Isopods are a big hit!

[Lathis]

If anyone is looking for a feeder to add to their rotation, my Jax just loves isopods.



I picked up a starter kit of 30 orange Spanish isopods a few months back. They are very easy to care for, are prolific breeders, and seem to be pretty hardy. Also, they are adorable. It took a few months to establish a stable population where I felt I could start feeding them off. They are smaller than other feeders - my mature adults are only about 1/2 inch long.



Ferdinand my Jax got to sample a few last month and just went nuts. I put some on a vine. He snapped them up, then went searching all over for more! I've been cup feeding since because they are so small. It's hilarious, he can't eat them fast enough



He's been acting a bit schmoopy lately. Isopods really perked him up this morning. Plus, he gets superworms on Fridays, so today was like lizard Christmas.

 

[pigglett79]

All of my boys love them too! I have the tan sow bugs and boy are they a hit. I feed them to my jackson, panther, bearded dragon and whites tree frogs. Everyone loves them. And they are high in calcium so that is a plus.

 

[ridgebax1]

Where does one get them. I am always looking for new bugs for Omar.

 

[pigglett79]

Where does one get them. I am always looking for new bugs for Omar.

I found the best prices and double D's.

http://www.doubleds.org/

Edit: Look under unique feeders for isopods.

 

[Thegreatfonz]

My chams scared of them and it's very frustrating. I've tried multiple times and he still backs away even though he gets way amped up when he hears them he even gets his tongue ready, but once he sees them he backs off ARGHH

 

[Lathis]

http://bugsincyberspace.com/Isopods.html
http://www.roachcrossing.com/isopods.htm
http://www.smallpetfeeders.com/123-isopods

And other places, I'm sure. Not everyone has everything in stock, so you might have to shop around. They can be a bit expensive (I think I spent almost $50 on 30 individuals with shipping), but remember it's a starter kit. You will get a mix of adults and youngins.

Here's a great write up by Sandrachameleon on their care:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...orcellio-pillbugs-woodlice-rollie-pollie.html

 

[Lathis]

My chams scared of them and it's very frustrating. I've tried multiple times and he still backs away even though he gets way amped up when he hears them he even gets his tongue ready, but once he sees them he backs off ARGHH

That's too funny!

 

[deadhd5]

I have a colony of the standard "roly polies" that can be found under any rock here in Ohio. Does anyone know if the ones offered in the links are bigger / better feeders? I like keeping them, but they are pretty small.

I haven't fed any off yet because I am waiting for the babies to get big enough. I don't want to feed the WC ones off because I read that they accumulate toxins from their environment.

 

[pigglett79]

I have a colony of the standard "roly polies" that can be found under any rock here in Ohio. Does anyone know if the ones offered in the links are bigger / better feeders? I like keeping them, but they are pretty small.

I haven't fed any off yet because I am waiting for the babies to get big enough. I don't want to feed the WC ones off because I read that they accumulate toxins from their environment.

The tan sow bugs are bigger, but still a small feeder. I am currently on the hunt for giant canyon isopods which get up to an inch long! Sounds awesome!

 

[Lathis]

http://shop.bugsincyberspace.com/Giant-Canyon-Isopods-15-count-bic703.htm

 

[pigglett79]

The tan sow bugs are bigger, but still a small feeder. I am currently on the hunt for giant canyon isopods which get up to an inch long! Sounds awesome!

Thanks, I did see those, but a bit pricey, I'm pretty sure someone on one of these various forums is selling cheaper

 

[sandrachameleon]

If anyone is looking for a feeder to add to their rotation, my Jax just loves isopods.

Mine panthers and veiled love them too.

 

[werecat]

So is it only WC isopods that are high in toxins? I've been avoiding these because I thought they were all high in toxins.

 

[Lathis]

So is it only WC isopods that are high in toxins? I've been avoiding these because I thought they were all high in toxins.

Yes, that is something to be concerned about with wild caught isos since they can store toxins and heavy metals that would get passed on to your cham. If you breed from a wild caught population, you would need to move the new babies to a different bins to weed out the wild bugs (Not knowing the origin of the orange isos I bought, I went ahead and treated them as if they were wild and isolated the new babies as they appeared, tedious but easy). Any toxins in their bodies would be the result of the environment and food source, not generated by the isos themselves.

Sandrachameleon discusses this in her blog post (link in a reply above), and I am regurgitating what I have read there and from other sources.

 

[sandrachameleon]

So is it only WC isopods that are high in toxins? I've been avoiding these because I thought they were all high in toxins.

isopods are heavy metal bioaccumulators*, so WC ones ccould have high heavy metal levels, because of the environment they are in. If you raise for yourself, you remove that risk.

see:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...orcellio-pillbugs-woodlice-rollie-pollie.html

*what I mean by heavy metal bioaccumulators:
they are able to injest and tolerate some (what should be toxic) levels of heavy metals (mecury, boron, cadmium, lead etc) by accumulting them in vesicles in the hepatopancreas, (by "walling them off" and storing it inside their bodies). They have short lives, so this is a good short-term strategy (they arent concerned about long term). It allows them to eat decaying matter and such and live happily in even polluted areas. Their resistance to high levels of pollution, particularly heavy metals, in their environment means you'll often find them where no other detritivores exist (earthworms etc.) because the others cannt handle these high levels of toxins.

Chameleons or anything else that eats them take in all the accumulated "walled off" heavy metals - the more injested, adding up over the years, the more toxic this becomes - biomagnification. That's why not too many things naturally prey on terrestrial isopods (starlings being a big exception)

You might be thinking that the area you are collecting them from is relatively unpolluted, but you might be wrong. If people are around, pollution is around. Just think about the lead paint used on houses until not all that long ago, or the batteries people buired in the yard, lead from petrol combustion law mowers and cars and other air pollutants "washed" down to the soil by rain, asenic and preservatives in wood used in construction or for gardening bed retaining walls and fences, lead bb-gun pellets some kid played with in the 50s, urban runoff Leachate and other ground water contaminants, phosphate fertilizers, leaking furnace oil tanks, septic systems, etcetera.

 

[werecat]

Thank you for all the good information. That has really cleared up my confusion in the matter. I may have to give these a try!

 

[melble68]

i didn't know isopods by their scientific name, but after googling them i definitely know. growing up in IL, i used to feed them all the time to my pet toads that I caught at the house my dad built for us when I was probably 8 years old. they were a dinky version, but we called them pill bugs. that was my start to this addiction.

toads and pill bugs. damn gate way. look at me now.

 

[melble68]

btw, anyone know the protein percentage of isopods? better or less than crickets?

 

[Jakeelias93]

so the Orange ones grow to a half inch? would these be ok to be a staple diet? they sound too good to be true. if they can be I'll be starting a colony this week for sure. I'm assuming you would still need to dust them daily?

 

[Lathis]

They are an add, not a staple

I'm planning to provide maybe a dozen weekly IF my colony can support that. I might be overly ambitious with that thought.

I am trying to provide at least 10-15% of my Jax's diet with "miscellaneous" bugs. I use a combo of crickets, superworms (less often because he's become a real fatty), and silkworms as my staple feeders.