#enrichment in the isopod tank

[kabutoden]

bug trolls… i am interested in kankri vantas. if that isn’t too much trouble. your buggy guys are so silly and interesting and i am a fan

here is kankri and his baby brother…. they don’t get along!! i wish they did though id love to see these two go on an adventure together where they look out each other. since kankri is a beforus troll and a vegan, his shell is pretty thin because he’s not getting enough iron. on the other hand, karkat’s shell is heavier then it should be due to stress. thanks for the RQ!! im soooo glad ppl like my sillies :D

[evil-robot-cat]

A year ago I split the fern in my vivarium and put half of it into a new terrarium (the difference is creatures - I keep isopods).

Recently I added a few isopods from the back yard to my vivarium. Their home was being destroyed by yard work, I happened to be there, I scooped up a few.

Unlike my spoiled third-generation tank-raised babies that lounge around sunbathing all day and ignore me when I add tasty snacks, these new ones are wild animals who have known a life of danger.

And, unfortunately, a life devoid of tasty snacks. They shun the carrots, cabbage, and gut load blocks, and eat almost exclusively fern fronds. The fern is now in danger of being eaten away to nothing.

I have, in an attempt to protect my vivarium fern, harvested some of the terrarium fern's fronds and placed them in the eating area. I hope the isopods will eat those and leave their environmental enrichment alone.

As I put the fronds into the vivarium, I thought to myself, "These were once the same plant. This dying leaf could communicate with the living one and catch up on what they've been doing in their time apart. Or perhaps they have no memory or knowledge of their connection. I don't know if they're still the same plant or completely different ones now."

And that's how you make peace with the different Zelda timelines.

[girlsjustwant2havefun]

there are mushrooms growing in the isopod tank! a very positive sign that ive been doing good at enriching the substrate

[entei]

ive been planning bioactive enclosures for all my different reptile set ups along with some additional decoration i might throw together for fun/animal enrichment. their tanks have been in need of a deep clean for some time. id like to cohab them with a clean up crew, springtails at least. not sure what i want to do for plants, im so afraid of killing them :| but i also havent tried to raise any plants since i was a kid. im super interested in having an isopod colony and maaaybe cohabbing them? idk i was having trouble finding anyone with first hand experience in doing that and i didnt want to be the first to try it! id really like to branch out into invert keeping in general, and a lot of the ones that i have as a goal someday (interested in longer lived arachnids like ts and vinegaroons) need feeders so ive been thinking about raising some. i LOVE dubia roaches, theyre very cute, im just not sure if thats reasonable for my current collection size, i think i will very quickly get more roaches than i could use. i hate keeping crickets so much. im sorry crickets. youre very smelly. mealworms seem pretty reasonable and also beetles are cute.

[kirstielol]

back from the expo already :') got to see 3 of my favourite youtubers which was suuper weird just seeing them in person lol. too nervous to actually say hello to any of them though 🙈 maybe i'll appear in the background of one of their expo videos lmao

got so much stuff today! first of all look how damn cute my new lil froggy is. he's a strawberry pacman frog and he's adorable. i'll post a better picture of him in his new tank after this post 🐸🍓

i also got a framed morpho menelaus butterfly and pictures do not do this thing justice, it's so iridescent in person. goes from purple to bright metallic blue depending on the angle you look at it.

also picked up some miscellaneous supplies, terrarium cleaner, a tiny ceramic dish for mochi's calcium, zebra isopods to add to my colony after kiwi decided to eat all the ones i put in her enclosure lol, and lastly that big blue pet paradise bag is full of branches to put in my snake enclosures for climbing enrichment!

once again they weren't allowing pictures inside the expo so i couldn't get any pics from inside. but i saw so many awesome animals. the tiniest of leopard geckos and crested geckos. baby dart frogs.. those guys are so tiny i almost cried. lots of skinks, tegu's, monitors, and cool snakes. sadly no rainbow boas though, i was really hoping to see one.

[happymarimo]

oh also! what are some good plants to keep in snabitats (snail habitats)? preferably stuff they wont kill lol. thank you!

