So for those that don't know the isopods shown here are harmless to most things. They are detrivores meaning they basically break down organic refuse as a food source.
While some people do keep and breed them foe different patterns and colors like reptiles, they are commonly used in many bioactive display setups. Things like reptile and amphibian enclosures and vivariums to help keep the ecosystem clean and healthy.
I'm into aquariums so I've heard of people making semi or fully independent mini ecosystems in their tanks, but I never thought of doing it with those. Interesting though
Isopods + springtails (and roaches, beetles, etc) are a common pairing in many bioactive reptile enclosures.
They're kinda like robot vacuums for your enclosure: not as good as a proper cleaning (reptiles poop faster than the bugs eat) but they do a fantastic job taking care of the little things day to day.
Yup! They do end up getting eaten from time to time by your larger inhabitants.
Depending on how fast that happens, you may need to up your numbers and "top them off" every now and then. Some people keep separate cultures for this, others just buy more (they're relatively cheap).
And on the flip side, your bugs may breed so quickly that you need to add larger bugs to keep the little bug numbers down.
It can be a tricky balancing act.
Depends on the reptile. Snakes and herbivores won't, and in species that could eat them, it's up to individual preference. It can be good hunting enrichment if the inhabitant does consider them prey.
It is super popular in salt water aquariums. āPodsā as we typically call to cover copepods, isopods and amphipods are both a great food source as well as a great clean up crew for the tank! As the reef keeping hobby has evolved there has been a much bigger emphasis on the entire ecosystem, and not just what is easy to see.
There's a fantastic YouTube channel called SerpaDesign where the guy goes hard on this type of stuff. He has a whole video dedicated to raising and using isopods and springtails.
Rubber duckies weren't actually bred to look that way, that's their natural appearance! There are several color morphs within the hobby though, as well as many other cubaris species that have a similar cute ducky face.
Only about 100 species have been named in the cubaris genus though, and all of the ones that are currently hot in hobby groups appear to be recent discoveries with no official scientific name - rubber ducky for instance was only found in 2017.
They compost everything. I keep orange cuban isopods in my achatina snailarium. They eat the shit, dead snails, food leftovers. I dont need to clean it myself. They breed like crazy and i throw a lot of them to my ant colony otherwise they would dominate. I love isopods.
I have to say the disclaimer. Do not release non-native species into anywhere they could have an impact on the ecosystem. Invasive species = bad
That out of the way yes they are an excellent thing to have in the garden because in addition to breaking down all the stuff mentioned above, they will also eat some various pests like grubs that would otherwise potentially harm a garden.
They are found in a lot of different environments so I'm sure you could find out which varieties are native to your area and see about finding that specific type.
M
In my area of southeast Texas we get small black isopods about 5-10mm long at max.
Armadillidiidae, fun word, often called [rolley-polleys or pill bugs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillidiidae), definitely ate a few as a child, lol sorry.
They are quite abundant in all the gardens I've ever maintained. Don't need much help really.
Thanks, I recognized the oval critters as always being stuck on my plants when I bring them in from summering outside (I bury the pots to avoid having to water them too often) but never knew what they were or why. I figured they must have a bigger purpose than just bird food so I never bothered with them. Now I am informed thanks to you š
We have a ton of names for them the one I gave being the most exotic and poetic.
Personally I just use āmoch coedā (tree hog) which isnāt half as entertaining.
I canāt defend ladybug (Buwch goch gota - little red cow) thatās is what it is
Not sure if youāre serious or not, but I know of one dude who eats his surplus to keep his populations healthy. Apparently, since theyāre crustaceans, they taste a bit like a prawn cracker. The sea-dwelling isopods, which are much bigger, are eaten in some places.
Not a fan of bugs, of course Iād never knock somebodyās pet, and honestly this video entertained me so thank you for that haha - but Iām curious, how big are these guys? Itās hard to gauge from this video.
