Did you know you can order isopods AND the Supreme Isopod Chow HERE- supremegecko.square.site/s/shop?page=1&limit=60&sort_by=name&sort_order=asc (or contact me at Supreme Gecko on FB).
Hi there to everyone at Supreme Gecko, I'm a person who loves little critters like amphibians, reptiles, and inverts, and have wanted a vivarium, terrarium, or aquarium for a long time - and although I may not be able to start a colony of isopods for a while, I'll definitely be buying Supreme Isopod Chow for any future pods I may have, and this channel is a great resource. Thank you for the great work! And that coconut half looks great. I'm the kind of person who would be so pleased to see my little pods cruising along or tucking up under that coconut half. Have a great day!
I’ve had my wild caught vulgare for over a year now and I’m just now learning about using lime. 😭 I swear I’ve watched sooo many videos and read a lot of articles on the care of isopods and I don’t remember anything about lime. They get substrate changes but still. I want to take care of the cuties. I knew I should’ve started watching your videos from years ago! You’re truly the best!
3:21 Possible scuttle fly (humpback gnat, phorid gnat) in the Jungle Mix. Gnats are one of the banes of my existence. I find it mandatory to either heat up soil or at least CO2 treat soil before using it, since gnats are practically ALWAYS in garden/potting soil.
My goodness, good eyes. I had to watch 3 times to see it! Probably a fungus gnat. Darn fungus gnats! Gnats go away (for me) once the biotopes are more established.
@@SupremeGecko Although I say "I find it mandatory", we all intentionally skip steps/precautions in hobbies for one reason or another. I used some leaves that I only rinsed off, knowing pesticides were used on the lawn at some point. I'm boiling some oak sticks and magnolia leaves right now and need to rehouse my Armadilidium Vulgare.
@@FusionDeveloper I would never use anything that I felt at any time had been treated. But that is maybe just me being over cautious. I do keep leaves/bark/etc. in black bags outside in the sun to rid any invasive critters.
@@SupremeGecko I miss those... btw, I may have missed it somewhere else but I couldn't find an estimated amount for the worm castings in the video -- it looks like 2-3 cups though maybe. Is that about right?
I use coco fiber, crumbled up leaf litter, tree bark, natural wood shavings from chainsaw, charcoal, ground egg shells, a little sand, sphagnum moss, and potting soil
Again thank you Wally. Those isopods are amazing. I love how you went into full detail on how to set an isopod enclosure. I have gotten four different isopods from Brittney as well she does such as excellant job with her isopods as well as the care in shipping them, as well as being in contact to be sure they arrived in excellant shape. Keep up I am looking forward to your next video.
Supreme Gecko so far my mix is just plain organic top soil with ground egg shells added on top. I put the wood in next and the leaves in after that so that the wood is on top of the soil. I have a few bins of pure worm castings and the rest as pure organic top soil. The wood I use is concave so they can get off the substrate. Also with my sphagnum moss I get it totally wet like a sponge and squeeze all the water out, then pack it into the container first along the side and add the substrate next so that the moist area is pure sphagnum moss down to the bottom of the bin. My thinking is this will cut down on mold problems since when you re wet the moss it tends not to soak into the actual substrate as much. I also put my wood pieces over the moss part way.
- Orchid bark will also work as a replacement of rotten wood, in my understanding. - I have the Merulanella sp. 'Red Head' and they look extremely similar to those that you have purchased. But I don't know if they are the same. They are quick, skittish and secretive. P.S. I had to subscribe again, perhaps a YT glitch.
Nice enclosures! I LOVE those isopods! I have the normal zebra and I didn't even know the yellow ones existed but they are AWESOME! I also didn't know the other species existed but their speed reminded me of my simandoa conserfariam cave roach babies because those are also fast
I'm way behind too Rus :) No worries!!! Thanks for the nice comment. You know, I feel we cross over a bit in content but our delivery is so different it doesn't matter much- you are so structured and complete, I ramble and scramble.
@@SupremeGecko i feel you had great information in this video, as always...but yes, our delivery styles are different and can offer useful perspectives.
Another mix I used is coco fiber, orchid bark, sphagnum moss, leaf litter, charcoal (dont use briquettes) and sometimes sifted peat moss. Just thought this might help someone 👍
We have fallen in love with geckos and isopods they seem to go hand and hand .We have learned the most info and care from you sir good job hopefully your You tube takes off you deserve it for sure Our best isopod enclosure for sure is the aka wild caught lmao like they are not all , but we scooped adults and mancae from our compost bin and it is flourishing they are As we can tell rough woodlouse as per color / size .They have tunnels and caves in our glass terrarium its amazing .So far our Armadillidium vulgare are also doing great we made some enclosure mistakes but you have fixed us up with your educational videos ..good job
How very cool. I have another video that goes over my top 5 beginner isopods (I bet you've seen it) and I state wild isopods are the best. Thank you for the very kind words.
