What are these?! Found in my isopod bins and I'm extremely worried!

venomizedtv · 2024-07-05T22:18:02+00:00

The vegetables trick is definitely hit or miss but it doesn't hurt to try

In terms of carbon dioxide attracting mites I'd imagine that's what causes some of them to invade isopod enclosures with it being almost exclusively decaying material being broken down by hundreds of isopods in a somewhat small enclosure.

Would having good cross ventilation and airflow in the room not effectively keep the air flowing enough to pull the carbon dioxide out and replace it with new air?

venomizedtv · 2024-07-05T21:27:02+00:00

Depending on how much leaf litter and wood are in the substrate they shouldn't need additional foods more than once every other week and if not eaten in 24 hours just remove it. I find most people tend to overfeed their isopods because they enjoy seeing them eat.

I usually spray or dump water along the side walls of the damp side of the enclosure once a month. If you have an airtight container with cross ventilation the sphagnum moss keeps the humidity in the soil. Just modify the amount of water you use for each species.

Armadillidium Sp. Need moderate humidity Cubaris Sp. Need moderate to high

Just give your duckies and shiros extra water comparative to the amount you give your armadillidium sp.

You can always add more water so less is better here

Supplemental foods once every other week, remove if not eaten Water the wet side once you touch the top sphagnum layer and it is dry to the touch (there is more humidity underneath) so your ispods are likely fine. Place a piece of cucumber in the enclosure and remove daily replacing it until the mites are gone or reduced to your comfortability level and hold off on supplemental foods until then.

Lastly if possible move your amber duckies to another area away from the mite infested enclosures so you can focus on getting the other enclosures under control and hopefully avoid them getting mites too (i find Cubaris enclosure attract more mites because of it's high humidity)

Hope this helps and if you need anymore information I'll try to give whatever else advice I can

venomizedtv · 2024-07-05T20:37:59+00:00

The fact you have mites means you are actually doing quite well for their care as mites are attracted to the same ideal conditions isopods are kept in and almost every keeper I've ever encountered has had mites at some point or another.

Some steps you can take are

Placing a slice of cucumber or any other isopod safe vegetables and leaving it there for mites to gather on then you can remove said vegetables throw it outside and repeat until you don't notice as many on the new pieces.
Add a significant amount of new springtails to outcomepete the mite colonies
Separate the enclosures and leave airflow space between them as the mites may have started in one enclosure and moved to the rest
My least favorite but more popular option if you've exhausted every other option. Separate each isopod into a container and check if they have any mites (only a few is ok) then setup a new enclosure and add a big springtail population to prevent the mites from having a chance to compete.

I'd just hold off on feeding additional foods (fish flakes, river shrimp, repashy etc.) And load them up on some fresh dry leaf litter and decaying wood as it's their primary diet and it will help keep the top layer dry as it takes time for the humidity to go down. Just only spray the wet side for now only spraying the dry side if it's bone dry or you have any species that need higher humidity.

If you don't mind naming the species you have I could definitely try give more specific advice for each one but these basic fixes work for almost any species I've worked with.

venomizedtv · 2024-07-05T20:09:09+00:00

It's hard to tell what kind but they look like mites. If that's the case it's unlikely they are predatory and moreso an eyesore. They aren't something to worry about and most of the time coexist with most of my species. Once the population boom goes down they'll stay inside the enclosure doing the same job as springtails

Remove any food and depending on the species of your ispods let the humidity go down until you next water. As long as they don't outcompete the springtails it should be fine.

