Zebra pillbugs!

Aquarimax · Sep 21, 2015

I just noticed the first offspring in my zebra pillbug enclosure, and just had to share the news! There are at least two broods by the look of them. I tried to get a pic, but they are just too tiny to focus on...

Here is one of the adults

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Beary Strange · Sep 22, 2015

Aquarimax said:
I just noticed the first offspring in my zebra pillbug enclosure, and just had to share the news! There are at least two broods by the look of them. I tried to get a pic, but they are just too tiny to focus on...

---------- Post added 09-21-2015 at 08:10 PM ----------

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/21/3047a62e9f72fdbd03f573c1103fc31a.jpg[/IMG
Here is one of the adults

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You have to close tags in order for them to be viewable. Here ya go. :wink:
[IMG]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/21/3047a62e9f72fdbd03f573c1103fc31a.jpg

I can't see the babies, but congrats. I had no luck with mine--they just got invaded by springtails.

pyro fiend · Sep 22, 2015

i cant wait to see mine having babies i have them in with some oranges.. and they seem to be out alot more then the orange

love it ^_^ i think my nhandu killed the ones i had in her cage -.-

Aquarimax · Sep 22, 2015

@Belle Fury Thanks for the help with the tag! I missed that the "]"was missing. : )

My zebra pill bugs have springtails in with them too...but on purpose. Have springtails cause a problem for yours?

@pyro fiend
What kind of ventilation do you have in your combined Spanish orange/ zebra pill bug enclosure? I'm just curious as I have read that Armadillidium species need a lot more than Porcellio species.

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pyro fiend · Sep 22, 2015

Aquarimax said:
@Belle Fury Thanks for the help with the tag! I missed that the "]"was missing. : )

My zebra pill bugs have springtails in with them too...but on purpose. Have springtails cause a problem for yours?

@pyro fiend
What kind of ventilation do you have in your combined Spanish orange/ zebra pill bug enclosure? I'm just curious as I have read that Armadillidium species need a lot more than Porcellio species.

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Just top venting, i actually misted a bit too much last time (use a gallon sized pump sprayer found in most garden centers) but figured it was rly hot that week and would evaporate(sadly cold front came in), iv notices my zebras stay near top layer on the leafs (oak and indian almond) and the orange stay just bearly above water level tho

iv only seen the orange out when i mix the sub up more because i move layers around

pannaking22 · Sep 23, 2015

Congrats on the babies!

You may want to be careful keeping two species together, pyro fiend, because eventually one will likely outcompete the other for resources. If they get along though, that would be great!

Tenevanica · Sep 23, 2015

I've been wondering about these for a while! I was just about to PM you and ask about them. Congratulations!

pyro fiend · Sep 23, 2015

pannaking22 said:
Congrats on the babies!

You may want to be careful keeping two species together, pyro fiend, because eventually one will likely outcompete the other for resources. If they get along though, that would be great!

Oh im aware it was kinda a last minute things, and theres like 6 of each in there. I was going to use 2 dif containers.. But apparently my dog grabbed one off the counter and kinda destroyed it

so figured id see where this goes, lol. They seem to keep to thwir own areas so far tho

pannaking22 · Sep 23, 2015

pyro fiend said:
Oh im aware it was kinda a last minute things, and theres like 6 of each in there. I was going to use 2 dif containers.. But apparently my dog grabbed one off the counter and kinda destroyed it so figured id see where this goes, lol. They seem to keep to thwir own areas so far tho

Fair enough! It should all lead to an interesting experiment if nothing else

Hope it all goes well for you!

Aquarimax · Sep 23, 2015

Thanks! PM me or ask me here, whichever you prefer, I'll be happy to tell you what I can. : )

blacksheep998 · Oct 3, 2015

Very nice! I'm always happy to see someone else doing well with isopods!

I've got zebras too, and it took me a long time to get their conditions right. As others have said, they need more ventilation than Porcellio species. I sadly killed off the first few batches of offspring that mine produced because the substrate was too wet. But finally they're breeding well. I've got a handful of adults (the few survivors from the early offspring batches) and now there's probably about 70 mid-sized juveniles too.

