Need help with Porcellio expansus care

D

Daniel

Third Instar
Hi,

I reacently got about 30 Porcellio expansus in different sizes from a friend. The problem is that I havent been able to get any detailed information on how to care for and breed this species. They seem to have quite specific requirements. Does anyone here have personal experience whit this species and can help me out?

Thanks,

Daniel

 
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I keep them in a plastic box measuring 40x30x19 cm. The substrate concist of a few centimeters of soil with some leaflitter on top of it. Furnishing consist of some small limestone rocks in a corner of the container. The box is quite heavily ventilated with large holes, covered with fine mesh, on the sides of the container. This is the setup my friend kept the isopods in. I got the whole culture with container and all. The isopods have been breeding in this setup but the culture has experienced losses from time to time.

The person I got them from experienced some losses when the substrate was wet.

Im thinking about reducing the ventilation to increase the humidity in the air.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas on how I schould proceed?

 
From what I've heard, the general care needs of the Spanish isopods are:

A roomy enclosure, that has really good airflow and is kept dry except for one corner/area that is kept very moist. The airflow and moisture setup is KEY, do it wrong and they'll die off rapidly. You should be sure to provide plenty of hides, as well as plenty of decaying leaves for them to feed on.

 
If the airflow and moisture gradient is the key, the problem isnt in the setup. One part of the container has been sprayed daily and the other part has been kept dry.

 
Daniel said:
If the airflow and moisture gradient is the key, the problem isnt in the setup. One part of the container has been sprayed daily and the other part has been kept dry.
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Well then, I'm not sure what the problem is, perhaps they need more hides? Earlier you mentioned they have some limestone rocks for hides, is that it? These types of isopods seem more territorial than others, and require many hides to avoid crowding, large pieces of bark would be preferred.

 
I have some pieces of cork bark scattered over the surface of the dry area of the container. In the wet area is the pile of limestone and a lot of leaflitter.

 
Hisserdude said:
Hmm, well then, the care sounds good, I have no idea why they would be dying off. :(
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Thank you for help and advice. For example I didnt know about them being territorial so that was interesting information. The part about good airflow was also helpfull because I was about to reduce the ventilation.

 
I have lost 3 individuals so far. Not a total catastrophy. I began to worry when I saw the third dead individual. That because this species is not so easy to get hold of and they are a bit expensive. If it had been a other species of isopod I probably wouldnt haved worried so much.

The ones left seem to do well. I have seen some molting.

One thing Im thinking about is food. They dont seem to eat leaves as much as other species. Carrot, flaked fish food and similar stuff doesnt seem to interest them much. I have been told they eat lichen but not exactly what kind. My friend makes his own superfood for isopods. Its a powder that you mix with water. They eat that but not as eagerly as some other species I keep.

 
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Daniel said:
Thank you for help and advice. For example I didnt know about them being territorial so that was interesting information. The part about good airflow was also helpfull because I was about to reduce the ventilation.
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Well glad I was able to help a little bit. :)  I would suggest joining some of the isopod groups on Facebook, the people there are nice and very knowledgeable, and there are many keepers there that have experience with this species, so they'd probably be of great assistance to you. 

 
Daniel, I have just started feeding my Isopods a mix of brown rice flour, Spirulina powder and Brewers yeast. All should be available from an online health food store, although this is not a low cost option here in the UK, if you are Stateside it may be a little cheaper. The ISO's seem to enjoy this diet so far, and it is also going down well with my Springtails. 

Regards from Bill. 

 
Bufo Bill said:
Daniel, I have just started feeding my Isopods a mix of brown rice flour, Spirulina powder and Brewers yeast. All should be available from an online health food store, although this is not a low cost option here in the UK, if you are Stateside it may be a little cheaper. The ISO's seem to enjoy this diet so far, and it is also going down well with my Springtails. 

Regards from Bill. 
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Thank you for the tip.

I think the mix I use can contain some of the ingrediens you mentioned. I have tried with Brewers yeast. I think they might have eaten some of it.

 
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