Great video! Thank you so much for sharing your substrate recipe. I will definitely be switching to this mixture. And awesome tip for The Isopod Chick. She had the two specific isopods that I was trying to find for months! So excited!
My substrate mix is coco fiber, aspen shavings, decaying wood crumbled up. A little calcium and some of the wood pellets. I personally love to make substrate for isopods and millipedes. I usually end up making too much
Good stuff, I like to use rough charcoal in place of bark. It does the same thing as far as adding space, while also doing a lot of other things such as odor neutralization, and nucleation points for bacteria. I've also noticed mancae like to use it as a nursery if a carrot creche isn't available.
Thank you for the comment Morris. I always worry about doing videos like this as I really don't mean for these to take away from what you and other do by providing excellent invert substrates. I hope people can think of it like either cooking at home or going out to eat at a nice restaurant. And great point about the charcoal!!! When I run out of the FOUR BAGS of orchid bark I have sitting around, I will opt for charcoal. Thanks again.
Great video Wally... and perfect timing with Rus' video today on different types of enclosures... Tho... I prefer to use, "I can't believe it's not butter" in my substrate, cuz you know... Fabio was wise and all knowing... 😆
:) I almost used the Everythings better with Bluebonnet on it but only you and I would have gotten that joke Ken ;) I haven't watched Rus's video yet. I hope there isn't too much crossover. :(
@@SupremeGecko Your Notification saved me from talking to a toxic person on Facebook that thought my comment sounded rude and belittled me even though it wasn’t bad at all 😌 Don’t you just hate those kinds of people?
I recently bought a substrate for isopods and milipedes and I have yellow mushrooms growing out of it :/ And as a bonus, since then everytime I open the lid atleast 10 small fruitfly-like flies fly out of it. I probably should ventilate it more though. They don't have that much holes in the lid. Thanks for the video, great as always ;)
Great video wally! Definitely need to try this isopod substrate mix at some point 😁 also the new additions are gorgeous, yellow maculatum are a favourite of mine!
Thank you Jerimie. If you do, I would probably replace the orchid bark with charcoal. Minor point but I'll be doing that..... once I am done with the 5 big bags of bark I bought in bulk! :)
Always love your videos on isopods. And, love, love the yellow zebras! Plus for me, the timing was great as I am going to be getting my first isopods very soon. So, of course, I want to prepare the best possible home for them. One thing I did get a bit confused about when you gave the the quantity of ingredients to include in the mix was the amount of worm castings to use. It looked to be about 2 cups--or am I off on the amount? Looking forward to your next video.
I doubt I really included an amount. Sorry and thank you for asking. I included @ 5 cups.... But, if you remember, I pulled a couple cups (total) out of the mix so go with @4 cups and see if that works for you. Every time I do this, I do them a bit different.
Those are some nice looking isopods. I really don’t like bugs, but there’s something about isopods I adore. Question, have you ever experienced problems with mushrooms with your old mix? I used your old formula of mix in my crested gecko terrariums and have had issues with mushrooms growing in them. Have any advice, and is it a bad thing?
I have gone through many pets. I had so many isopods, then I got rid of them. Now I'm going back to isopods and I think they will be my 1 and only pet. I think I have to give up mealworms due to allergies.
Thanks. Always interested in seeing isopod substrate recipes. The lime is new ingredient from others I’ve seen. Will look into adding that. Didn’t hear you say how much Worm Castings?
Great info video! I was wondering if you could do a video at some point of how deep you make your substrate depending on the species, like for the ones that like to burrow vs top dwellers, and the ones who do both. If you already have done this could I get the name of the video? :)
I left my leaf stems in with my isopods, for climbing on, but i've noticed that isopods won't eat leaf stems, so maybe it is best to just remove them like you did.
What type of wood pellets do you use? I noticed your link takes us directly to the hickory, but there are several other woods available. Is there a preferred type of wood to use? Thanks for the video, I'm a noob to this and your videos have helped me a lot!
Great video! Is there anyway you could show the links to what and where you get your materials? I am wanting to mix up my own next time. Those Zebras are amazing! The kids asked about possibly getting Zebras as well and those look awesome!!!
I needed a couple more little light moments in this one but I hope people revisit when they do their isopod enclosures. Speaking of isopods, you need to do an update video on yours :)
Thanks for the valuable tips Wally! I have two questions to ask you. 1. Can I use peat moss instead and garden lime to neutralize pH? 2. Can I use Pine bark (marketed as Orchid bark)?
You can in limited amounts. I don't as I've seen peat moss mold a bit. I would not use pine as it might be acidic or have pine residues. (just my opinion).
