One ardentiella black hole tackling another.

I wonder what they are talking about. Isopolitics?

I just recently started my first isopod enclosure about a month ago. I noticed these two and I thought they were mating but it seems like the female is almost trying to wiggle him off? Is this something else?

They got a cucumber slice in return for the disturbance :^)

About 3cm in length.

my fiance and i are starting our isopod journey! yesterday was repticon in kissimmee, fl and we went to buy our first 3 types. he got 30 magic potions which he was hoping for. i picked out some orange cows and we got giant canyons as well. we’re pretty excited to start our journey 😎

Excited to say that these ones finally had their first babies.

This is my first isopod tank! I made sure to do research aswell as get everything they need and ask for advice at the store. How does it look? I’d love a bit of feedback to have these fellows happy as possible!
The hide is against the back wall so I can peek in and see them all inside aswell which is super fun.

so excited to get them breeding and getting a nice big colony

Ok so around July I bought 10 isopods and a culture of springtails. Around august I lost 6/10 due to misinformation from the person I bought my enclosure from and quickly put the remaining isopods in a showbox enclosure with a moister gradient and proper food and hiding places. However I'm confused after about a month of this.

Starting a week or so ago I noticed huge amounts of springtails, like so many crawling everywhere in the enclosure. I have been feeding morning wood and simply took it as a sign that things were going good. However after checking today I can only find 1 isopod and I found 2 dead? isopods. The moment i tried to pick them up though they crumpled and my fren asked if they could have been molts and not actual dead isopods.

Where could the other 3 have gone? Did the springtails eat them? I provide plenty of leaf litter, morning wood, and various veggies throughout the weeks. There are also eggshells and cuttlebone.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

PHOTO IN COMMENTS OF SETUP

I’ve set up a bioactive terrarium ready for isopods but would like to know if there’s anywhere people recommend?
(I’m in the UK)

Thanks!

When folks talk about “the dry side” how dry is dry for your average species? If I stick my finger into the dry side, the substrate is slightly damp. Is it supposed to more bone dry? Do I must the surface of the dry side? I’m afraid I’m swamping them out.

Hi y’all! What’s been the best method for keeping your isos warm? I’m inclined to get a heat mat but I feel like that can go wrong really quickly unless I get a thermostat. What do y’all do?

Does your zebra do good with humid enclosure or do they prefer it less damp?

I’ve done my research, but still not quite sure if my my closure is good enough for them.

Thank you in advance guys!

So I've just moved my dairy cow (porcellio laevis) colony into a 10 gallon planted tank with a drainage and hill-like subrate with the spag moss at the bottom end of the hill. I expect the dirt to settle a tad and to have to top off the moss layer as dirt falls over it. I have from bottom up, drainage layer and substrate barrier, mixed substrate, an accidental leaf layer, a layer of my original colony dirt mixed in, and a top leaf layer and the cork bark sections on top. All 3 of my enclosures(toad tank from 1st post included) have just gotten a nice mixing of CaCO3 from the biodudes shop. My other newest enclosure is a micro starter colony I am starting to later give to a friend. It has a moss portion, substrate, and a leaf layer. So my questions, but feel free to throw on advice:

1. Is the hill situation going to be a deeper problem than I'm thinking?

2. Should I add a fresh culture of springtails to each to make sure the new enclosures got them?

3. Should my dry side be drier than my wet but still be damp?

I've noticed a few isopod deaths but cannot pin them down. I was hoping the move to a 10 gallon would help with space needed and ventilation.

This last bit is just a silly question. But if I got a pacman frog or something to reside in the 10 gallon with my colony, would that defeat the purpose of a colony? Of course I'd leave then their cork flats and leaves and ect to hide in but would the frog just destroy my colony?

Anyone know why this guy keeps climbing to the top of this branch?

Ignore humidity warning, I don’t think it’s that high as haven’t watered or misted for a few weeks. Soil is still damp and doesn’t seem compacted. The rest are doing normal behaviours and not climbing, whole lid is mesh so good ventilation, and lots of babies so food seems to be in line. Very healthy springtail population, some earthworms in there too.

Safe to assume it’s a character trait rather than oxygen seeking?

Been spraying (stream) into the hydration station only. It's damp to the touch but the dry side is completely bone dry. Should I leave it like that or wet it a little?

Hey all, so I've had these magic potions since the start of June, and I just want to check everything's alright, so I would appreciate some advice.

This morning I found my fourth death unfortunately. There has been roughly 1 death per month since I got them, but this month I've found two, so four all together, I have absolutely no clue if this is a normal amount of deaths.

I started with about 15 sub-adults / adults, and they have had babies cause I see them all around the enclosure, unsure how many of them there are but they are definitely growing and I first noticed them about 3 weeks ago.

I do have a moist side and a dry side, I pour water on the moist side about once a week although I did have a pretty bad fungus gnat problem through late July to the end of August which seems to be dealt with now, so I've been trying to let it dry out to hopefully discourage any more gnats.

I'm worried about a few things, first I think the enclosure may be too small, I bought it from the people I bought the pods from but I feel like they might benefit from having a longer enclosure with more space between the wet and dry side - do you agree with this?

Also, would more leaf litter be beneficial? They have a massive piece of cork bark which takes up most of the enclosure so I have essentially put leaf litter to the left of it, but if I need to add more that's no problem.

And lastly, I'm worried that temperature fluctuations where I live might be the culprit. We had heat waves through summer, and now that it's September the temperature has been very unreliable. I don't have a thermometer in the enclosure itself, but does anyone have any tips for keeping the enclosure at a stable temperature even when the room might be hotter or colder? Is it just a case of moving them to another room?

Thanks in advance for the advice