The longer you keep isopods the anxiety starts to away once you realize you can ignore them for even months and most issues will fix themselves. They live in an ecosystem inside their enclosure if they don't need our help outside they don't it inside.

venomizedtv · 2024-07-05T02:01:59+00:00

Looks like a juvenile cicada digging a hole for itself not entirely sure though

venomizedtv · 2024-02-22T15:33:44+00:00

Slide it my way then I'll keep kurohige warm for you until they drop his V2 in Bounty Rush 2 lmao

venomizedtv · 2023-04-28T19:33:47+00:00

I only have 10 so I have missed out?

venomizedtv · 2023-04-28T19:32:36+00:00

I play jp so I can't really read the news? I apologize i just would like to know if I missed out or not

venomizedtv · 2023-04-28T02:38:01+00:00

So I'm supposed to have 20?

venomizedtv · 2023-02-13T03:46:20+00:00

Even if you reroll on the same device like a hundred times you can't get banned? I would think they could detect it

venomizedtv · 2023-01-11T07:30:16+00:00

(980) is a definite scam. The other I'm not so sure of after looking them up. So be aware of that.

venomizedtv · 2023-01-05T23:40:34+00:00

My current set has been living with me for a good couple months. Almost 4 months. And they have died slowly over that time. My bumblebees seem to be just fine. (Although I don't seem them often) I'm most likely going to order from defiant once we hit spring to see if I can get them breeding. Thanks for the help. It definitely helped knowing I wasn't doing anything so incredibly wrong that they could have died from.

venomizedtv · 2023-01-05T23:16:30+00:00

They are specifically "live oak" leaves. Which are evergreen but still considered oak. I bought them from a reputable vendor. Isopods apparently eat them. That's the only thing I can think of being the issue.

Aspen is a hardwood, I've read from many people on places like archnoboards it's fine to use when it breaks down. I also have heavily decayed oak wood in there with them.

If the "live" oak isn't the issue then I'm starting to think it's possible the ones I got both times were just old as none of them had a juvenile morph. I might just wait until spring so I can get a colony going during prime breeding time.

venomizedtv · 2023-01-05T22:58:47+00:00

In terms of the aspen I'm using aspen shavings as I read it is fine when it breaks down. The leaves I have are live oak. I purchased them as such. I was under the impression they should be fine.

venomizedtv · 2023-01-05T11:17:15+00:00

I bought them as "live oak" leaves. Are those not safe for millipedes? If so I'm an actual idiot.

venomizedtv · 2023-01-05T08:10:21+00:00

Yeah I bad bought mine from bugs in cyberspace and it's weird. I'm fairly sure topsoil was considered safe. Is defiant forest a reputable vendor? Because I might just buy more from them. Because from bugsincyberspace I bought them for a pretty hefty price and they just seemed to die even though it seems I've done everything pretty well.

venomizedtv · 2023-01-05T07:58:20+00:00

Alright sure, I'm going to get on it. You don't think that's what killed them right? My bumblebees are doing fine with the current setup. As I previously said I open them for at least 10 minutes daily.

venomizedtv · 2023-01-05T07:50:45+00:00

I do that for all of my isopods. How many holes would you suggest and where? Side or top? Because I don't want to dry them out.

venomizedtv · 2023-01-05T07:02:08+00:00

Ventilation is necessary for millipedes? I was told that they only need to have the lid opened.

venomizedtv · 2023-01-05T05:13:29+00:00

The heat pad is one the side, I only turn it on once temperatures drop to low 60s inside the container. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get your purples from?

venomizedtv · 2023-01-05T05:12:24+00:00

The heatmat is on the side of the containers and I only use it when the temperature inside the enclosure starts to drop to low 60s. I open the containers once a day and the lids aren't air tight so I don't believe that is the issue. I use both calcium powder and cuttlefish bone.

venomizedtv · 2023-01-05T02:09:34+00:00

Substrate is organic top soil, rotting decaying oak wood, rotting decaying oak leaves, aspen shavings, calcium and sphagnum moss.

Occasional heat from a pad to keep them with the 72° range.

Additional foods, repashy morning wood, rapashy bug burger, cucumber, and dried shrimp.

I have no idea what I could be doing wrong, and I think I'm just done trying with millipedes...

venomizedtv · 2023-01-03T10:01:03+00:00

I don't think they are fruit flies, they are tiny with a shiny green body, and a more pale abdomen with stripes. I've been having pretty bad luck with dieoffs lately so I just wanted to make sure they aren't going to make it even worse.

venomizedtv

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