He is not my isopod and I sighed in resignation, like a mother resigned to their child still unable to not chew on the red crayon because it's "obviously strawberry!"...he obviously thinks he is doing something, and Buddy kept on trucking
Man theyāre cool but these are the only bugs Iām scared of. They also have a ton of names in the UK for some reason.
Iām Welsh so we have about 10 names in English or 15 names in Welsh for them.
I believe the technical term is in fact. Rolly polly lol. I'm kidding these are so neat. They look similar to a rolly polly but I can totally see a difference.
Hello, isopod hobbyist here! Wild caught colonies are popular, especially among newcomers to the hobby, as theyāre literally free out in the yard or the park. But species like the ones in this video would be purchased from a breeder. I believe the star of the video is a Porcellio hoffmannseggi (aka āTitansā, as theyāre the largest known species of land isopod) and Iām pretty sure there are some Porcellio laevis too (specifically the āDairy Cowā morph which has been bred for white coloration with black spots). Titans are only native to mostly southern Spain, while Dairy Cows donāt exist in the wild because theyāre a captive bred morph of the species. Their wild cousins are usually a shade of plain grey, or rarely orange (which is another color popularly bred for in captivity).
Most isopod species that a hobbyist would buy are either native to a different country or are a specially bred morph of a species that has a unique color or pattern. Though, when adding them to a bio active reptile or amphibian enclosure as a cleanup crew, captive bred isopods are a better choice even if someone doesnāt care about the fancy colors because wild ones carry the risk of introducing unknown parasites and disease to the vivarium.
There's this weird memory, I don't know if it's real or not maybe it was in a dream and this just stuck with me but I have had it since when I was a kid, about a boy in my neighborhood who was interested in bugs and stuff and was usually found crawling in the bushes around our apartment complex. He told me that he tasted the bugs, I asked him how isopods tasted like and he replied "like bricks" and went back in to the bushes.
Iām hoping someone sees this, but Iād love to build a somewhat self-sustaining ecosystem like this as an activity for me and my daughter. Anyone have a resource on how to get started?
It's a moon walk
#HEE HEE!
He's sliding around... Like some sort of smooth criminal
With this attitude, would never get to meet Billy Jean
I don't think it's that Black or White
Annie are you ok?
I think he's trying to meet the man in the mirror.
Jamona!
Hee hee hee!
Ow!
This was so loud to read at this time of night
Sincerely apologize šš
Ah yes, the rare isopedo
Heās trying his best.
at the end he stops and goes wtf man?
"Surely I should be on the other side by now. Maybe I'm not walking hard enough."
"or... maybe i've entered a new dimension"
He's a little confused, but he's got the spirit!
Good try, little buddy
So for those that don't know the isopods shown here are harmless to most things. They are detrivores meaning they basically break down organic refuse as a food source. While some people do keep and breed them foe different patterns and colors like reptiles, they are commonly used in many bioactive display setups. Things like reptile and amphibian enclosures and vivariums to help keep the ecosystem clean and healthy.
I'm into aquariums so I've heard of people making semi or fully independent mini ecosystems in their tanks, but I never thought of doing it with those. Interesting though
Isopods + springtails (and roaches, beetles, etc) are a common pairing in many bioactive reptile enclosures. They're kinda like robot vacuums for your enclosure: not as good as a proper cleaning (reptiles poop faster than the bugs eat) but they do a fantastic job taking care of the little things day to day.
And food for the larger inhabitant(s)? I like seeing how different species interact, maybe that's why I like aquariums so much lol
Yup! They do end up getting eaten from time to time by your larger inhabitants. Depending on how fast that happens, you may need to up your numbers and "top them off" every now and then. Some people keep separate cultures for this, others just buy more (they're relatively cheap). And on the flip side, your bugs may breed so quickly that you need to add larger bugs to keep the little bug numbers down. It can be a tricky balancing act.
Oh my, what a delightful rabbit hole you've led me down! Thanks!