@@SupremeGecko thanks Wally! Would also like to clarify with you about Garden Lime. Is there a difference for garden lime that’s Calcium Carbonate vs Calcium Hydroxide?
Just got small colony of powder orange isopods and they started breeding and I now have tons of babies so I’m just trying to learn as much as possible to keep the colony in top shape. This is the second species I’ve worked with and had great success with dwarf whites so trying out another species that’s larger so my tiny baby red eyed crocodile skinks have another food option in their enclosure. Every couple of months I have newborn croc skinks hatch out and would love for them to have more food options so I’m gonna try my hand at these. Is there any advice you could give me on the species of isopods and if you think it’s a good idea adding that species in with my croc skinks that already have springtails and dwarf whites established in their enclosure ???
If you are seeing babies, you are doing it right! Keep up the good work. Basic setup and lots of protein. The Supreme Isopod Chow ++ Protein is great! ;) If you are ever in the market to trade for a pair of croc skinks, please let me know.
@@SupremeGecko yeah i would totally be interested in trading a captive bred pair for maybe some viper geckos. i also have captive bred savannah monitors if you know anyone interested in them? just let me check with my wife because the croc skinks are her babies i just breed them and all. if so would you trade for viper geckos?
@@SupremeGecko Thank you! I do this hobby because my kiddos collect them. Pet stores do NOT have good information about isopods. We made a reddit account just to post questions. Thank you so much for your time and help. You're helping me be a better mother to my kiddos!
I get my orchid bark from Amazon. I'm not a big fan of coco chips personally. The orchid bark creates little natural pockets in the substrate for the isopods.
I tried mixing wood pellets with organic compost, but the wood pellets gets moldy after a few days even though I have good ventilation. Is that normal??
Hi. Love the channel, i keep isopods mainly because i ove to watch them, but they breed so prolifically, can they all be eaten by other inverts, reptiles? and if so? which ones are best to keep my isopod colonies down?
Thank you very much Andy Jagger! Yes they do multiply quickly (depending on the genus/species). I sell many of my isopods but some I do feed off to geckos. My African geckos (Chondrodactylus and Hemidactylus like them best).
I pick mine up at one of the home improvement stores. Probably HD (but, I'm in there and Menards so often, I cannot remember :) Oh! Maybe Walmart. Sorry not more specific
I have a question about these Isopods they were sold as p.scaber but I don’t know which morph the bigger ones are a grey color and the smaller ones are a lighter grey and their more iridescent
@@jordanhernandez7184 It really depends. If you are working with adults, after they establish themselves, they should breed almost immediately (so within the first month or so certainly). From mancae to breeding could be around 4-6 months.
@@SupremeGecko im sorry for all the questions I just want my isopods to have a good life but I have one more question is a 12 quart storage bin good for porcellio scaber
@@jordanhernandez7184 NEVER apologize for wanting to learn more about your animals. 12 quart is perfect. They eventually will breed to fill the enclosure and you will need to cull or move them up to a bigger container.
@@Salamanders1018 it’s hard for me to explain in my own words so I’ll just give you an explanation from online “The fermentation process which converts the sawdust into Flake Soil destroys this tough lignin, providing access to the nutritious cellulose that beetle larvae can process. When sawdust is fermented, the colour and smell can be checked to help get an idea of the fermentation level of the Flake Soil.”
Did you know you can order isopods AND the Supreme Isopod Chow HERE- supremegecko.square.site/s/shop?page=1&limit=60&sort_by=name&sort_order=asc (or contact me at Supreme Gecko on FB).
^
Super recommend! I mix it in dried baked eggshell pieces with a tiny spray of water and my Porcellio and Cubaris LOVE it.
Hi there to everyone at Supreme Gecko, I'm a person who loves little critters like amphibians, reptiles, and inverts, and have wanted a vivarium, terrarium, or aquarium for a long time - and although I may not be able to start a colony of isopods for a while, I'll definitely be buying Supreme Isopod Chow for any future pods I may have, and this channel is a great resource. Thank you for the great work! And that coconut half looks great. I'm the kind of person who would be so pleased to see my little pods cruising along or tucking up under that coconut half. Have a great day!
THANK YOU for this kind and wonderful comment. This made my day!
I've noticed the audio is audio is 'weird at the end. My apologies.
Hope the sound was not too bad
Hi Wally x2
The first time i had isopods they died out and I’m pretty sure they had bad substrate, thanks for helping me not make the same mistake twice!
Absolutely! Glad to help.
I’ve had my wild caught vulgare for over a year now and I’m just now learning about using lime. 😭 I swear I’ve watched sooo many videos and read a lot of articles on the care of isopods and I don’t remember anything about lime. They get substrate changes but still. I want to take care of the cuties. I knew I should’ve started watching your videos from years ago! You’re truly the best!
