Isopod         Composters            
 
Okay this question comes in from coop.
Where are isopods supposed to be placed in a home?Just woundering.Thanks in advance.
-coop
Coop, here is my answer:
I'd keep them where its cool but not too cold.I'd say room temps maybe a little lower.I keep mine in my room with no proplems.The basement would work a charm if you don't feel like having a huge bin in your room.Then i'd suggest keeping an eye on it just to make sure pests don't get into the bin such as spiders
 
April 7th/2010

Well as you may now i made a regrouping bin.Well today i found more isopods around six now.I think if i just keep finding more and more of them the colony should hit 50 soon enough.Hopefully by may.Anyway they are in perfect health although i'm sad to report the big one died i think :( oh well she gave me a few babies.I've actually begun feeding this bin with scraps so far a potatoe slice.My worms have also been fed this.I'll keep you updated!
 
Well i have decided to add a forum.This forum was made to help people better understand isopods and why they are so useful.I hope the forum makes it to the 100 post mark.The forum is sorta slow at the moment but i hope to add to it as the forum grows and peoples demands for new forums and such grow.Become a memeber today:
http://isopods.myfastforum.org/index.php
 

I've decided to take two of my most healthist isopods and make a regrouping bin.I really need to get a population explosion happening before summer really kicks up its storm.So in this bin i added a tiny ammount of dirt into the bin.Hopefully this will speed up the process.Unfortanatly i can't tell if they are sexually mature yet or not.Hopefully they are of diffrent sexes and are breedable as i'm in need of more isopods.Hopefully by June i'll have 50+ in at least on colony.So far finding three a day outside just isn't enough.I'll still collect more from outside and add them to the other bin.Hopefully this works out.If it does then i'll keep more then half in one bin and the other bit in a diffrent experiment bin.I wont be doing any experiments with these isopods until summer unfortanatly so i would like to say until further notice I'M NOT DOING ANYMORE EXPERIMENTS!!!!Hopefully near fall they will have 1000 isopods so i have something to experiment on in the winter.Winters in Canada are harsh.This years been pretty mellow thou

 
Likely due to the fact that isopods are considered Sowbugs among other names makes people think they are insects.They are not insects at all and belong to the same group as land crabs and shrimp called Crustacea.More importantly they have a totally diffrent bioligy such as modified gills and seven pairs of legs.One intreasting trait though is that they aren't full grown when sexually mature.They continue to grow until they are around 1 year old.The other great thing is the fact of how long they live.They can live anywhere from 1-3 years and i suppose if kept in captivity properly could easily live to 4-5 years old.Well that got a bit offtopic.Oh well hope you learned something new.
 
Hello everyone.This post is more like a poll.I wanna know if i should make a forum for Isopods?I want to know what you think and your reasons for wanting a forum.Thanks for reading and remember if you have any questions ask.
 
Well its been just over five days that i've been keeping isopods.Can't belive how much one can learn in just five little days.So here is a list of what i've learned from exprience with isopods:
1-Isopod feeding habits are easy to see unlike what most sites say.They made a small V shape into a carrot and have started nawing on it like theres no tommorow!
2-Moisture plays an important part in how active isopods are.Belive it or not i thought they'd be more active in wetter or moist contitions but in fact they are more active in dryier contidions[Just not too dry.]
3-I've found the perfect ammount of bedding and the perfect type that suits my needs.At the moment its just moist papertowel and then some cardboard.I then have a rack like structer that keeps the food off the substrate which i think will keep the food off the bedding thus lessening the chance of mites.I also like how it looks.I'll continue to move it up as time goes by so it's always ontop of the bedding.

Thats about all i've learned.My other bugs are really benifeting off of this neglect.Worms are still worming around doubled in size of my colony in a little over 1 month.I think all is good with them.My dermestids are doing fine as well i don't need to do anything with them!
 
Okay so i was fooling around with skins and stuff and guess what??????I found out how to add a site logo.Its on the top middle.I also renamed the site Isopod Composters.Also one last tiny little detail.Here is a new banner,for forums and stuff.
[URL=http://isopods.weebly.com][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/2O90E.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Just copy and past into a post or signature and when you click it,it takes you to the main page of this site!Hope you like it and continue to read further updates!
 
Okay now that you have your enclosure built its time for a litttle lesson in Food Requirements!Food is esiental for growing anything really.Also you want your pets/workers to be healthy right?Here is a guide to what to feed and what not to feed for newbies.
Good Food

-Fruit/veggies chopped works well for smaller colonies.

-Cardboard[Helps keep moisture levels to what they need to be]

In Moderation[not recomended for begginers]

-Bread/Grain products

-Citrus fruit and or onions

Bad Food

-Meats

-Oily foods

-Dariy Products

Once you get a feel of how much/what food they need/like you'll be rolling in isopods.For small colonies[especially when starting up] the best food is served chopped and then frozzen and defrosted in your bin.Adds to the moisture as well.Cardboard makes a good absorbing matieral for the moisture.
 
Most of the time hides aren't nessicary.But if your not keeping isopods for their feeding of food scraps then i assume its easy to have hides as then if your using them for food or something simuluar you'll be able to get them out easier.Now for those that aren't using them for the same reason as i am[to reduce waste and then eventually put the isopods themselves to the test this fall.] Then it's safe to assume your hides should be made out of something that they wont readilly eat as you want them to eat the healthy things.The most simplist hide[In my opinion] is called bark.You can use any kind of bark.Tree bark.Randomn bark from your neighors yard, or that stuff called repi bark or whatever.If you'r gonna use bark,make sure you freeze it for at least 24-48 hours.This helps reduce the risk of mites which well aren't bad in with them while they eat food scraps aren't essiential especially if your keeping them in with inverts or reptiles.They can spread to enclosure to enclosure and may infest the bedding resulting in stress for you and your inverts/reptiles.Anyway thats it for hides i hope this helps and remember feel free to add any comments below.

    Author

    Hello i'm koolkid.I'm a breeder of isopods.Which are related to land crabs.If you like the site than feel free to post comments in the blogs that i make.Thanks!

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