Isopod die off... an ideas?

[Lathis]

I've been breeding orange spanish isopods for several months as a feeder. I mist about every morning, depending on dryness of soil, and I provide greens and fruit/veggie scraps regularly.

This morning, I noticed all the isopods were out in the light and thought that was odd. I misted them lightly and went to work. This evening, I found that I had a massive die off. The few stragglers are slow and have droopy antennae - I don't hold a lot of hope for them.

The only thing I have done differently is I offered acorn squash instead of butternut and have been offering persimmon bits. I always wash everything, but that's no guarantee, I guess.

Any ideas on what I did wrong?

Blarg. They were doing so well, too.

 

[little leaf]

this is just a thought.... is it ALL sizes, or just the adults - it may be if its mostly adults, and they were close in age, they were old ? or maybe they are over crowded ?

 

[sandrachameleon]

do you have a lid on the container?

 

[Lathis]

this is just a thought.... is it ALL sizes, or just the adults - it may be if its mostly adults, and they were close in age, they were old ? or maybe they are over crowded ?

Seems to be adults, but dozens and dozens at once? That doesn't seem like a natural life cycle to me. I've had a few die here and there but never a wave of loss like this. Even the smaller ones that are still alive are sluggish - not quick to hide.

I have them in a 11x17 sterilite container with a screen lid. The substrate is about 2" of organic potting soil, plus bark bits and leaf litter to hide under and maintain humidity. I switched them to new soil about 2 months ago. They don't seem over crowded...

I'm going to pick out the dead ones and try to salvage the colony, but sheesh, I wonder what I did wrong.

 

[Lathis]

do you have a lid on the container?

Modified with screen in the center, see photo. The second photo is what I found when I lifted the leaf litter to mist. All dead or dying.

 

[poison]

What a shame :/. Definetelly not normal death. Perhaps it got hot in their for them?

 

[pigglett79]

Did the soil dry out? If it dries out they can die.

 

[Lathis]

Did the soil dry out? If it dries out they can die.

That was my first thought.

I typically mist every morning. Especially with my new snails, I have been paying them both more attention than usual this week. I don't THINK that's what happened, but it's possible. I hope not - they were really cute. I don't mind feeding them off, but it makes me feel bad that I killed them.

Hopefully, a handful will survive, and we can rebuild.

What a shame :/. Definetelly not normal death. Perhaps it got hot in their for them?

Temperatures have been the same in the house - about 75F, although it's MUCH drier because of the furnace. We run a humidifier upstairs all day/night in the winter. A temp spike seems unlikely unless they are more sensitive than I expect.

 

[pssh]

Did it get too wet? I've had some drown on me because my boyfriend accidentally added too much water. Are there any mites? It's also possible that something you fed them had pesticides on them.

 

[Lathis]

I think it must have been pesticides on the acorn squash. I must not have washed it nearly well enough. I gave it to the crickets and supers, too but no die off there...



I have a small handful of isopods that made it through the night. They seemed much perkier, so I'm hopeful to use them as breeders. When I get back in town tomorrow, I'll get new soil and set them up all fresh.



Thanks for the advice, all!