Edit: Forgot to add a picture

http://i.imgur.com/jTcVruq.jpg

Edit 2: Ok picture won't attach for some reason so here's a URL.

pyro fiend · Oct 4, 2015

blacksheep998 said:
Very nice! I'm always happy to see someone else doing well with isopods!

I've got zebras too, and it took me a long time to get their conditions right. As others have said, they need more ventilation than Porcellio species. I sadly killed off the first few batches of offspring that mine produced because the substrate was too wet. But finally they're breeding well. I've got a handful of adults (the few survivors from the early offspring batches) and now there's probably about 70 mid-sized juveniles too.

Edit: Forgot to add a picture

Edit 2: Ok picture won't attach for some reason so here's a URL.

woah big picture lmao..thank god ab resizes [was huge when edited it for u lol].. im jelly.. im thinking about making a little well vented cage for them, with cork and leaf litter and maybe a false bottom to keep humidity up. this is very encouraging

edgeofthefreak · Oct 4, 2015

Wow these are gorgeous!

I have a tank of mixed isopods from a nearby forest. Just basic grey and/or peach coloured ones. Would love to have another tank right beside it for these guys.

In the pic linked by blacksheep998, there's a massive one in the background. Bottom right corner. It's deeper in the background, yet bigger than any of the others. What is the approximate max size for these guys?

blacksheep998 · Oct 4, 2015

All the ones you see on the bark are young ones, about half of their full length. At adult size these guys are just slightly larger than Armadillidium vulgare and A. nasatum.

Right now I've got 4 adults, 2 near-adults, 70-ish of the half-sized ones in the picture, and some little newborns I just spotted a few days ago. No idea how many of them there are, I've only seen a couple but they're so tiny that they're really hard to spot at all, much less get any kind of accurate count of them..

I just took a pic of one of my largest adults, lets see if it will attach properly this time.

Edit: Woo! It worked this time!

Also I've found that a sterilite plastic shoebox container with a loosely fitting lid and a couple small holes punched in it is enough ventilation. No need for anything fancy like false bottoms. I give them water once every couple days with a spray bottle, and usually I try to pick a spot where the substrate looks particularly dry to spray. I don't just go spraying the whole container, I try to give them a moisture gradient so they can find the level of humidity that they like. Typically I find more of them in the dry spots than the wet ones, so I think that's just what they like.

Aquarimax · Oct 6, 2015

blacksheep998 said:
All the ones you see on the bark are young ones, about half of their full length. At adult size these guys are just slightly larger than Armadillidium vulgare and A. nasatum.

Right now I've got 4 adults, 2 near-adults, 70-ish of the half-sized ones in the picture, and some little newborns I just spotted a few days ago. No idea how many of them there are, I've only seen a couple but they're so tiny that they're really hard to spot at all, much less get any kind of accurate count of them..

I give them water once every couple days with a spray bottle, and usually I try to pick a spot where the substrate looks particularly dry to spray. I don't just go spraying the whole container, I try to give them a moisture gradient so they can find the level of humidity that they like. Typically I find more of them in the dry spots than the wet ones, so I think that's just what they like.

I agree with you completely:

I provide water in a very similar way...making sure some of the substrate is always fairly dry, with a moist spot somewhere. I think that is a key...many of us are used to low ventilation and very damp substrates for other isopods, but this species doesn't do well that way.

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Tenevanica · Oct 19, 2015

I saw that these are available on bugsincyberspace.com. http://shop.bugsincyberspace.com/Zebra-Pillbugs-bic716.htm
Did Peter buy from you, or did he get them from another source?

Aquarimax · Oct 19, 2015

Peter had them in stock quite a while before I got mine. [emoji3] I bought my initial stock in June 2015 from Orin McOnigle (Elytra and Antenna) from a posting in Arachnoboards classifieds.

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blacksheep998 · Oct 19, 2015

Mine came from Peter, I was one of the first buyers when he began stocking them.

pannaking22 · Oct 20, 2015

Hoping to get some of these guys before it gets cold out. Working on getting their enclosure set up this week and then I'll get them (and a couple other species hopefully!) next week.

Hisserdude · Oct 20, 2015

Apparently Kyle kandillian has a "Dalmatian" morph of this species, but boy is he charging a fortune for them! 12 for $200!

Zebra pillbugs!

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