(1/2: hey sorry to bother you but ive been struggling to find an answer to this question; im setting up a fairly big terrerium and i want to keep a bunch of bugs in it (its got a nice mesh lid) and i wanted to know whats safe to cohab with snails? im guessing common earthworms are ok, pillbugs and ladybugs are most likely fine, but what about cockroaches? specifically the common australian and wood roaches? will they bother their habitat mates if theyve got food? oh also crickets? also what about scorpions? thats probably not a good idea since theyre predators right? im still learning about keeping bugs so any advice would be greatly appreciate)

Hey friend, 

Although generally predators leave snails alone I wouldn’t recommend cohabing them with any predators. Any bugs which aren’t territorial and are the same type of eaters as snails - basically vegetarian scrap eaters, not exactly scavengers - should be fine. This means isopods, and springtails are ok for example! I’m not sure about cockroaches since as far as I know they’re omnivorous scavengers and if they perceive a food shortage they might try to eat the snails. 

Before introducing any snails to other bugs though, it might be best to keep your group in a separate tank for a while to see if they’re aggressive or territorial towards eachother. This is rare for land snails, but it can happen even if there isn’t a food shortage and they have enough space and enrichment. Snails are full of personality and depending on how sensitive they are, they can become aggressive towards eachother. If you’re finding local snails, any snails which show aggression somewhat regularly should be released. If they’re aggressive to the other snails, they won’t get along with other bugs and may end up getting themselves in trouble. 

As for plants, generally speaking, your plants should be safe if they have enough food that they like but for live plants its pretty 50/50. Although slugs are more apt to eat live plants, snails do sometimes as well. I’m not sure if this means anything, but snails prefer soft foods over hard ones. It’s easier for them to eat. So flimsy/weak/thin plants may become targets versus plants with thicker leaves and tougher skin. I wouldn’t recommend getting any plants which most bugs specifically don’t like (citronella for example,) because usually those plants have very strong smells and although the snails may leave it alone, it would cause them a lot of stress. 

If you’re looking for scrap-eaters which predators will 100% leave alone, I would recommend getting white springtails. They’re commonly used in terrariums as scrap-eaters and help keep the terrarium clean. They’re so small that you wont notice them and neither will your predators!

Hope this helps! <3

[zooophagous]

What exactly is a bio-active enclosure? I assume it has something to do with ~other living things~ in the tank with the reptile but what exactly is it?

It's kind of like a microcosm of a larger environment as a whole. The idea is that you provide a naturalistic enclosure that comes complete with a decay cycle like what exists in the wild. So you have little springtails and isopods living in your soil, often live plants, and its built to encourage good bacteria and beneficial fungi that break down the animal's waste and in turn help feed the plants.

In theory a well established bioactive enclosure shouldn't need much maintenance because the tiny inverts break down all the animal waste, as opposed to a traditional enclosure where all old substrate has to be removed as its soiled.

In addition to being lower maintenance because you aren't removing all your old substrate to scrub down the cage, it provides more enrichment for the animals, as they can dig dens and hunt the little insects that grow in their home and it allows a broader range of natural behavior. It also often looks better, because it focuses so heavily on live plants and natural looking landscaping.

It's not necessarily possible for everyone to do and it is possible to do it poorly, but it looks really nice when it's done well.

[fbwzoo]

Top 5 things you would fix about pet stores…

Oh christ, I’m only supposed to pick five things? XD Okay, I’ll try….. These are in order of my preference for fixing from most important to least important.

1) No more animals available. Stop the breeding mills. Stop selling animals that have horrible genetics, that are overcrowded & sick, that are already pregnant, etc. to people who have very little clue what they’re getting into. Ideally pet stores would work with local shelters to show off adoptable pets they have available. Animals would be displayed either in appropriate set ups in-store or come for designated meet-n-greet days for different shelters. Perhaps pictures from local reputable breeders or breeders that are able to ship (like so many reptile breeders will). The pet store shows off the potential animals & gives access to a greater audience, but interested homes will still have to go through the shelter or breeder in order to adopt/purchase an animal. Pet stores should also have a vetting process for both shelters & breeders to weed out those engaging in shady practices. Wild caught animals should have an even more extensive vetting process to check for background of capture, appropriate capture methods, sustainable capturing, and appropriate handling. No sale of threatened or endangered species (I could see cases being made for experienced breeders hoping to establish captive breeding, or zoos wanting to establish breeding programs, but this should be a limited practice & not widely available).

