I’m not sure if this fits here, but I’ve been wanting to start keeping pill bugs as pets, but I’m not sure where to start. I have a basic idea of what to do, but I don’t know what I should keep them in (in terms of size), and I’m not sure what to do for food or dirt. Any help would be appreciated!
Gotcha. I love my 40cm acrylic tanks. For a beginner I'd recommend Porcellio or Armadillidium. Get some terrarium/ invert soil and put a layer of 5-10cm (they burrow) mixed with leaf litter and rotten wood. Top off with more leaf litter and rotten wood. Chose one side as a wet side and put Spaghnum there. I like live Spaghnum more than dried/ rewetted stuff. Also the pods like to eat the fresh live moss.
You can add terrarium plants. Supply cork bark pieces for hiding and roots for climbing. They love lichen and always need cuttlefish bone at the ready.
You spray water every couple of days, best use a hygrometer to keep the right moisture.
I feed mine every 3 days. They need high protein food like fish flakes to breed.
A plastic bin with air holes (amount depends on species), possibly a heat source (depends on species) some good soil, a couple chunks of Cork bark to hide under and what will seem like an unreasonable amount of leaf litter.
Then just keep one side on the wetter end and the other a bit dryer. Give them a source of calcium and then feed them any source of protein once a week.
Forget about them most of the time. They will begin to rapidly multiply untill you don't know what to do with them. Eventually you will start seeking out rare species, at which point its over for you and your wallet.
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u/GracefulKluts 13d ago
I recommend heading over to r/isopods! Lots of experienced keepers that can give specific tips depending on what species and morph you want.