Skirted Isopods, are one of the larger isopods. We have had some grow larger than Giant Scaber and to almost the size of Canyon Isopods.
They are characterized by their outer fringe which resembles a skirt. We have developed black and brown Skirted Isopods as you will see in the pictures below.
They are found under the bark of fallen trees in nature. They are active when disturbed but seem to enjoy spending their time in communities under bark.
Provide them with a large container with coconut coir substrate, peat moss or leaf mold. Also provide rotting sticks and logs for them to climb on and eat. They enjoy eating the leaves of hardwood trees.
They also love eating Brewer’s Yeast, fish food flakes and carrot and potato slices.
Keep them between 65 and 80 degrees for best growth and breeding.
Mist the enclosure, substrate and hiding spots but do not make it wet.
Springtails are arthropods. They are soil swelling insects that feed upon decaying organic matter in soil. They help break down dead and decaying matter.
They are a great food for Dart Frogs, fish and other small amphibians and reptiles. They are very easy to culture as long as you keep them clean and watch for signs of culture crashing, mold or mites.
We culture out Springtails on activated charcoal and lump charcoal. We feed our Springtails brewers yeast and a few small amounts of grains. We grow many thousands of springtails in each culture and we also sell cultures. Of regular white temperate springtails, pink springtails and tropical springtails. The tropical variety are great for any terrarium that requires high temperatures.
Check out our video which will walk you through the culturing process. Also check out the links below to get the things that you will need to culture your own springtails at home.
Blaptica dubia, also known as “Dubia” Roaches and “Orange Spotted Roaches” Cannot climb nor fly. The adult females look completely different from the adult males. Females do not have wings, but have little tiny wing stubs. Males have wings but cannot fly.
When we started 20 years ago, Dubia wasn’t even on the map as a feeder. Today, it is a staple in the diet of many pets.
Size:
1/8th inch when born, adults can grow to 2 inches for females and 2.5 inches for males.
Lifespan:
1 to 2 years
Care Difficulty Level:
Easy
Enclosures:
We use slippery sided plastic totes with screened lids for all of our dubia roaches.
We use egg crates position vertically and we use coconut fiber and sphagnum moss as the substrate
Required Temperatures:
82-95 degrees
Humidity:
40%-50% which can be maintained with weekly misting of the substrate with a water bottle.
Food and Care Requirements:
Feed on ripe fruit and other plant materials, They will eat dry cat and dog food we also keep them on water crystals at all times.
Keep food and water available at all times and clean out the waste as needed.
Clean out bins when the waste gets to be about ½ to ¾ inches high.
Breeding:
Dubia will have approximately 30 babies per month if kept warm and provided food. They will give live birth to their babies. It can take up to a year for Dubia to mature to breeder age. Temp and food requirements must be met for optimal breeding.
Porcellio Ornatus is a colorful Spanish Isopod. It is one of the easier Spanish Isopods to raise and breed, but it still requires some care and balance.
P. Ornatus likes it on the drier side like Zebra Isopods do, but they do need a moist section, about 25%, with places to hide in that moist area. The rest of their enclosure can and should be drier.
They will eat dead leaves, fish food flakes, bakers years, vegetables and fruits. Just be sure to feed sparingly so as not to cause mold and mite issues.
P. Ornatus likes it warmer than most isopods to. Keeping them between 70 and 80 degrees will ensure success.
We have created higher/drier spots in their enclosure so that they can climb and regulate their own moisture requirements.
Harlequin Roaches are a roach that is used more as a pet or as a collection species than it is as a feeder. The adults release a compound that makes them taste bad. Nymphs can be used as feeders but why would you wan to? These are beautiful roaches that are too pretty to do anything except collect. The nymphs are more of an orange with some black and white sections but the adults are beautiful.
Harlequin Roaches can be tricky to breed because of their need for a drier upper level in their enclosure. As you can see in the pictures, we use logs to create a higher elevation for the older roaches. They need a warm moist place for oviposition and for egg development and hatching but they need it drier for breeding and feeding.