2) No. Dangerous/Unhealthy. Supplies. Like okay, I know everything has the potential to be dangerous, etc. etc., but christ, can we not have seed/nut treats sold for hedgehogs? Can we not have wire wheels sold? And no more of… literally anything sold for hermit crabs, tbh. Time to ban rawhide. And no more non-meat treats sold for ferrets, or shampoos/bathing supplies with essential oils sold for cats & ferrets. A heavy reworking of foods available for non-dog/cat animals, since so many are just garbage. Some conceding could be made for seed foods for parrots that are still stuck on them & need time to change over, but replace most of that shit with pellets. And can we trash colored heat lights already? Want to buy things like prong collars & electric collars? Better have letters from trainers & vets in order to get one.

3) Appropriately sized enclosures only. No tanks or bowls under 5g. Preferably nothing under 10g, to be quite honest. But I could concede 5g for some insects, maybe, possibly small isopod colonies, or a couple fancy beetles. Those crappy little wire bird cages? Smash ‘em. Maybe keep one line of more medium-ish sturdy cages that have some kind of use for travel or sleep cages. If necessary, provide ordering options for large bird cages (if there’s not room for storage/display in-store). Smash all of those crappy Habitrail nonsense for small animals as well. Sell C&C cubes and other appropriate materials for making enclosures/playpens for guinea pigs & rabbits - maybe sell the materials in a package deal for one enclosure, with instructions on putting together. Extra fee for putting enclosure together if desired. Contracts with viv companies to sell vivs in-store or a discount for shipping or something like that. 

4) Emphasis on enrichment. Larger sections for enrichment for different animal species. Enrichment labeled for the different animals it’s applicable for. Handouts or signs detailing enrichment dangers or hazards to avoid for different animal species (like things that aren’t safe for chewing for hamsters/rodents, unsafe foods, appropriate fabrics, etc.). Larger variety of wood for decor, perches, etc. 

5) Reduced produce section. I have no clue how viable this is, but I think it’d be neat if pet stores had contracts with grocery stores in their area to take produce that’s at or just past their use-by date & the pet stores paid a reduced price for it, then place out each day for people to purchase for pets. Not everything could necessarily be used this way, given some foods that aren’t safe for nearly any pet (onions & such). But it seems like most stuff could be used as such and would possibly reduce how much is thrown out from stores? Honestly I’d just like to see more healthy food options available at pet stores in general, like fresh food options for lots of exotics, & raw meaty bones for dogs/cats/ferrets, and birdy bread & grain mixes & such for parrots/rats/etc.

A lot of this is stuff I’d like to implement into a pet store of my own, if it ever happens. I wish it was something that could be done with all pet stores. It’d really improve pet care in general in this country. And having animals much less available and with less of a dollar value put on them would make it harder for people to abuse/neglect commonly available small animals that don’t have a very high money value like goldfish, betta fish, hermit crabs, hamsters, mice & rats, budgies, anoles, leopard geckos, bearded dragons, ball pythons…. All of these critters just get a really rough deal in most pet care situations and it just really, really sucks.

(Edit: Thank you for asking!!! ♥)

[happylilfrogs]

Eastern Red-Backed Salamander Care

One of the first species of Salamanders I was able to keep and they quickly stole my heart with their tiny size and interesting behaviors.  The red-backed salamander is native to North America and is normally found in deciduous forests hiding under logs, in the leaf litter, or under rocks. 

These salamanders aren’t common in the pet trade however they have easy care and will readily breed in captivity, but it's their shy nature that tends to lose peoples interest sadly. If you like to pay a game of hide and seek where you’re always seeking and the salamanders hiding then this might be the salamander for you then!

The Basics:

Common Name: Eastern Red-backed Salamander.

Scientific name:  Plethodon cinereus.

Lifespan: 10-15 years.

Social: Solitary.

Size: 2.5-5.5 inches. 

Enclosure size: 5 gallons( 16" x 8" x 10" )minimum, but bigger is better. 

Region and Habitat

These little salamanders are found in the eastern region of North America inhabiting damp woodlands. They can be found under logs, leaf little, rocks, or in little burrows most of the time and tend to avoid water or soggy/saturated ground. 

  Appearance and Size

A juvenile red-backed salamander with a penny for size comparison (photo credit).

