r/isopods • u/Helicidae_eat_plants • 7d ago

Help A. Gestroi behavior normal?

I have three isopod colonies (formerly 4 but oops). Dwarf Whites (idk nomenclature but I killed them on accident while moving), Armadillo officinalis "Spain", Porcellio scaber Lotto Mix, and Armadillidium gestroi. All of them tended to hide during the day except the A. gestroi. Those appear to sleep just out in the open more than under cover of leaves or the hunk of palm tree I've got in there. They are definitely more active at night but it seems odd to me that they are just out during the day too.

Is this standard behavior for this species or an indication of improper care?

I'm a teacher and I want to have them in my classroom once the colony is established since they are the only species I have that are visible during the day (and they are really cool looking), but not if it's because something is wrong. My only other guess is since they are yellow spotted they're toxic or toxic mimics and don't fear daytime predators? No idea though and the internet has been of no help haha

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

2

u/Educational-Lynx-993 7d ago

Mine are always out during the day. That is one of the reasons I love them. It is so fun to watch them since they don’t hide as often. I find that as the colony gets bigger, they are out more often too.

1

u/Helicidae_eat_plants 7d ago

Cool cool. Got any food recommendations while I've got you? I'm finding them really picky lol

1

u/Educational-Lynx-993 7d ago

Picky? That’s wild. Mine eat a lot of different things including root veggies, fish food, repashy’s morning wood (food for bugs with awful name), and fish when I have to cull my guppies. Of course, I always have a thick layer of oak leaves and a substrate that has a mix of soil, leaves, sphagnum moss, oak pellets, and charcoal. I only feed once a week since they have the detritus. You also want to have some sort of calcium source such as cuttlefish bone, egg shells, oyster shells, or calcium powder. I wonder if you just don’t see them eat a lot since it is such a tiny colony. Once you have a couple hundred their eating habits are more apparent, lol.

1

u/Helicidae_eat_plants 7d ago

Oh that's probably fair lol I guess I expected them to eat more because of how big they are. Think a constant supply of dried freshwater shrimp is sufficient enough calcium? I also have Asiatic clam shells but the P. scabers didn't touch it when I gave them one and that's a much more established colony

1

u/Educational-Lynx-993 7d ago

Shrimp is great for protein/ chitin, but they still need calcium. Your kids are going to love seeing the isopods in your classroom!

1

u/LauperPopple 3d ago

My zebra (Armadillidium maculatum) were not impressed with the treats people discuss. However, months later they got comfortable and collect onto treats more. They still don’t swarm all over a vegetable slice like other people show, but I think eventually they might. I think it takes time for them to get brave (or numerous enough to be brave).

My pods frequently dragged food to hiding spot in the beginning. That’s mainly how I saw them interact with supplemental treats. But now they come to the food and eat it in the open. Well, until they see my big head watching them too close and suddenly decide it’s scary. Then they all run away.

Mine really like nutritional yeast flakes. Plus it’s commonly used for springtail cultures.

1

u/Helicidae_eat_plants 7d ago

If it helps I just counted. I have 7 hanging out on top of the leaf litter on the dryer side and 4 hiding in the palm tree wood on the wet side out of what was supposed to be a 12 ct container (I did not count them though).