# Woodlouse in the spider tank?



## Jamie (Nov 18, 2007)

Whats this I hear about putting woodlouse in a tarantula tank, to help with the cleaning???

Any thoughts please?


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## Steve 88 (Jan 21, 2008)

yea i heard about this, it would be handy if it worked, i supposew the only way to know is try it :hmm:


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## Cleo (Apr 10, 2008)

Yep it's true. Isopods (woodlice) are great at cleaning up food remains and mold and Ts tend to ignore them. They only really work with humid loving species as they need a damp environment to survive. I don't use them but I've known people who do. I wouldn't risk wild caught ones where I live but I'm sure you could get some online somewhere. T. blondi enclosures can really benefit from having a dozen or so in them to keep mold at bay. I'm curious meself and might just get me own "clean up crews" for my damper species.


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## PSYCHOSIS (Sep 23, 2008)

Yep puting wood louse in tarantula tanks they get rid of mites


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## Dungbug (Oct 16, 2007)

Hmmmm......Wonder if this would work with Mantids?


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## Becky (Mar 26, 2007)

Yep! I put woodlice in with my lividum when she started growing her own mushroom gardens :lol: They ate all the crap and its fine in there now


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## Johnny Drama (Sep 27, 2008)

Dungbug said:


> Hmmmm......Wonder if this would work with Mantids?


They work with anything, but i would recommened getting captive bred ones as opposed to just grabbing them from the garden. Dart frog suppliers sometimes stock them... definitely worth adding to a moist / high-humidity invert tank. They won't hard or bother you invert, only help keep it safe and well! : victory:


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## blackbat67 (Jul 1, 2008)

you can get all sorts of clean-up crews off of dartfrog.co.uk - in the livefood section

they work well wiv millipedes too


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## macro junkie (Oct 27, 2007)

Dungbug said:


> Hmmmm......Wonder if this would work with Mantids?


 no they wouldn't..mantids would eat them but why would u want to do that any way?if you clean the tank out once a week it would be pointless having them in there./


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## Moosmoo (Jul 21, 2008)

I've managed to start a woodlouse colony in my RUB that currently contains two emp scorpions. Before I had to go through it by hand removing all the mold, I chucked a couple in, not a lot seemed to happen at first but since they've started breeding its always clean.

No mold ever!

Just gotta keep an eye on it and make sure the woodlouse numbers don't get out of hand.

But yeah only use them with a humid / moist species, they are land crustaceans and I believe they have gills?



Adam


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## Poxicator (Nov 14, 2007)

I have tropical woodlice and springtails in all my moist enclosures. They eat debris, uneaten food, moulds and fungus. It's not been proved that they eat mites but it has been suggested that they eat their eggs and definitely compete for food. Its not a way of avoiding cleaning but I've noticed a big difference since using them.
You've seen them too Jamie, here you are looking at them (admittedly you can only see your T-shirt 









Grab British species from the garden, feed them on decomposing veg matter, quarantine them for a couple of weeks, make sure they're moist and viola, you have a colony! They do seem to enjoy a bit of wood in the substrate so I use chipping you'd use for reptiles.


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## Jamie (Nov 18, 2007)

I think I might get some for my apophysis tank then. Cheers guys.


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## Dungbug (Oct 16, 2007)

macro junkie said:


> no they wouldn't..mantids would eat them


Good point. :blush:


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## macro junkie (Oct 27, 2007)




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## Johnny Drama (Sep 27, 2008)

macro junkie said:


> no they wouldn't..mantids would eat them./


Curious, are you speaking from experience or conjecture because none of mine ever have? None of the species I keep come down to the enclosure floor to eat.


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## macro junkie (Oct 27, 2007)

Johnny Drama said:


> Curious, are you speaking from experience or conjecture because none of mine ever have? None of the species I keep come down to the enclosure floor to eat.


 in never tryed feeding one to my mantis but im 95% sure they would eat them,Like i said on another thread it depends on the species..some wait for the prey to come to them while others hunt down there food.chinese mantids and sheild mantids chase after there food specially if there hungry..mayby il do a test later and go and get a woodlice from the garden..i just think its pointless having them in there because the mantis enclosures get cleaned out once a week any way.no harm in trying tho..and if the mantis does eat the woodlice it wont matter.as far as im aware there not ponsness to mantids are they?