Red-backed are very small salamanders only getting 2.5-5 inches big. There are very few differences in size or coloration with sexes, but they can be sexed based on the shape of their face. Females having rounded face and males having a crescent-shaped mental glad under the chin, nasolabial glands, enlarged premaxillary teeth, and hedonic glands near the base of their tails. With a salamander so small sexing them is no easy feat though, but an easier way to tell is by looking at their faces since you can see the cirri (downward points on the upper lip) on males well females have smooth rounded faces.

 (photo credit)

Despite their name “red-backed” salamander they actually come a lot of different color morphs, but the three most common being the lead phase, red-backed, and gold-back colors.

(photo credit)

However, those aren’t the only colors they come in and you can check out other cool morphs they’ve been found in here!

Diet 

These tiny guys feed on various small invertebrates such as dwarf isopods, springtails, microworms, bean beetles, pinhead crickets, flightless fruit flies, small earthworms, and blackworms. Adults should be fed 3-4 times a week well babies/juveniles should be fed daily or 4-6 times a week (personally I’ve found my juvi will eat 4 times a week, but results might vary). I’ve found its best to feed them at night when they are most active and mist the tank to mimic rainfall to lure them out to eat. 

Housing

Tank size

One can be kept in 5-gallon tanks (16x8x10) or larger if you prefer it. The footprint being most important since this species does not climb and making sure you’ve chosen a tank where your salamander can’t escape since they can slip through the smallest gap (especially juveniles).

A female red-backed salamander protecting her eggs (photo credit).

Solitary or Communal? 

This species is mostly solitary, but have very complex social structures for amphibians. They are very territorial but seem to be socially monogamous so they will have long-term mated pairs and don’t tend to be aggressive to those that they are related to (offspring, siblings, etc.). Since many being sold will have unknown lineage and sexing being difficult it is safest to house them alone to avoid injury and stress. 

Substrate 

It's best to use a substrate that holds humidity well, but be careful to avoid any acidic soil such as peat and sphagnum since they prefer alkaline/neutral soils.. Eco earth tends to be an easy safe choice, but you can also try a bioactive mix of 3 parts organic topsoil, 2 parts eco earth, and 1 part sand. Be sure to test pH of topsoil since it varies on area, 6.5-8 pH is the safe range for your salamanders. 

I always recommend a bio-active enclosure for these salamanders due to their small size and shy nature. They will thrive in a bio-active tank with plenty of plants for them to use as cover and hide in as well as it being enriching and stimulating their natural habitats. 

Water/Humidity/Temperature

These salamanders are full terrestrial and won’t make use of a water dish so its best to just avoid one altogether.

Temperature is important for these salamanders since they are heat sensitive and if kept too warm too long it can cause heat strokes and death. Its best to keep their enclosures 60-68f (15-20c) and avoid anything 75f(23-24c) and above.

There's no specific humidity listed for them, but I keep mine at 60-80% range, but for the most part, make sure the tank is always damp and moist. Depending on your set up you might need to mist daily, but make sure to prevent the soil from getting soggy and over saturated as they don’t like it.

Lighting

They don’t need UVB lighting(however as with any animal its beneficial), but should be provided with enough light that they can tell day from night. Its best to use LED lights with salamanders since they give off very little heat so they won’t overheat the enclosure.

Sources and Further Reading

Caudata

On the subject of nature

Science Direct

National Zoo  

NCBI 

Amphibia

Academics

[sunfish-exotics]

In that last ask you mentioned used giant canyon isopods in your leo bioactive enclosure, how are they doing in a drier environment? I'm wanting to switch my hoggie over to bioactive but I'm having trouble finding species of isopods that are suited to drier climates. Are there any other species other than the giant canyon isos that you might recommend for a hognose terrarium?

They’re doing fine! Keep in mind that even in an arid or temperate bioactive tank you should have more humid areas / humid microclimates so the animals can self regulate properly. I used to keep my hognoses on bioactive and I basically overfilled their water bowls once a week and watered the entire tank maybe once every 2-3 weeks. I am not super well versed in isopods, I only keep a few species, but @tser is an excellent resource for isopods, I actually got my giant canyons from them! The only reason my hognoses aren’t on bio right now is because they’re breeding and finding eggs in bio tanks is a lot more difficult than just having an egg box in with the laying female. I’m toying with moving all of my hogs over to bioactive next season though, and basically turning the entire enclosure into a nest box for the gravid females. I’ve found that males often eat better with the scent enrichment a mixed substrate & leaf litter layer provides as well. Food for thought 😉

[tser]

Hi there, I'm a starter keeper of hermit crabs and I was wondering if you knew any fellow amphibian/reptile/etc tumblrs that keep them or post about them! I'm very interested in up-hauling and upgrading my current setup as it's a very basic tank and my crab's pretty lonely, and I love your bioactive enclosures for the geckos and would love to see if something similar is an option for crabs. Thanks!

