Porcellio hoffmannseggi Dying . . . HELP!

A

Acro

Seventh Instar
I have a small breeding group of Porcellio hoffmannseggi, maybe about 50 in all. 

They have been doing fine for several months, but now, about once a week I find one or two dead on their backs.  I recently found one dying, kept flipping over.  The dead (or dying ones) are a little discolored (cream instead of white edges).  This happens to large adults and medium sized juveniles, I haven't seen it with smaller ones.  

They have a screen lid, substrate is Coco Coir, about 25% of the sweater box size container is kept moist.  I feed them something moist (beetle jelly, or veggies), fish food, reptile calcium powder.  They have dead hardwood leaves and dead sphagnum moss.  There is cork bark and a few other wood pieces in there.

What do you think needs fixing?  My current guess, is maybe drier substrate and/or more food (I often find they have eaten all their food, while my other isopod species have a little left over).

I don't want to slowly lose my whole Porcellio hoffmannseggi colony!  Please help!

 
It's summer now, have your temps in that room been on the rise? My Spanish Porcellio always did the worst in summer, when I moved them to cooler rooms they seemed to do much better. Larger individuals are often more affected by warmer temps than juveniles. 

 
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Hisserdude said:
It's summer now, have your temps in that room been on the rise? My Spanish Porcellio always did the worst in summer, when I moved them to cooler rooms they seemed to do much better. Larger individuals are often more affected by warmer temps than juveniles. 
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You know . . . that's something I wouldn't have thought of!  Thanks for that Hisserdude!

What is their natural habitat anyway?  Are they cave dwellers?

 
Acro said:
You know . . . that's something I wouldn't have thought of!  Thanks for that Hisserdude!

What is their natural habitat anyway?  Are they cave dwellers?
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No problem, hope cooling them down a bit helps with the mortality! 

I think dry forests in Spain, but don't quote me on that... Probably not cave dwellers.

 
Acro said:
I have a small breeding group of Porcellio hoffmannseggi, maybe about 50 in all. 

They have been doing fine for several months, but now, about once a week I find one or two dead on their backs.  I recently found one dying, kept flipping over.  The dead (or dying ones) are a little discolored (cream instead of white edges).  This happens to large adults and medium sized juveniles, I haven't seen it with smaller ones.  

They have a screen lid, substrate is Coco Coir, about 25% of the sweater box size container is kept moist.  I feed them something moist (beetle jelly, or veggies), fish food, reptile calcium powder.  They have dead hardwood leaves and dead sphagnum moss.  There is cork bark and a few other wood pieces in there.

What do you think needs fixing?  My current guess, is maybe drier substrate and/or more food (I often find they have eaten all their food, while my other isopod species have a little left over).

I don't want to slowly lose my whole Porcellio hoffmannseggi colony!  Please help!
Click to expand...
I have porcelio and I have a colony of about 80, try not to let mold grow because the spores can cause harm and mainly mine die of old age they could have been bought older.

 
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