If you’re thinking about entering the hobby of keeping exotic pets, you may be somewhat intimidated at the thought of wrangling huge snakes or caring for loud, fussy birds. However, the world of exotic pets carries a wide spectrum. On one end of the spectrum, you meet critters that may just be perfect for newcomers. These pets, however, scuttle more than they walk, and prefer to munch on dead leaves rather than seeds or worms. Meet the isopod.Keeping Isopods As Your First Exotic Pets
About Isopods
Terrestrial isopods for sale are small detritivores that rarely exceed an inch in length. They spend most of their time burrowing through leaf litter in search of food and hide under various materials to avoid predators.
Basic Care
Keeping a thriving colony of isopods doesn’t have to be a confusing, difficult task. With some basic tips, you will be on your way to knowing about a variety of isopods and helping them thrive and reproduce.
Housing
When it comes to enclosure setups, the humble isopod has one of the simplest you can imagine. Simply make sure that you provide them with a medium sized container with plenty of air holes. From there, you can provide them with plenty of substrate to scuttle through and egg cartons to provide them with a place to hide and lay their eggs.
When picking a place for your isopod enclosure, be sure to consider darker, temperate rooms away from noise and other people.
Feeding
Feeding your isopods will likely be one of the easiest parts of your daily pet-care routine. Simply make sure they have a constant supply of leaf litter and provide them with supplemental food material. This can be food wastes, such as old bread and fruit peels. Simply make sure that you take out any excess food before it becomes spoiled. To provide your isopods with the calcium they need, simply provide them with commercial fish food or cuttlebone.
Handling
When handling isopods, you want to make sure that you are gentle and careful enough so as not to harm them. When you are first releasing them from their transportation packaging into their new enclosure, you want to make sure that you gently shake them from any paper towel/substrate they may have come from directly into their home container. Placing them into another animal’s enclosure, you want to pick them up with a small cup or even allow them to climb on some paper.
Final Thoughts
Isopods can be an excellent introduction into the world of exotic pets. With the right know-how, they can be one of the downright easiest pets to care for, make excellent members of your cleanup crew, and overall, a wonderful addition to your home.
While looking for isopods for sale, be sure to seek out reliable, well-known distributors that care for the health of their stock. If you find the right people, you may just have a lifetime of support for any isopod-related questions you may have, and a consistent supply of excellent specimens.
