Here are some pictures of my first vivarium-type setup for isopods!
I used a Golden Pothos, Lemon Button Fern, and Armadillidium vulgare isopods (wild caught lol). I also ended up going with Reptisoil. A bit pricey, but since I am using it for such a small vivarium it wasn’t much overall, and I have a LOT left over. In total for the whole thing (not including the tank, because I already had that) it cost around $25.
is there a possibility for millies without added heat elements or anything? Maybe ivory millies? Will the isopods cause any problems with the millipedes? Lol I guess I have a lot of questions.
Hey, that looks great for isopods! As far as the millipedes go, you may have competition with the isopods, as they eat similar things and live in the same sort of environment, but it’ll also depend on the species, some millipedes are small enough not to be concerned about. The species of isopods you have in there are pretty hardy though, so you’ll more than likely end up with just the isopods if that’s how it goes.
Oh, that makes a lot of sense. I guess it’ll just be an isopod vivarium now! Are there any sp. of isopods that you would recommend for cohabiting with millies? Or do you not recommend cohabiting them at all?
I wouldn’t do millipedes. I have heard some horror stories of isopods eating millipedes after molting and I wouldn’t risk it. Even if they don’t get eaten the isopods would probably eat the millipede eggs so the population of them would never grown
If you want them both to do as well as they can, definitely do them separately, as you’ll avoid any possibilities of competition then, and if there are any issues that somehow arise with either, whether it be food based or environmental, you can dial in a response to that better when they’re by themselves. Dealing with a single species’ husbandry individually is always preferred if you’re looking to do something new, and cohabitation is not the worst thing you can do, but unless you pick two things from the same ecosystem with the same needs, you’ll have to make adjustments for each if you’re looking to give them everything they need to thrive and sometimes not everything you need for one thing works well when it comes to the range of needs of the other.
Ok! I guess that makes sense. I did want the Vivarium to be a bit more lively, like a piece of the forest floor basically lol, but I see now that that doesn’t really make sense ESPECIALLY with such a small enclosure.