Isopod's Favorite Fresh Veggies and Herbs?

A

Acro

Seventh Instar
What fresh veggies or herbs are a favorite food for your isopods? 

 
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I'm setting up a aquaponics system for ground orchids and I figured I'd add some veggies for the bugs.  I wanted to see what veggies people have fed that their isopods.  I've fed  romaine lettuce and they seem to like it, but I'm sure there are better things. 

 
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Mine normally get carrots, which they seam to like, I beleave that like apple as well

 
Although not fresh, I've fed mine wilted lettuce, and frozen peas.  Hope this will get the ball rolling on other veggie items members have tried.

Redmont and I can't be the only ones who feed veggies to isopods?!?!

 
Mine will eat potato, but don't have much interest in it. They like carrots, pumpkin, zucchini, summer squash, and patty pan squash, but so far, they seem most excited about mushrooms (technically not a vegetable). Though not veggies, either, I also feed Omega One Freeze Dried Shrimp and Ocean Nutrition Formula One flakes. 

 
Thanks for posting Trullan!

Mushrooms huh!?!?  I guess it makes sense, isopods being detritivores and all, mushrooms would be their neighbors.  What type of mushrooms do you feed your isopods?

 
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So far, I have only tried organic white button mushrooms and organic baby portabellas. If any of you compost, I think you could watch your compost piles and see what the wild isopods in your yard prefer. 

 
I've fed celery leaves, bean sprouts (technically a protein, but who doesn't like sprouting beans), chia/flax seed sprouts (not a veggie but fun to grow), carrot shavings unless the population is large enough to finish a carrot in 2 - 3 days, zucchini, squash, pumpkin, swiss chard, spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, radish, etc. Any extra fresh veggies I toss in. Most everything has been more popular than potato (potato traps are so deceiving lol). I haven't tried mushrooms yet, but I've observed that bell peppers are quite popular. (:

But they especially enjoy meats, pinks/pinkies,  snake shed, fish scales, cicada exo, banana peels (I just bury it in the substrate once it blackened completely), and the biggest hit of all dead roaches with many of my species.

 
Trullan said:
So far, I have only tried organic white button mushrooms and organic baby portabellas. If any of you compost, I think you could watch your compost piles and see what the wild isopods in your yard prefer. 
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Cool, next time I'm cooking mushrooms I'll feed some to the isopods.

ivyinverts said:
I've fed celery leaves, bean sprouts (technically a protein, but who doesn't like sprouting beans), chia/flax seed sprouts (not a veggie but fun to grow), carrot shavings unless the population is large enough to finish a carrot in 2 - 3 days, zucchini, squash, pumpkin, swiss chard, spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, radish, etc. Any extra fresh veggies I toss in. Most everything has been more popular than potato (potato traps are so deceiving lol). I haven't tried mushrooms yet, but I've observed that bell peppers are quite popular. (:

But they especially enjoy meats, pinks/pinkies,  snake shed, fish scales, cicada exo, banana peels (I just bury it in the substrate once it blackened completely), and the biggest hit of all dead roaches with many of my species.
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Thank you for the long list of veggies and foods that you've tired!  This is exactly what I was looking for.  :D

What species of isopods are you keep?

 
Probably won't help with aquaponics options,
but mine like watermelon rinds and love corn cobs. They also enjoy anything they can pickup and run away with. My Porcellio dilatatus eventually haul away all the sesame seeds I sprinkle in their dish. (It has high concentrations of calcium and copper which are both supposed to be good for them.)

If you get green filament algae, I personally would experiment with that on a small population of isopods to see if they like it and don't die from it. Some algae is toxic to some creatures. 

 
Thanks EricSJCA.  My system will be too small for watermelon and corn, but I hope to have a system big enough in a few years!  Super interesting info about sesame seeds! 

So do you crack the seeds or just feed them whole?  Maybe I'll try a sesame plant someday.  :D

 
I've been itching to answer this for a long time

Generally, all arthropods (and too many humans) gravitate toward high-energy foods. Thus, isopods and darkling beetles will eagerly swarm fruits, "meaty" vegetables (corn, peas, grains), fish/dog food, and dead insects even if they have other things to chew on. Of course, eating too much of these is probably not good for them, so I suggest you grow a few of these as a treat along with much larger amounts of lettuce and other salad vegetables.

AlexW, former "guest"

 
My isopods only get supplemental food once a week.  So they aren't getting too much.  I will mostly be growing ground orchids and rare house plants in my aquaponic system and will only grow 2 or 3 veggies or herbs for the bugs.  Whatever veggies or herbs I grow will be fed to my isopods, roaches and mealworms. 

 
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I feed my isopods potato and carrot shavings, along with decaying sticks and leaves supplemented by random veggies from time to time.

 
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My first isopods are expected soon.  I'm doing research and in the process I found a video a while ago that showed isopods sting finger nail clippings.  Apparently they love them and will eat them before eating other stuff.

 
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