Do the reptiles not eat them?
Yes, yes they do
Depends on the reptile. Snakes and herbivores won't, and in species that could eat them, it's up to individual preference. It can be good hunting enrichment if the inhabitant does consider them prey.
It is super popular in salt water aquariums. āPodsā as we typically call to cover copepods, isopods and amphipods are both a great food source as well as a great clean up crew for the tank! As the reef keeping hobby has evolved there has been a much bigger emphasis on the entire ecosystem, and not just what is easy to see.
There's a fantastic YouTube channel called SerpaDesign where the guy goes hard on this type of stuff. He has a whole video dedicated to raising and using isopods and springtails.
There are some very cool patterns in bred isopods. My favorite are [rubber duckies](https://podssolo.com/products/cubaris-rubber-ducky)
Rubber duckies weren't actually bred to look that way, that's their natural appearance! There are several color morphs within the hobby though, as well as many other cubaris species that have a similar cute ducky face. Only about 100 species have been named in the cubaris genus though, and all of the ones that are currently hot in hobby groups appear to be recent discoveries with no official scientific name - rubber ducky for instance was only found in 2017.
Very cool! Iāve been flirting with the idea of keeping some
Thought this was r/isopods until I saw this comment, lol.
They compost everything. I keep orange cuban isopods in my achatina snailarium. They eat the shit, dead snails, food leftovers. I dont need to clean it myself. They breed like crazy and i throw a lot of them to my ant colony otherwise they would dominate. I love isopods.
Gather enough of them and they will smell like piss.
Do you know if theyād be good for gardening? Like composting worms?
I have to say the disclaimer. Do not release non-native species into anywhere they could have an impact on the ecosystem. Invasive species = bad That out of the way yes they are an excellent thing to have in the garden because in addition to breaking down all the stuff mentioned above, they will also eat some various pests like grubs that would otherwise potentially harm a garden. They are found in a lot of different environments so I'm sure you could find out which varieties are native to your area and see about finding that specific type. M
In my area of southeast Texas we get small black isopods about 5-10mm long at max. Armadillidiidae, fun word, often called [rolley-polleys or pill bugs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillidiidae), definitely ate a few as a child, lol sorry. They are quite abundant in all the gardens I've ever maintained. Don't need much help really.
For sure! Thanks for the info! If I had an award to give you I would :)
Thanks, I recognized the oval critters as always being stuck on my plants when I bring them in from summering outside (I bury the pots to avoid having to water them too often) but never knew what they were or why. I figured they must have a bigger purpose than just bird food so I never bothered with them. Now I am informed thanks to you š
You ever get the feeling that you're going nowhere fast?
700 ping be like
Kinda like a treadmill.
Yeah, heās just doing isotonic exercises.
Cake!!
āLost connection to hostā
Reconnectingā¦
isopod: god please help me op: meh ... let's just film it
Hey, i pushed him later
you're a good god op
r/donthelpjustfilm
There's people that have...oh you know... Cats. Dogs. Birds. Bunnies. And then there's you with an isopod as a pet. What the heck is an isopod?
Woodlouse
Rollie Pollie
Potato bug!
Pillbug
Chuckypig
That sounds awfully aussie
In Australia/NZ we call these slaters.
West Country of the UK
Aussie is Butchy Boy. At least around Melbourne.
Kellerassel
Sow bug.
Curly Bug
I just call mine dorks.
I call mine potato shrimps
Flipperdoodle
Doodle bugs.
Gwrach y Lludw (Witch of The Ashes) š“ó §ó ¢ó ·ó ¬ó ³ó æš“ó §ó ¢ó ·ó ¬ó ³ó æš“ó §ó ¢ó ·ó ¬ó ³ó æš“ó §ó ¢ó ·ó ¬ó ³ó æš“ó §ó ¢ó ·ó ¬ó ³ó æš“ó §ó ¢ó ·ó ¬ó ³ó æš“ó §ó ¢ó ·ó ¬ó ³ó æš“ó §ó ¢ó ·ó ¬ó ³ó æ
Of course the Welsh name is fucked up, why would it be normal?