Awww! Thank you so much. If you've had the vulgare for over a year, then you are doing things the right way! Good job.
3:21 Possible scuttle fly (humpback gnat, phorid gnat) in the Jungle Mix. Gnats are one of the banes of my existence.
I find it mandatory to either heat up soil or at least CO2 treat soil before using it, since gnats are practically ALWAYS in garden/potting soil.
My goodness, good eyes. I had to watch 3 times to see it! Probably a fungus gnat. Darn fungus gnats! Gnats go away (for me) once the biotopes are more established.
@@SupremeGecko Oh I should have said where the fly was.
@@SupremeGecko
Although I say "I find it mandatory",
we all intentionally skip steps/precautions in hobbies for one reason or another.
I used some leaves that I only rinsed off, knowing pesticides were used on the lawn at some point.
I'm boiling some oak sticks and magnolia leaves right now and need to rehouse my Armadilidium Vulgare.
@@FusionDeveloper I would never use anything that I felt at any time had been treated. But that is maybe just me being over cautious. I do keep leaves/bark/etc. in black bags outside in the sun to rid any invasive critters.
@@FusionDeveloper Oh, no worries at all.
The black and yellow zebras are absolutely amazing
I completely agree
Indeed
Very helpful Wally! I do appreciate you listing the ingredients in the description below!
Thank you Benjamín. I appreciate this and hope it helps.
Very helpful and looks cool. Thank you
Thank you!
Can’t believe your almost at 5,000 Subscribers
I cannot either. 5K for the end of the year was a pretty lofty goal of mine 11 months ago.
@@SupremeGecko I love the support your getting
Yes!! New vid! And new substrate recipe--double nice
:) It's like the Double Mint gum commercials!
@@SupremeGecko I miss those... btw, I may have missed it somewhere else but I couldn't find an estimated amount for the worm castings in the video -- it looks like 2-3 cups though maybe. Is that about right?
@@TheUglyWhale Didn't miss it as I missed adding it ;) About 3 cups is correct
@@SupremeGecko awesome, thanks so much for the reply Wally! Cheers
I use coco fiber, crumbled up leaf litter, tree bark, natural wood shavings from chainsaw, charcoal, ground egg shells, a little sand, sphagnum moss, and potting soil
Thanks.
Again thank you Wally. Those isopods are amazing. I love how you went into full detail on how to set an isopod enclosure. I have gotten four different isopods from Brittney as well she does such as excellant job with her isopods as well as the care in shipping them, as well as being in contact to be sure they arrived in excellant shape. Keep up I am looking forward to your next video.
Brittany is one of the best. Always great customer service and great isopods. And as always, thank you for the support.
Thanks for this Wally. I am about to get more duckies and had QUESTIONS. you are great.
Thank you very much. Did you get your QUESTIONS answered?
Always great knowledge
Thank you very much.
Cool isopods. Thanks for showing me how to make the substrate
Absolutely. My pleasure. Hope this helps!
Great video!
Thank you so much. Do you do the same for your orchid mix?
Supreme Gecko so far my mix is just plain organic top soil with ground egg shells added on top. I put the wood in next and the leaves in after that so that the wood is on top of the soil. I have a few bins of pure worm castings and the rest as pure organic top soil. The wood I use is concave so they can get off the substrate. Also with my sphagnum moss I get it totally wet like a sponge and squeeze all the water out, then pack it into the container first along the side and add the substrate next so that the moist area is pure sphagnum moss down to the bottom of the bin. My thinking is this will cut down on mold problems since when you re wet the moss it tends not to soak into the actual substrate as much. I also put my wood pieces over the moss part way.
wow those isopods were super fast and the maculatum with the yellow stripe are just beautiful,,,thanks for sharing your iso substrate recipe
Most welcome. Yes, I really didn't feel I captured the isopods as well as I could have in this video. SUPER fast.
The Vietnam Are gorgeous I love their color
Thank you. They are just now starting to breed for me.
But...but...I use Land O' Lakes! 😆
EXCELLENT video, this is one of the only videos that has 100% of everything isopods need. 👍🏻👍🏻
Thank you so much. Gotta laugh a bit, right? :)
Another action packed adventure. Thanks again Ricky 💃🏼🕺🏼🎸🪳🐈⬛😎
Ricky???!!!!????
Great video. I will be watching this a lot in the future.
Thanks!!
- Orchid bark will also work as a replacement of rotten wood, in my understanding.
- I have the Merulanella sp. 'Red Head' and they look extremely similar to those that you have purchased. But I don't know if they are the same. They are quick, skittish and secretive.
P.S. I had to subscribe again, perhaps a YT glitch.
Orchid bark will NOT work as a replacement of rotten wood as it is not in the process of decaying. It is best to use rotting wood.