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## Johnny Drama (Sep 27, 2008)

I've never tried to feed one to a mantid either, i let them both exist in harmony. The whole point of having them in there is that you don't need to clean, they do it for you, as in nature.  I have way too many inverts to _always_ be 100% up on who has and who hasn't got a pristine enclosure. Isopods help me bridge that gap. It doesn’t take much to attract mites - a stray fallen cricket leg - easy to miss in a well furnished enclosure, on moist humus/ coconut fibre. Or mold; they take care of that too! All round - great little creatures :no1:​


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## Tan (May 7, 2008)

I tried Sow bugs once and the mantis ate one so I removed them. I am sure they are great for the spids set ups but I personally wouldn't use them for any of the ground hunters. I'm sure they could work with a top dwelling mantid however as I know some people who have had them in harmony and praised them. Nice pics Macro


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## macro junkie (Oct 27, 2007)

Johnny Drama said:


> I've never tried to feed one to a mantid either, i let them both exist in harmony. The whole point of having them in there is that you don't need to clean, they do it for you, as in nature.  I have way too many inverts to _always_ be 100% up on who has and who hasn't got a pristine enclosure. Isopods help me bridge that gap. It doesn’t take much to attract mites - a stray fallen cricket leg - easy to miss in a well furnished enclosure, on moist humus/ coconut fibre. Or mold; they take care of that too! All round - great little creatures :no1:​


i can see why people would want them for spiders and snakes.specially if you have lots of inverts.

i keep so many mantids i have them housed in simple sweetie jars,32oz deli cups and 1ftx1ft net cages and its easy to dump the tolite roll medium once a week and add new stuff.

just out of interest how long does it take for a woodlice to eat a cricket?


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## macro junkie (Oct 27, 2007)

Tan said:


> . Nice pics Macro


 thanks..the pics are pretty old but yer there not bad


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## Toeboe (Dec 28, 2006)

Topical and typically amazing, Macro :notworthy:


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

Just as a hypothesis here, but I dont think mantids would eat them (normally). 

Very little actually eat woodlice. They have strong repugnatorial glands that make most animals find them disgusting to eat, and they even leave a scent trail that is distasteful. I've seen many spiders ignore them unless they appear to be very hungry. A mix of lots of armour and horrible taste seems to put off most things.


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## spend_day (Apr 10, 2008)

GRB said:


> Just as a hypothesis here, but I dont think mantids would eat them (normally).
> 
> Very little actually eat woodlice. They have strong repugnatorial glands that make most animals find them disgusting to eat, and they even leave a scent trail that is distasteful. I've seen many spiders ignore them unless they appear to be very hungry. A mix of lots of armour and horrible taste seems to put off most things.


i attempted to keep some in with my fire salamander. i ended up with an over weight fire salamander. but then again he would eat anything. 

a native wild ones ended up in my tiger sal tank god knows how it got there or where i came from but it hasnt been eaten yet.

my advice. there good but there is a chance they might just get ate. 

btw where do people get there woodlice from the only place i know that sells them is dartfrog (i wont get them from outside where i live too many pesticides)


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## macro junkie (Oct 27, 2007)

GRB said:


> Just as a hypothesis here, but I dont think mantids would eat them (normally).
> 
> .


 im going to test it later on a mantis that isnt hungry.


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## NaturesFriend88 (Aug 19, 2021)

Johnny Drama said:


> They work with anything, but i would recommened getting captive bred ones as opposed to just grabbing them from the garden. Dart frog suppliers sometimes stock them... definitely worth adding to a moist / high-humidity invert tank. They won't hard or bother you invert, only help keep it safe and well! : victory:


Garden caught are fine but you just keep them separated for a few weeks to be sure there's no parasites etc. And then after the checks put a few in at a time to be extra cautious imo. You can also breed your own just like the sellers do, they get them the same way alot of the time lol. Just takes good observation, setup and caring for them correctly.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

NaturesFriend88 said:


> Garden caught are fine but you just keep them separated for a few weeks to be sure there's no parasites etc. And then after the checks put a few in at a time to be extra cautious imo. You can also breed your own just like the sellers do, they get them the same way alot of the time lol. Just takes good observation, setup and caring for them correctly.


I'm fairly sure that after 13 years the OP has made up their mind on the subject!
But as you have resurrected the past, one point to consider is that isopods will eat literally anything. Including a vulnerable moulting tarantula. 
The waste produced by a t is tiny, it really is not worth risking.


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