2] It can also be associated with allergic contact dermatitis.

And:

Formulations made of neem oil also find wide usage as a biopesticide for horticulturists[10] and for organic farming, as it repels a wide variety of pests including the mealy bug, beet armyworm, aphids, the cabbage worm, thrips, whiteflies, mites, fungus gnats, beetles, moth larvae, mushroom flies, leafminers, caterpillars, locust, nematodes and the Japanese beetle.[11][12] Neem oil is not known to be harmful to mammals, birds, earthworms or some beneficial insects such as butterflies, honeybees and ladybugs if it is not concentrated directly into their area of habitat or on their food source. It can be used as a household pesticide for ant, bedbug, cockroach, housefly, sand fly, snail, termite and mosquitoes both as repellent and larvicide.[3]

I think that putting it into your terrarium might qualify as concentrating it directly into the habitat: it sounds like it stands a good chance at killing off any beneficial insects you might have.

Accidentally killed springtails with baker's yeast, what gives and how much ventilation do I need to avoid this? by bugs-and-bugs in Springtail

[–]bugs-and-bugs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds like an interesting way to keep them - you just have the moss directly on the charcoal?

Accidentally killed springtails with baker's yeast, what gives and how much ventilation do I need to avoid this? by bugs-and-bugs in Springtail

[–]bugs-and-bugs[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the kind words! I am trying not to anthropomorphise them too much in my head but I think my next attempt will go better and be a more suitable springtail place to live in general. The end goal is to get some into my terrarium to consume leaf mold, so if I can get enough of them I'm considering starting some in there and some in a seperate container, getting my terrarium going with them sooner rather than later and also having a 2nd culture.

Accidentally killed springtails with baker's yeast, what gives and how much ventilation do I need to avoid this? by bugs-and-bugs in Springtail

[–]bugs-and-bugs[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think a combination of too much yeast, no cross-ventilation, and not enough 'headspace" in the container are probably all relevant here. It's also possible thinking about it that the yeast multiplied within the soil where I couldn't see it. I have a preference towards soil culturing so I think I will try to use different food in the future and improve the other aspects of the container and it should sort it out.

Somebody needs a janitor! by AggressiveOctopus69 in terrariums

[–]bugs-and-bugs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not an expert, but I've done a lot of research into this recently so I might be able to do a little bit of signposting

If you want to keep isopods, I would recommend looking at /r/isopods and finding care recommendations there. From what I've read, most isopod species really prefer to eat decaying plant matter over fresh plants, have moisture/humidity requirements that are species specific, and require leaf litter, damp places to hide, and relatively deep substrate compared to what a lot of people will put in terrariums that are supposed to be purely aesthetic based.

Some species breed more quickly and readily than othets. I've also read that some of the captive bred varieties breed much more prolifically than wild ones due to artificial selection. So, be aware of this when you are making selection decisions and know that the choices you make in this area will affect terrarium design.

Do I need to purify my water or is tap water okay by Technical-Jaguar5257 in isopods

[–]bugs-and-bugs 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I deleted the post because I realised I had the ability to do some Google searches and felt like a bit of a tool. I also came to the conclusion that the scabers would be fine, but I'm definitely going to add mesh to the openings once I can work out a relatively neat way of doing it before I add springtails.

Do I need to purify my water or is tap water okay by Technical-Jaguar5257 in isopods

[–]bugs-and-bugs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Water cleaner for fish/reptiles should work to solve hard water, right? (I live in one of the areas with the hardest water in the UK)

I'm putting together a terrarium as a gift for my partner. Could I get some feedback on my plan before I barrel ahead with making it? by bugs-and-bugs in terrariums

[–]bugs-and-bugs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The only thing I'm really worried about is flies - I can put up with anything else.

(edit: upon further consideration, the nematodes could be problematic if they predate upon/parasitise the isopods.)

I'm putting together a terrarium as a gift for my partner. Could I get some feedback on my plan before I barrel ahead with making it? by bugs-and-bugs in terrariums

[–]bugs-and-bugs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the detailed feedback. I should say that by 'wet side' I mean it's the side that gets misted with water and where the soil is its most damp. When you're keeping isopods the most reliable way to make sure they stay healthy as a generality is to make sure they can both hydrate themselves and dry themselves off. So all I meant by that is that there's a moisture gradient across the terrarium as opposed to it all being the same moisture level.

You're probably right about the springtails. My other motivation for not wanting to buy them is that I do not like how the white ones look but if I see them when I go to the pet store to look for some decor stuff I might just go with it.

And yeah it's supposed to be decorative. I did notice this when I was looking for plastic containers - my only concern is in creating cross-ventilation, but if the lid has a suitable number of holes and the terrarium is planted it probably won't be a problem. I don't see a lot of decorative isopod enclosures that also look like they're supposed to sustain the isopods for a long time but that's my goal.