I am going to use this mix when I re do my Isopods. Thanks for sharing., Those yellow zebras are amazing! And nice set ups too
Thank you! Let me know if you have any questions
Nice enclosures! I LOVE those isopods! I have the normal zebra and I didn't even know the yellow ones existed but they are AWESOME! I also didn't know the other species existed but their speed reminded me of my simandoa conserfariam cave roach babies because those are also fast
YES! And you should see a 1000 Florida Fast scamper when overturning a cork bark hide!
@@SupremeGecko i would love to see that Wally
Looks like a Really Nice Setup and Awesome Isopods
Thank you.
I’m behind! I missed that you had posted this video until today! Gorgeous pickups too!!
I'm way behind too Rus :) No worries!!! Thanks for the nice comment. You know, I feel we cross over a bit in content but our delivery is so different it doesn't matter much- you are so structured and complete, I ramble and scramble.
@@SupremeGecko i feel you had great information in this video, as always...but yes, our delivery styles are different and can offer useful perspectives.
@@Aquarimax 👌
Excellent video Wally. Very helpful.
Very glad you like it.
Looks like I’m picking up some more supplies! 👍🏻
Whatcha gettin'
@@SupremeGecko need some wood pellets and some calcium carbonate.
@@jwslippman Nice
I'm coco for the coconut! Those yellow zebra's are amazing! I'm always surprised at how many isopod variations there are. Still loving all your vids.
:) Looks cool, right?! Thanks for supporting our channel.
Another mix I used is coco fiber, orchid bark, sphagnum moss, leaf litter, charcoal (dont use briquettes) and sometimes sifted peat moss. Just thought this might help someone 👍
I do not like to use coco fiber and suggest that it not be used.
@@SupremeGecko why?
@@markpozsar5785 it doesn't offer anything to the isopods.
@@SupremeGecko I see, thank you for the response
Awesome video Wally!!
Thank you. I hope this helps people.
Oh man my butter had no calcium. Guess I’m going to have to trash all my soil mixture. Lol 😝 hahaha that was funny!!
Throw it out! Throw it out!
Your tips are very helpful for newbies like me in this hobby, thanks alot 😁
It's absolutely my pleasure!
I have one zebra with the yellow stripes. They are neat.
They are beautiful!!! Very different.
We have fallen in love with geckos and isopods they seem to go hand and hand .We have learned the most info and care from you sir good job hopefully your You tube takes off you deserve it for sure Our best isopod enclosure for sure is the aka wild caught lmao like they are not all , but we scooped adults and mancae from our compost bin and it is flourishing they are As we can tell rough woodlouse as per color / size .They have tunnels and caves in our glass terrarium its amazing .So far our Armadillidium vulgare are also doing great we made some enclosure mistakes but you have fixed us up with your educational videos ..good job
Good to see people like you!!! Wally is absolutely an amazing person and when it comes to isopods he can tell you what you need to know
How very cool. I have another video that goes over my top 5 beginner isopods (I bet you've seen it) and I state wild isopods are the best. Thank you for the very kind words.
Thank you so much FDT!
@@SupremeGecko No Problem Wally 😊
Great video! Thank you so much for sharing your substrate recipe. I will definitely be switching to this mixture. And awesome tip for The Isopod Chick. She had the two specific isopods that I was trying to find for months! So excited!
You are MOST welcome!
Oh man thank you!
Hope this helps!!
I think it cool your videos help me out with my own isopods
Thank you.
My substrate mix is coco fiber, aspen shavings, decaying wood crumbled up. A little calcium and some of the wood pellets. I personally love to make substrate for isopods and millipedes. I usually end up making too much
Not a huge fan of coco fiber or aspen shavings. Personally.
Good stuff, I like to use rough charcoal in place of bark. It does the same thing as far as adding space, while also doing a lot of other things such as odor neutralization, and nucleation points for bacteria. I've also noticed mancae like to use it as a nursery if a carrot creche isn't available.
Thank you for the comment Morris. I always worry about doing videos like this as I really don't mean for these to take away from what you and other do by providing excellent invert substrates. I hope people can think of it like either cooking at home or going out to eat at a nice restaurant. And great point about the charcoal!!! When I run out of the FOUR BAGS of orchid bark I have sitting around, I will opt for charcoal. Thanks again.
Great video, thanks for sharing ur knowledge 👍😀
Always my pleasure
Great video Wally... and perfect timing with Rus' video today on different types of enclosures... Tho... I prefer to use, "I can't believe it's not butter" in my substrate, cuz you know... Fabio was wise and all knowing... 😆
:) I almost used the Everythings better with Bluebonnet on it but only you and I would have gotten that joke Ken ;) I haven't watched Rus's video yet. I hope there isn't too much crossover. :(
No worries on crossovers... He talked about enclosures... You talked about substrate, it was a great match... 👍
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Barb. Always great hearing from you.
