# Woodlice as livefood?



## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Hi was thinking of starting a woodlice culture by taking some from the garden and keeping them on soil with wood, leaves etc. Going to add them to some of my more humid enclosures but was thinking what people think of using them as livefood? As part of a varied diet of coarse. 
Many thanks
JB Owens


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## sharpstrain (May 24, 2008)

yep go for it


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## Fizz (Jan 18, 2014)

I have actually asked this myself in the past and found out that they are actually considered a very good feeder. Apparently their "shell" is basicly calcium instead of chitin etc.. 
Please anyone feel free to correct me if im wrong. Im just repeating what I was told by several other keepers, I certainly don't claim to know it all


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## demon3000 (Nov 23, 2013)

I have put several in from my back garden as clean up crew....but gecko seems to like them...and they breed great!!

I just sprinkle a tiny bit of fish food in once or twice a week. I also have springtails and garden worms in substrate.

very happy so far :2thumb:. I have also put a bottle top of gecko food in the bottom of viv and have seen woodlice and gecko eating from it....not at the same time:lol2:


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## demon3000 (Nov 23, 2013)

one other thing to mention is that there have been no chemicals or weed killers in my back garden for at least 10 to 13 years so felt safe to use my own woodlice and worms.....


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

I use them a lot. The ones that don't get eaten immediately often breed and add to the clean-up crew.


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## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Fizz said:


> I have actually asked this myself in the past and found out that they are actually considered a very good feeder. Apparently their "shell" is basicly calcium instead of chitin etc..
> Please anyone feel free to correct me if im wrong. Im just repeating what I was told by several other keepers, I certainly don't claim to know it all



Pretty awesome if thats the case, I'll see if I can find any studys on that. Would then be a great source of calcium when dusted. 

I think going by all your replies I'll go and get some in the morning!

Many thanks again
JB Owens


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## SublimeSparo (May 1, 2013)

They are isopods so yes the shell is calcium based 
http://www.netzsch-thermal-analysis.com/uploads/tx_nxnetzschmedia/files/386_allgemein.pdf


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## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Thanks!  I'll have a read over my morning coffee  suprises more people arent using them with how easy they are to breed!
JB Owens


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## CarlW21 (Jul 21, 2013)

So a bd could eat these?

Also what do I need to breed them?


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## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Just collected about 30-50
Half hour or so ago. 

I've just popped then in an old lunchbox tub with a bit of ventilation, nice thick layer of damp soil mixed with rotting wood then thrown a load of pear tree leaves on top. Just a waiting game now  
JB Owens


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## SublimeSparo (May 1, 2013)

CarlW21 said:


> So a bd could eat these?
> 
> Also what do I need to breed them?


a small bd would probably munch them down, but as they get bigger they will start to look at them as too much effort for the reward of such a small mouthful ( i would guess, generally )

To breed them you just need to stick them in a tank with some soil/ ripped up up cardboard, any dead leaves from house plants, lumps of wood, etc and feed them fish flakes and grated veg peelings, and any veg your bd doesn't eat, you could just bury in their tank, the odd sprinkling of calcium will help them too.

NB: don't let your soil dry out completely, a light mist every day or two should suffice


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## demon3000 (Nov 23, 2013)

Some info.....

I collect my wood lice and worms from what I take as a clean garden....mine!!
I also take from different parts of garden for a mix of wood lice...I have also added about 5-6 small worms to keep substrate clean. also some springtails in as well.

I missed twice a day, feed fish food - flakes, and have two bottle tops with crested gecko food in on the floor of viv....and they breed like rabbits!!!! Lost count of how many I now have....
Easy to keep and breed but would like to know if I can add anything to crested gecko set up to keep them under control....far too many for Larry to eat....


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

demon3000 said:


> Some info.....
> 
> I collect my wood lice and worms from what I take as a clean garden....mine!!
> I also take from different parts of garden for a mix of wood lice...I have also added about 5-6 small worms to keep substrate clean. also some springtails in as well.
> ...


Generally they'll only breed to the foood limits- and Larry's droppings, the odd dead leaf etc in the substrate should be enough in the viv- just don't feed them extra. Unfortunately, most of their predators (usually spiders) are likely to be eaten by the gecko, anyway.


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## demon3000 (Nov 23, 2013)

thanks for info.....


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## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

would these be suitable as food for l williamsi? or a tad big do you think?


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## demon3000 (Nov 23, 2013)

from what I seen they vary in size from very very small to about 2 to 2.5 cm.....


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## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Many of the woodlice I've found have been tiny and I imagine they'd be fine for L.williamsi, if your breeding them you could just pick out the required size 
JB Owens


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## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

jb92 said:


> Many of the woodlice I've found have been tiny and I imagine they'd be fine for L.williamsi, if your breeding them you could just pick out the required size
> JB Owens



yeah thats a fair point. Dont have to feed adult ones do I.. I'll go and collect myself some tommorow see how thy go down with my geckos


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## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Good luck and let us know how it goes  Im hoping mine will breed soon but I have only had them a couple of days lol. 
JB Owens


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## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

jb92 said:


> Good luck and let us know how it goes  Im hoping mine will breed soon but I have only had them a couple of days lol.
> JB Owens


Likewise good luck with yours aswell. i need to find a tub to keep them in first haha.


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## LawrenceJMitchell (Feb 8, 2013)

Hi 
I feed woodlice to my Emys.........collected fresh each time from under plant pots and my wood store.......

They are great for dusting vits on.......particularly if dipped in water first.........the vit dust sticks to their legs and underside brilliantly.

One of my Emys is a picky eater (only rarely accepting pellets) but never hesitates with woodlice........

Just my experience......
All the best!