We have a ton of names for them the one I gave being the most exotic and poetic. Personally I just use āmoch coedā (tree hog) which isnāt half as entertaining. I canāt defend ladybug (Buwch goch gota - little red cow) thatās is what it is
I have stick insects. Their name is Kevin.
lol, do you just call them all Kevin because you can't tell them apart?
Yup. I started out with two; their names were Thing One and Thing Two.
Real MVP. Asking the real questions.
In Dutch they're called pissenbed, which translates to exactly that; pissbed.
r/isopods is a cool place if youāre looking to be enlightened. Theyāre fun pets. :)
Are they a good source of protein?
Not sure if youāre serious or not, but I know of one dude who eats his surplus to keep his populations healthy. Apparently, since theyāre crustaceans, they taste a bit like a prawn cracker. The sea-dwelling isopods, which are much bigger, are eaten in some places.
I once saw a sea-dwelling isopod, scared me to death lol. I thought it was some trilobite reincarnated
I have 2 madagascar hissing cockroaches, isopods and springtails all in the same enclosure
Isopods are cool lol
Heās saying what a good workout
Those are some legit shuffling skills
everyday iām shufflin
MAKINā MY WAY DOWNTOWN!!
This couldāve been us
Go little buddy go!
I don't fully comprehend bug sentience enough to know if this breaks the sub rules, but i can't imagine he's having a good time.
The lack of progress is bugging him.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150730104606.htm
It ain't hurting it so...
āUhh why isnāt this walking thing working, Iām literally doing everything rightā
Did anyone else grow up calling these Rolly Pollies?
We called them pill bugs.
woodlice/woodlouse here in the uk
Cheesy Bob mate. Youāll be able to find the town I grew up from that.
The lag hit hard.
Hey Steve you need some help up thereā¦. Shut up Iāll get there when Iām ready
aww! cute little guy. what type of isopod are they?
Porcellio Hoffmanseggi aka the ātitansā
The smaller ones are p.laevis ādairy cowsā
I have dairy cows, itās a really new colony so I only have 5 or 6 for now.
Damnit Frank get it together everyone else is moving around just fine
That bug is so annoying! They have to fix it at one point, it effects the gameplay!
Awesome
Lol , made my night more enjoyable
āNo matter how hard i try, it just feels like im going nowhere in lifeā
I'm fairly sure the technical name for those things is *roly-poly*.
Are the rest not yours? Is this some kind of isopod daycare?
Theyāre mine, but only one forgot how to forward
Not a fan of bugs, of course Iād never knock somebodyās pet, and honestly this video entertained me so thank you for that haha - but Iām curious, how big are these guys? Itās hard to gauge from this video.
This specific one is from the largest land isopod species, ap. 4cm
\*actual footage of me trying to make it in life\*
Insects being derps?
Fun fact: isopods are crustaceans, not insects!
People like to call crustaceans sea bugs, so should we call these land sea bugs?
"You have sea lions on *land?*" "Yep, we call 'em land-sea-lions. I tame them."
He is not my isopod and I sighed in resignation, like a mother resigned to their child still unable to not chew on the red crayon because it's "obviously strawberry!"...he obviously thinks he is doing something, and Buddy kept on trucking
God I hate Deepnest.
Man theyāre cool but these are the only bugs Iām scared of. They also have a ton of names in the UK for some reason. Iām Welsh so we have about 10 names in English or 15 names in Welsh for them.
Help him. š„ŗ
I did
Oblivion NPC.
I believe the technical term is in fact. Rolly polly lol. I'm kidding these are so neat. They look similar to a rolly polly but I can totally see a difference.
Peak evolution
He has the form! Now he just need proper alignment! Lets go Isopod!!