Playing in dirt is always fun :)
Dirt don't hurt.
Getting your hands dirty can be fun 😃
Yes Wally it looks real kool 👍😀
I feel like Groucho Marxx (you are far too young to remember this) "Say the secret woaaard" :0
@@SupremeGecko I remember him, but he did come before me. I am 65 years young. Lol
nice setup and beautiful m. vietnam. wow they are fast.
They ARE!!! Like florida fast fast
What a great video! I know you sell isopod chow, but have you ever thought about selling isopod substrate?
I have not as there are good vendors in the market right now. I may in 2021
Great video Wally! You’re making me want isopods again 😂
Gotta do it! Great sellers, especially at shows. PM me if you DO consider.
@@SupremeGecko oh for sure!! Thank you!!
Do It!!! What’s Stopping You?
Awesome video as always ☺️ thank you for being the reason that I started collecting isopods.
Uh Oh! I get blamed so many time! But that is fine :)
@@SupremeGecko You did this to us Wally! 🤣
@@theisopodgod7414 :) Is that credit you are giving me.... or blame ;)
@@SupremeGecko haha right now it is credit but in twenty years when the teams of Therapist ask it will turn to blame 😂
Thanks for the links in the description! Awesome video as always!!!
I should have had these in initially. Thanks for asking.
THANK YOU! so much for this video. What great information.
Thank you very much Kate
Now I want yellow zebras xD
They do look cool!
Yes
👍
Great information.
Thank you so much for all your support.
Yellow Stripes look so nice
Thanks FDT
@@SupremeGecko I Bet in a few years someone will probably develop Orange Stripes
@@frankdughtank8327 great call!
@@SupremeGecko Your Notification saved me from talking to a toxic person on Facebook that thought my comment sounded rude and belittled me even though it wasn’t bad at all 😌 Don’t you just hate those kinds of people?
@@frankdughtank8327 I hate the thought of people feeling like they know so much about a topic that there are no other ways to look at an issue.
I recently bought a substrate for isopods and milipedes and I have yellow mushrooms growing out of it :/
And as a bonus, since then everytime I open the lid atleast 10 small fruitfly-like flies fly out of it.
I probably should ventilate it more though. They don't have that much holes in the lid.
Thanks for the video, great as always ;)
Thank you very much. Sorry about the substrate. If you want to PM me on IG or FB and let me know who the vendor was, I would greatly appreciate it.
Oh, I bought it at a local "terrabazaar"
Great video wally! Definitely need to try this isopod substrate mix at some point 😁 also the new additions are gorgeous, yellow maculatum are a favourite of mine!
Thank you Jerimie. If you do, I would probably replace the orchid bark with charcoal. Minor point but I'll be doing that..... once I am done with the 5 big bags of bark I bought in bulk! :)
Someone here has taste 👌
Always love your videos on isopods. And, love, love the yellow zebras! Plus for me, the timing was great as I am going to be getting my first isopods very soon. So, of course, I want to prepare the best possible home for them. One thing I did get a bit confused about when you gave the the quantity of ingredients to include in the mix was the amount of worm castings to use. It looked to be about 2 cups--or am I off on the amount? Looking forward to your next video.
I doubt I really included an amount. Sorry and thank you for asking. I included @ 5 cups.... But, if you remember, I pulled a couple cups (total) out of the mix so go with @4 cups and see if that works for you. Every time I do this, I do them a bit different.
@@SupremeGecko Thank you for clarifying.
@@martii1226 not a problem. Thanks for asking.
Those Vietnam isopods look kind of like a red Cubaris Jupiter.
Yes! I cannot wait to hear little paws pitter pattering.
Yeah 😀
Those are some nice looking isopods. I really don’t like bugs, but there’s something about isopods I adore. Question, have you ever experienced problems with mushrooms with your old mix? I used your old formula of mix in my crested gecko terrariums and have had issues with mushrooms growing in them. Have any advice, and is it a bad thing?
I have had small patches of mushrooms but have never worried about them much. If you do have too many, the substrate might be too moist.
I have gone through many pets. I had so many isopods, then I got rid of them.
Now I'm going back to isopods and I think they will be my 1 and only pet.
I think I have to give up mealworms due to allergies.
Cool that you are getting back into isopods. Sorry about your allergies.
Thanks. Always interested in seeing isopod substrate recipes. The lime is new ingredient from others I’ve seen. Will look into adding that. Didn’t hear you say how much Worm Castings?
I thought I did. Sorry. The worm castings are the base of the ingredients. Maybe because it was the first one I added and last talked about.
@@SupremeGecko probably... so how much? 😂
@@crittergirl3647 sorry, 4-5 cups
@@SupremeGecko Thanks!