Lawrence x: victory:


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## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

went round today collecting woodlice! found an albino one which was crazy, never seen an albino woodlouse before. Got between 40 and fifty in the end on about 3 centimeters of earth, some rotton wood, some bark and some oak leaves. homefully they like their new home :lol2: 

Heres their setup-









You can just about make out the albino one here (sorry for the poor photograph)


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## naughtyboy (May 27, 2012)

my youngest two wanted to set up colony so we did.
collected some from local woods in tub with rotten wood leaf litter and ame veg.
breeding like mad, put some in with my snails and millpedes as cleaners.
put some in with scorpion fascinating watch him hunt.


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## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

Put 3 in my viv in a food dish for my L williamsi while I was at work. Got back all 3 gone.. either they've escaped (which i very much doubt) or my geckos love these guys!


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## SublimeSparo (May 1, 2013)

dbrack said:


> Put 3 in my viv in a food dish for my L williamsi while I was at work. Got back all 3 gone.. either they've escaped (which i very much doubt) or my geckos love these guys!


i chucked about 30 in as extra clean up crew and my Crestie systematically hunted them down to extinction :lol2:


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## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

SublimeSparo said:


> i checked about 30 in as extra clean up crew and my Crestie systematically hunted them down to extinction :lol2:


Haha dont think my geckos could manage 30! I have to say im glad you made this thread hadnt even considered woodlice as food and calcium shells, dont hop around and escape like mad like my crickets and my geckos seem to love them.!


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## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

dbrack said:


> Haha dont think my geckos could manage 30! I have to say im glad you made this thread hadnt even considered woodlice as food and calcium shells, dont hop around and escape like mad like my crickets and my geckos seem to love them.!



Im glad too lol, such an underated and easily accesible livefood for a huge diversity of reptile. 
JB Owens


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## vukic (Apr 9, 2010)

They're amazing feeders... I've been using them for months... And they breed so quickly too.. 

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## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

Just thought you all might appreciate an update. 3 days in and already i can see baby woodlice running around ... these things breed like mad it seems :O or maybe i just got a pregnant one..? or do they lay eggs..


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## SDC (Oct 24, 2013)

They lay eggs but keep them in a marsupium. When they hatch out it looks like live birth.

Our chameleon loves them but they are a bit small.
I'm wondering if there is maybe a tropical species that grows to about 30mm?


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## PigeonYouDead (Aug 9, 2013)

Yeah the adults can carry babies around underneath.

I have quite a big colony of domestic woodlice, I keep mine in an IKEA storage box on a mix of orchid bark, rotting oak wood from the forest (sterilised), and sterilised oak leaves. I've had mine going a few months now, the sides are covered in these little teeny tiny pinpricks moving around which I can only assume are newborn woodlice, and then I have lots of big adults, and lots of creamy coloured tiddly woodlice.

They eat the leaves and break them down so the bottom is slowly filling up with a fine soil as the leaves break down and I also have a chunk of wet cardboard in there for them to eat.

I don't feed mine fish food, I actually just give them readybrek (or other instant oat breakfast cereal without sugar) and mist it down to make it into a paste which they gobble up.

I have never tried them with my beardie but my guess it she would take one look at it and not think it's worth the effort to chase down. Good to know that if we get some geckos eventually they'll eat them though


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## jarich (Mar 23, 2012)

They breed like crazy in my bearded dragon enclosure, amongst others, and he will eat any that happen to wander by his gaze. He doesnt bother to openly hunt them like he does larger prey, but will pick them off if convenient. 

They eat plant matter, so Im not sure why anyone would feed them fish food or anything else processed. 

I dont think any of them get up to 30 mm, though I only keep a few species. The largest species Ive got get to about 15-18 mm or so.


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## TWreptiles (Dec 21, 2011)

read this thread and watched a few videos, plan to use these as feeders for hatchling leopard geckos and hopefully later this year some viper geckos. i have mine in a flat braplast tub with one end of the hinged lid open as ventilation, damp paper towel on the bottom, a small piece of potato, a load of ripped up corrugated card and some calcium in a small pile at one end. they seem to be doing well and i hope they'll breed in this 'sterile' fashion as it would make it much easier to use them as feeders in terms of collecting them :2thumb:


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## lozmick (Jun 24, 2013)

Ive used these in all my vivs with no problems even in my 4 week old tokay set up found half an adult in there just now so he must of had a go at it :2thumb:


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## Allstar (Dec 22, 2013)

When you breed them in storage boxes etc, do they smell at all?


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## PigeonYouDead (Aug 9, 2013)

Allstar said:


> When you breed them in storage boxes etc, do they smell at all?


Personally, no.

Mine just smells like woodland, but that is because of the oak leaves. They are nothing like the smell you get from locusts and cockroaches


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## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Same as above, just the smell of pear tree leaves


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## BornSlippy (Jan 11, 2010)

I used to keep the tropical ones and the garden kind in my planted crestie viv. They did a great job of clean up but I doubt my cresties ever bothered to catch them. They were far too stupid. I've started adding them to my newly setup black spined toad setup. Any he doesn't find should make for a good cleanup crew.

Does anyone know a good way to catch large numbers of them?


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## vukic (Apr 9, 2010)

BornSlippy said:


> I used to keep the tropical ones and the garden kind in my planted crestie viv. They did a great job of clean up but I doubt my cresties ever bothered to catch them. They were far too stupid. I've started adding them to my newly setup black spined toad setup. Any he doesn't find should make for a good cleanup crew.
> 
> Does anyone know a good way to catch large numbers of them?


catch large quantities?? how do you mean??

if your catching some in the garden, you can drill holes in a potato or similar and leave it in leaves a compost heap etc and collect them in the morning, they'll hide in the holes..

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