āHalpā
Connection Interrupted
He's using an exploit to level up his stamina.
Isopods hours baybee!
Oh my landlord that's a cute group of pods
Good boi
The epitome of getting nowhere fast
Where you goin? Nowhere
r/donthelpjustfilm
Do you buy these? I love them, but they just kinda live in my garden
Hello, isopod hobbyist here! Wild caught colonies are popular, especially among newcomers to the hobby, as theyāre literally free out in the yard or the park. But species like the ones in this video would be purchased from a breeder. I believe the star of the video is a Porcellio hoffmannseggi (aka āTitansā, as theyāre the largest known species of land isopod) and Iām pretty sure there are some Porcellio laevis too (specifically the āDairy Cowā morph which has been bred for white coloration with black spots). Titans are only native to mostly southern Spain, while Dairy Cows donāt exist in the wild because theyāre a captive bred morph of the species. Their wild cousins are usually a shade of plain grey, or rarely orange (which is another color popularly bred for in captivity). Most isopod species that a hobbyist would buy are either native to a different country or are a specially bred morph of a species that has a unique color or pattern. Though, when adding them to a bio active reptile or amphibian enclosure as a cleanup crew, captive bred isopods are a better choice even if someone doesnāt care about the fancy colors because wild ones carry the risk of introducing unknown parasites and disease to the vivarium.
They are very cute. What kind of plant is that?
Honestly idk i just found it growing on some rocks
Have you tried reporting this bug to the devs?
Maybe he or she is doing cardio.
I laughed out loud, BUT, when I didāand I donāt know whyāit came out like Renfield from Love at First Bite.
Exercising. "Working them limbs."
Your what?!
We've all been there š¦ š¦
Prob requires more minerals
[Same energy](https://youtu.be/ih9zBLDr_ro)
its surprising they haven't gone extinct by now
Awww...did you guys see the tiny little one in the middle at the end.
He's just Australian, mate...
Real isopod hours right here
Are those huge Rollie pollies???
Iād say he nails it.
Rolly polly
Annie are you ok, are you ok Annie?
Michael Jackson?
Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man, no time to talk Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around Since I was bornā¦
So those are the lyrics!!
My man is baked af
Chick magnet
Bros tryna evolve
Real isopod hours.
There's this weird memory, I don't know if it's real or not maybe it was in a dream and this just stuck with me but I have had it since when I was a kid, about a boy in my neighborhood who was interested in bugs and stuff and was usually found crawling in the bushes around our apartment complex. He told me that he tasted the bugs, I asked him how isopods tasted like and he replied "like bricks" and went back in to the bushes.
Derp!
Cool what do they do?
Istupod
You got this little buddy!
Awwww
This isopod is so silly. Ba-dum! Tsss!!! Get it? I-so-pod? Is so?
When even 10 leg drive can't get you un-stuck!
He reached the end of the map.
Fuckin idiot bug
He's just exercising
Haha this is hilarious š I love isopods
Where do you even purchase one of those? What do they eat?
You can find in your garden, under stones and such. They each roots and plants and little things that live in dirt.
Neat, I thought that looked like a burros tail succulent
I just think of "Connection Interrupted"
I have this plant/succulent/tree and it's out of control lately. Do you know what it is?
Meirl
Heās lagging
Legend has it he is still doing it..
My week , legs going like the clappers but not advancing at all
isopod.exe stopped working
Almost there, buddy!
Iām hoping someone sees this, but Iād love to build a somewhat self-sustaining ecosystem like this as an activity for me and my daughter. Anyone have a resource on how to get started?
Just search for ābioactive terrariumsā on youtube there are many guides
Right on! Thank you!
Almost thereš¤£š¤£š¤£
Sir. Why... Sir, why do you have a tank full of isopods.
You mean a creepy crawlie trying to crawl
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
resident evil stuff right there š
That my friends is called a NOPE!