Great info video! I was wondering if you could do a video at some point of how deep you make your substrate depending on the species, like for the ones that like to burrow vs top dwellers, and the ones who do both. If you already have done this could I get the name of the video? :)
Sounds like a good topic. Thanks.
I left my leaf stems in with my isopods, for climbing on, but i've noticed that isopods won't eat leaf stems, so maybe it is best to just remove them like you did.
You can use other objects for climbing such as thin branches.
What type of wood pellets do you use? I noticed your link takes us directly to the hickory, but there are several other woods available. Is there a preferred type of wood to use? Thanks for the video, I'm a noob to this and your videos have helped me a lot!
Anything not treated works well. Thank you so much for the kind comments.
Great video! Is there anyway you could show the links to what and where you get your materials? I am wanting to mix up my own next time. Those Zebras are amazing! The kids asked about possibly getting Zebras as well and those look awesome!!!
I will grab some links and add to the video by end of day. (I have a limited supply of zebras but message me if interested).
@@SupremeGecko Thanks Wally!
@@BOB-ud4gy of course
LOLOL you almost got me with the butter hahahaha
I needed a couple more little light moments in this one but I hope people revisit when they do their isopod enclosures. Speaking of isopods, you need to do an update video on yours :)
Thanks for the valuable tips Wally! I have two questions to ask you. 1. Can I use peat moss instead and garden lime to neutralize pH? 2. Can I use Pine bark (marketed as Orchid bark)?
You can in limited amounts. I don't as I've seen peat moss mold a bit. I would not use pine as it might be acidic or have pine residues. (just my opinion).
@@SupremeGecko thanks Wally! Would also like to clarify with you about Garden Lime. Is there a difference for garden lime that’s Calcium Carbonate vs Calcium Hydroxide?
@@jiasenium I have never used the Calcium Hydroxide. I stick with CC.
Just got small colony of powder orange isopods and they started breeding and I now have tons of babies so I’m just trying to learn as much as possible to keep the colony in top shape. This is the second species I’ve worked with and had great success with dwarf whites so trying out another species that’s larger so my tiny baby red eyed crocodile skinks have another food option in their enclosure. Every couple of months I have newborn croc skinks hatch out and would love for them to have more food options so I’m gonna try my hand at these. Is there any advice you could give me on the species of isopods and if you think it’s a good idea adding that species in with my croc skinks that already have springtails and dwarf whites established in their enclosure ???
If you are seeing babies, you are doing it right! Keep up the good work. Basic setup and lots of protein. The Supreme Isopod Chow ++ Protein is great! ;) If you are ever in the market to trade for a pair of croc skinks, please let me know.
@@SupremeGecko yeah i would totally be interested in trading a captive bred pair for maybe some viper geckos. i also have captive bred savannah monitors if you know anyone interested in them? just let me check with my wife because the croc skinks are her babies i just breed them and all. if so would you trade for viper geckos?
@@pumpkinchow Just let me know what you are looking for. We are getting more vipers recently.
@@SupremeGecko is there any chance you have scorpion tail geckos??
@@pumpkinchow I do! :)
Where/ what kind of lime? I never added any, but new to isopods😊
2:00 A normal garden lime. Not too much.
What do you do if you're extra allergic to Coconuts, and you need a substrate without the coconut fiber?
Do NOT use coco fiber (we don't now anyways). Use 80% soil.
@@SupremeGecko Thank you! I do this hobby because my kiddos collect them. Pet stores do NOT have good information about isopods. We made a reddit account just to post questions. Thank you so much for your time and help. You're helping me be a better mother to my kiddos!
Great video and information where do you buy the orchid bark and can you substitute it with something else like coco chips ?
I get my orchid bark from Amazon. I'm not a big fan of coco chips personally. The orchid bark creates little natural pockets in the substrate for the isopods.
@@SupremeGecko thank you
What kind of wood pellets? Certain ones to avoid?
I believe there is a link in the description. But any hardwood pellets.... and stay away from additives.
Does it matter which wood pellet type we use?
Yes. Make sure they are untreated.
What worm castings are you using
Just generic from a home improvement store.
What water is safe for isopods?
I let my water sit out for a couple days to get rid of any clorines.
Does your wood come from outside?
Absolutely!
I tried mixing wood pellets with organic compost, but the wood pellets gets moldy after a few days even though I have good ventilation. Is that normal??
No it is not. Your substrate is too moist.
How much worm castings do you add?
That is the main part of the substrate- shown in the video.
other then cool to look at do isopods have a purpose or ? im new to the isopod world lol
Yes. I actually have a video explaining why you should keep isopods.
@@SupremeGecko going to watch it now lol
hi, can I use any wood pellets? will different wood pellets affect anything?