Hi! My wife keeps them, but I don’t post about them much since they’re not mine. 

Bioactive is definitely an option for crabs! The best substrate for hermit crabs is a mix of around 50/50 coco fiber (Eco Earth)/play sand. This works very well at creating a bioactive enclosure. Since hermit crabs need very deep substrate, this is a plus for bioactive, as the more volume of substrate you have the better it is able to handle your pet’s waste. 

Then you will need your clean up crew; isopods and springtails will both do great in the humid, damp conditions of a hermit crab enclosure. I would suggest at least dwarf isopods (white, purple, or striped), and springtails, but you can also add some bigger isopods if you want. Isopods are terrestrial crustaceans, just like hermit crabs!

I also suggest adding some kind of leaf litter to cover at least some of the substrate. Make sure it is not exposed to car exhaust or pesticides or fungicides. It’s easy to buy online if you don’t have a source. Oak (including live oak or other species), magnolia, sea grape, and Indian almond leaf are all good choices. You can also provide softer leaf litter like maple. This will provide places for the cuc to colonize under, and also some additional food, along with the hermit crabs’ waste and any leftover food. Hermit crabs will munch it also.

Hermit crabs will destroy any plants you put in there. If you want, you can provide some plants for them to shred and eat (just make sure they’re safe) but make sure you don’t care if they’re destroyed. Think of them as enrichment.

I will open this to my followers who might know of some crab-oriented blogs!

[fbwzoo]

Do you know of any pets that would be easy to keep for someone with fibromyalgia? I know all pets require cleaning, enrichment, maintenance, etc but I really love animals and had to rehome mine last year since I couldn't consistently take care of them due to my illness. I've been thinking about a dog a lot, but I just don't know if I could handle all the exercise and training right now. But I really miss having pets. :(

I’m sorry you had to rehome your previous animals! :( That really sucks.

I will note that I do not have fibromyalgia & only know a little about it, so I’m working with the symptoms list I googled - the main symptoms being pain, fatigue, and mental fog.

Smaller animals are probably your best bet, I think. Invertebrates might be a good idea if you have any you take a liking to. Roaches, other beetles, millipedes, tarantulas, isopods, mantids…. all of them are popular pets. For most/all of these, you can set up a bioactive enclosure that is fairly easy to maintain - not removing/dumping/replacing a large amount of substrate each week or monthly. Enrichment is also fairly simple and most of it involves setting the enclosure up to give them room to choose their surroundings. Feeding is obviously still important, but can be pretty simple, which may be easier during brain fog & fatigue periods.

Likewise, you could also try smaller reptiles like small snakes (sand boas, rosy boas…I know there are more, but I’m blanking). Reptiles don’t typically care too much about handling, if you have a period of not being able to do so. You won’t need as big of a tank or as much substrate as larger snakes (like corn snakes & ball pythons), which may be more manageable. Crested geckos are another good possibility, especially given they have an appropriate commercial diet.

I’m hesitant to suggest fish given that water changes can be pretty involved & I know I struggle a lot with them. But if you think you could handle it, a 10g tank with a betta fish might also work.

If you really want to look into a dog, I would take your time & make sure you’re thinking everything through. But adopting a middle-aged/elderly dog from a shelter might be a possibility? Obviously you’ll need to find the right fit for you, but they are usually already trained, don’t often need as much exercise & management as a young dog/puppy, and a lot of older dogs just really need a retirement home where they can hang out & sleep. Just keep in mind medical issues, since older dogs are also more prone to those & vet bills could get pretty expensive.

A large part of managing illnesses + pets is coming up with coping methods. Schedules, notes, and alarms to help remind yourself on feeding & cleaning despite brain fog. Asking for help from friends/family when you’re having a bad period & need a little assistance. And there can be a fine line to balance this, but keeping an eye on yourself to make sure you’re providing appropriate care, but without guilting yourself into a deeper hole if you have to put off a whole-cage-clean for one or two days. Asking a friend to help check you on that can help a lot too.

