I'm pretty new to caring for isopods but it's just a little bit fucked in my opinion that it sometimes seems like people treat their pods more like objects than living breathing animals.

Sure, they are less complex than us but that doesn't mean they don't feel or that their suffering does not matter. In fact, invertebrates and fish probably amount to the most net suffering in the world just by sheer numbers even accounting for their reduced moral weight due to consciousness.

I'm sorry if this is not quite the right place to put this. It's just been bothering me and I hope there are people here who care about animals in their care in the same way rather than seeing them as collectible items like fucking funko pop dolls. And why get dairy cows just to unnecessarily grow them and murder them because you don't have an option to give them away? It just seems like meaningless suffering to me. Just because they are small does not mean they are insignificant.

I hope I am not alone in these sentiments and I know that there are a lot of people here who genuinely care about their creatures. But I did a search on the sub and honestly couldn't find much about this so here I am venting.

I've been interested in owning Isopods and have done some research. However, I only have enough space for a single 30x20x15cm display enclosure. I understand that their colony can grow quite large and most people split them to control the population per enclosure. But this would just lead to more and more as the years go on as they don't stop breeding.

I would just like to be concscious about what to do with the overflow since these are living creatures and I want to be serious about their care.

Does it make sense to get just 1 Isopod so it doesn't breed?

Pants Hands down! Ember bees have the craziest Color Variation. Yellow, red, Orange in all shades and combination 😍

So I really like panda kings, and plan on getting some soon. I haven't fully made up my mind though. So what's your favorite and why?

i found this guy outdoors in central OH & could've sworn he was vulgare! ...until i looked closely that is. is it a patternless nasatum or some sort of dark form nasatum? or maybe a different species altogether? vulgare, normal nasatum, & the oddball together for comparison purposes

hi friends! i was checking up on my duckies when i found this little fella in a weird stance in his burrow! could he be just chilling, or is he ill? i haven’t seen any of the duckies stand like this! has anyone else experienced this??

thank you for your thoughts:))

Bonus Red Back Salamander photo 💖

Noticed a fella was in the tea cup and helped em out :>

Hi! Just got an enclosure set up for my little magic potions (5 gallon tank with reptisoil, gravel, sphagnum moss, mulch, leaf litter, maple sticks from my trees outside p, all that good stuff) and am looking to add a bit of colour? I’ve used acrylic paint to make these, I’m just wondering if I seal these rocks with nontoxic mod podge will it be safe for the pods or will they like, eat it and die?!?! Help?!
I also know I need some more leaf litter, does anyone have suggestions for making it safe after collecting from outside? We have a beautiful maple tree that I would love to use leaves from but I’m worried about parasites etc. Or would it be better to just buy from the store?
Thank you!

his greed sickens me

They were labled as Orange Greeks but i cant find anything about them online by that name. They're 100% Armadillidium as they love to roll up and are super shiny.

Hey! I'm trying to move from buying everything to taking advantage of living next to a forest, especially when it comes to rot wood since I can't get it without ordering out of country. I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to prepare rot wood for isopods at home? I've got sticks I collected from the forest floor and I've had them in water for a while to get the cleaning process started, since water has been the first step with sticks and leaves so far.

But what do I do next? Do I boil them? Freeze them? Microwave? Oven? What temperatures and how long?

Also, should I put the sticks in with the pods as is, or should I break them down since most rot wood is sold in smaller "ground" pieces? Right now the sticks are in short pieces that fit on a palm for ease of handling. I haven't really found any agreed upon methods for this online like I did with the sticks and leaves, sadly.

Hi all

I've recently got myself some panda kings and I'm just wondering if they need a heater? I'm in the UK so I'm not sure if the room temp would be enough for them or not really esp. coming into the folder months

TIA

I gifted my sibling a small colony of a. vulgare (which we both take care of) but I failed to account for temperatures in our house consistently hitting around 28-30C even at night. We only turn on AC when needed (to save power) and that's the only time it ever drops to around 24-26C.

Coldest part of the house I've found is the bathroom but I'm concerned about the use of perfumes and chemicals there will hurt them as well.

Haven't had any die on me yet but I'm concerned this might be too hot for them to handle in the future and they'll die :( are there any suggestions on how to handle this?

(pic attached bc i think they're cute)

Set up my first isopod tub about a week ago. I think they are porcellio scaber but not entirely sure. I know I need more oak leaves but this was all I am able to get for the time being. Substrate is a blend of coco coir, spaghnum moss, orchid bark, horticultural charcoal, and worm castings. My 10 isopods seem happy and have already demolished one of the leaves. Do they need supplemental feeding (carrots, zucchin, ect) or is it optional? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Is this a dairy cow mutation?

I had a colony of powder orange isopods in a glass tank for a year and a half. 3 months ago, I noticed they were all just gone. I dug up the tank, left food out at night, and even tried spying on them on my camera to no avail. After 2 weeks of this I finally accepted that the whole colony was gone. Upon investigation, I found fertilizer beads in the tank. I used organic topsoil and I fear it was most likely error from me not washing plants I put in there well enough. Fast forward to today, I’m making a new enclosure with the same tank and entirely replacing the substrate/cleaning it out.I got some dairy cows and have been breeding them for 3 months to fill said tank. As I was clearing out the tank to repurpose it , I found hundreds of the powder orange isopods. I don’t know how I missed them. I was planning on tossing the soil but I want to move them somewhere safe first since they ended up surviving. Any ideas? Should I use a kitchen strainer or something? Lay out a bunch of delicious cucumbers for them ? Side note, I have way more isopods than I know what to do with.

You’re uh… a little intense there, bud

I bought a pack of random pods (accidentally, I thought I was buying one species oops) so I sorted them by species into their own bins. I don't remember putting any white ones in, and honestly didn't see anyone in this bin for months, but looks like they're happy enough to breed!

Hey everyone! Out of curiosity since I am at the point of buying more isopod colonies; I have a few between 5-7 counts that I would like to ensure the success of since certain breeds are expensive starting off. The first couple I have bought also turned out to be closer to babies rather than adults as well so they are potentially a few months out from sexual maturity. This will also help others starting new colonies.

Any tips are greatly appreciated for babies and small starter colonies.

Pic: Baby 5ct Glaciers for reference. (Just transferred them from my Magic potions bin to their own once I could tell them apart. They were given to me as mancae.)