A six foot long Water Lizard name Poseidon has escaped from his Golden Gate Estates home in Florida The lizard has been sighted but he is still on the loose.
If any of our Florida friends see Poseidon please contact the authorities to get him home safely.
A woman in Australia took a picture of a 2ft worm that she discovered after a rain storm.
That worm would surely leave one heck of a large worm casting. The biggest worm that we ever grew was an African night crawler. The picture of that African nightcrawler is below. The Australian worm makes my worm look pathetic.
Huge African Nightcrawler
The large Australian worm is known as Digaster longmani and can grow up to 3 feet long in Australia. Read the story your self at the link below.
The Horseshoe Crab Roach is a nice, beefy mid-size roach that grows to about 1.5 inches. They are very shy and will spend most days hiding. We have found that they eat just about anything but they seem to thrive when they have oak leaves, bark or wood in their enclosure.
Horseshoe crabs will breed all the way down to about 65 degrees. They will also breed to about 90 degrees.
The Clown Isopod is a gorgeous crustacean adorned with colorful spots and a light fringe around the body that gives an almost glowing appearance. This is a Roly Poly and will curl up when disturbed.
We raise these the same way that we raise our Zebra Isopods, and some of our Spanish Isopods, which means that they enjoy warmer and drier conditions. We keep 75% of their housing dry and we have 25% moist and covered so that they can retreat to moisture if they need to. If we notice that they are spending a great deal of time near the moist spot then we know that it is time to lightly spray the dry area to increase humidity. That usually gets them moving throughout their home again.
They love fish food and bakers yeast. We also provide carrots, vegetables and fruits weekly in small amounts.
The breed well at temps between 80 and 95 degrees.
Difficulty Rating: We give the Clown Roly Poly a rating of Mid-range difficulty. The warmth and humidity/airflow requirements cause this Isopod to be slightly more difficult to culture, but they are still easier than some of the Spanish or Asian sow bugs.
For a few years a mealworm called Tenebrio Obscurus were all the rage. What was this mysterious smaller mealworm that Tenebrio Molitor and is it really raised differently? We bought some from a place in Florida and raised them. They ate, grew and were breeding just like regular mealworms, but they were smaller. They liked heat and we started finding them in manure piles, in our chicken coop and all over the place.
We kept track as the new worm increased in popularity and inquiries grew about weather Tenebrio Obscurus was really that or if it was actually a worm known as Buffalo Worms, Alphitobius diaperinus. The video below was one that we viewed as we sought the answer to the question of what these mini mealworms actually are.
After we had our worms and beetles identified by an Entomologist, we began a quest to find true Tenebrio Obscurus. We scoured the United States and could not find them until I ran into a guy who had P. Ornatus, High Yellow, isopods for sale. We got to talking and he told me that he had actual Tenebrio Obscurus.
He gave us several worms and we have begun our own Tenebrio Obscurus breeding program. It will take a while for Dark Mealworms, as true Tenebrio Obscurus are known, to be ready for sale, but we have them and they were reproducing. We plan to introduce them to insect world as soon as we have sufficient breeding stock.
Once we do, we will over these for sale and, probably for the first time, real Tenebrio Obscurus will be offered to the public as Dark Mealworms.
Here are some links to the actual worm below. Subscribe with the purple banner above to be contacted when we are in stock. Pictures will be posted very soon.
Thank you.
The interesting thing is the size. These are pictures of Giant Mealworms, Tenebrio Molitor with Dark Mealworms, Tenebrio Obscurus. They are nearly the same size and the Giant Mealworms are treated. Large mealworms are smaller than Tenebrio Obscurus. I can’t wait to get to the point where we can offer these to all of you.
Please check out https://www.Invertebrateauction.com if you are looking to buy and sell your own invertebrates. Dismiss
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Dubia Female Breeder
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