Make sure the wood pellets you use are not treated
@@SupremeGecko thanks!
Hi. Love the channel, i keep isopods mainly because i ove to watch them, but they breed so prolifically, can they all be eaten by other inverts, reptiles? and if so? which ones are best to keep my isopod colonies down?
Thank you very much Andy Jagger! Yes they do multiply quickly (depending on the genus/species). I sell many of my isopods but some I do feed off to geckos. My African geckos (Chondrodactylus and Hemidactylus like them best).
You can Feed them to Geckos
Can i use calcium powder for reptile ?
Of course.
Can you use reptile calcium without d3
Absolutely.
Wally, where do you get worm castings? I have gone to Steins and I haven't found " Worm castings" I got top soil and used that instead, is that ok?
I pick mine up at one of the home improvement stores. Probably HD (but, I'm in there and Menards so often, I cannot remember :) Oh! Maybe Walmart. Sorry not more specific
I believe I found some at Home Depot before
I didn't know there was yellow zebra
Right?!!!!!
Just wait until a rainbow 🌈 Zebra isopod pops into existence
Is it okay to use tap water?
Certainly. I like to leave it sitting out for a couple days though.
It should be fine
Do you bake any of the items to sterilize them?
I actually do not. I keep them in black bags in the sun for several weeks (or the ice box we call our garage in the winter)
@@SupremeGecko Thanks Wally for the great information the links are super helpful!
If you keep them in a container and leave it out in the sun for for a few weeks to a Month it should kill everything
Do the isopods eat the coconut?
No it’s just something for them to hide in
Great question!!! I've not seen this happen. The leaves go first then the wood.
Exactly
I dont see any of my white dwarfs. Did i kill them?
Send me a PM on FB and we can chat.
Oh no :( hopefully they are just buried in the Substrate
How much Worm Casting do you use.
yeah, I didn't really say did I :) I use about 5-6 cups... but then you saw me take some out too :)
Hello Wally! I have milkbacks and they are enjoying the cork bark much more then any other food, is that something I should be worried about ?
I would say you should a bit. What other foods are you feeding?
@@SupremeGecko I am feeding fish flakes crushed up freeze dried meal worms and I alternate veggie scraps
@@SupremeGecko I do that once a week and they do eat the fish flakes but they hollowing out the bark pretty fast
@@danielhidalgo8885 And leaves? Mine go through a LOT of leaves (a big handful every 2 weeks)
@@SupremeGecko they do have leaves but Definitely not as much as your suggesting
So, anyone use actual worms in their substrate ? Maybe they will aerate and add free castings ?
Hmmmm. Interesting. I would think they would work well. Just don't know enough about them.
I have a question about these Isopods they were sold as p.scaber but I don’t know which morph the bigger ones are a grey color and the smaller ones are a lighter grey and their more iridescent
You can always send me photos and I can check them out (FB or IG)
@@SupremeGecko I was also wondering how long it takes Porcellio scaber to reproduce in captivity
@@jordanhernandez7184 It really depends. If you are working with adults, after they establish themselves, they should breed almost immediately (so within the first month or so certainly). From mancae to breeding could be around 4-6 months.
@@SupremeGecko im sorry for all the questions I just want my isopods to have a good life but I have one more question is a 12 quart storage bin good for porcellio scaber
@@jordanhernandez7184 NEVER apologize for wanting to learn more about your animals. 12 quart is perfect. They eventually will breed to fill the enclosure and you will need to cull or move them up to a bigger container.
Where do you get wood pellets
Any of the home improvement stores. But I will also put a link on the video later today to amazon for all ingredients.
Supreme Gecko thank you so much I appreciate it😁😁 jus trying to see if I can get bulk through a horticulture website with my old teacher
@@Salamanders1018 if you ferment it for a couple months it makes good food for Rhino Beetles and other isopods/Millipedes
FrankDughTank explain fermenting?
@@Salamanders1018 it’s hard for me to explain in my own words so I’ll just give you an explanation from online “The fermentation process which converts the sawdust into Flake Soil destroys this tough lignin, providing access to the nutritious cellulose that beetle larvae can process. When sawdust is fermented, the colour and smell can be checked to help get an idea of the fermentation level of the Flake Soil.”
I need help. My mix smells like ammonia. What should i do?
Your isopod substrate? What do you mean your mix?
@@SupremeGecko yes i make isopod substrate mix following the ingredients on your video. But my substrate smells like strong ammonia.
:(
@@robbikun Is this a new enclosure or has it been setup for some time (how long and how many isopods?)
@@SupremeGecko i was planning to rehome my dairies and murina to a large bin (20L) so i made a new batch of substrate.
@@robbikun So, is the old substrate smelly or the new?
Lolrof
as smooth as bwwuttta
@@SupremeGecko 😂🤣😅
🤣