(Hopefully this doesn’t sound like telling you how to manage your disability, not trying to do that! Just trying to suggest other things that might help with managing animal care, because I’ve had to do some of these things before myself.)

I know I have other followers who are disabled animal owners - does anyone else have more suggestions? 

[fbwzoo]

For my masters project, I wrote a book for teachers about proper care of class pets. I'm thinking of revisiting it in hopes of getting it published, and am working on updating its info. What small animals do you feel are best suited to school life - assuming that the teacher is a proper caretaker (and as a teacher, I know that assumes a great deal - that's what the point of the book is, that teachers who choose to have class pets are obligated to model proper caretaking for the students).

Gah, I find this really hard because I really just…don’t believe in classroom pets. :-/  I’ve had very bad experiences with it personally, and I rarely hear GOOD stories about classroom pets. So the whole thing just seems like a horrible idea to me.

That said…I guess these are the ones I would suggest if the teacher is really willing to put the effort in and make it work out for the animal, not just the classroom & kids, along with my reasoning.

- Invertebrates: I saw a post discussing this recently…I can’t recall if I reblogged it or not. If I remember, I’ll try to find it. There’s a fair number of invertebrates with pretty easy diets, not a lot of special temperature/humidity needs, can be kept in small tanks (5-10g) & are big enough to be interesting to watch. Also generally pretty cheap to buy, set up, & maintain. Bonus of teaching kids the interesting parts of bugs, their important role in various ecosystems, etc. Examples include roaches, other beetles, preying mantids, isopods…I’m sure I’m forgetting some. 

- Mice: NOT to be hands-on for the kids; can keep a couple females together in a small enough tank to be reasonable for classroom - 20-30g; don’t need particularly special temperature/humidity; relatively easy diet to manage in classroom setting. 

- Gerbils: Also not to be hands-on for kids; again, can keep a pair of same sex gerbils in a similar sized tank as mouse; also a relatively easy diet, no special temp/humidity needs. They do need plenty of digging space & care must be taken with enrichment because they’ll chew it. 

These are really the only mammals I’m comfortable even suggesting. I’m still hesitant because both are prey animals that can be easily stressed by noise, so I would consider it necessary for the teacher to watch behavior & health and be willing to remove the animals to their own home if the noise & activity prove to be too stressful. I’m not comfortable listing any other mammals - most need much more space than most classrooms are willing or able to provide, or they need more hands-on socializing, or they have more specific care needs that could get tricky.

- Crested gecko: Similar to above, this is the only reptile I think I’m comfortable with suggesting. I’m not as great on reptiles, so there might be some other potential options. But most reptiles need special heating, lighting, need live prey or frozen rodents for prey, etc. All of that gets a lot more dicey in a classroom setting where heating elements may not be allowed or may get turned off by cleaning staff. Crested geckos don’t really need special heating/lighting (but care does need to be taken that they don’t get too warm, some classrooms can have issues with that), they can be fed a balanced commercial diet that’s easy to prepare, they can be kept in a relatively small tank, they’re fun to watch. 

…That’s all I got. Fish can be more difficult to move since the tank must be drained, it would likely be harder to do water changes in most classrooms, etc. Otherwise I’d suggest possibly a betta fish in a 10g tank. But ehhhhh. Birds are an absolute no, hermit crabs require too elaborate of a set up to really be ideal in a classroom (and are not easy to dismantle for taking home on school breaks). 

I’m sorry, I’m not sure how helpful this was! There just aren’t a lot of animals that really are reasonable to have in a classroom setting for the vast majority of classrooms & teachers. If a teacher is very dedicated & has permission from their superiors, they could check into curriculum-based programs that some places run - I remember my Fisheries & Wildlife courses discussing a fish program of some kind. I know sometimes there are programs with chicks in more rural areas, but I’m also rather skeptical of how good those are - it just depends on who the chicks go home with & the care they get. I’m guessing most just turn into farm hens, but still. 

Another potential alternative idea you could include is doing classroom indoor or outdoor (if possible) gardens. Plants generally need less care, but it’d still be a decent lesson in care and could integrate well with a number of science & environment lessons.