Cornelius Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 Hello, Is there any practical purpose to keeping isopods? Do they really have any benefit to roaches? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RomanBuck Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 They can do this: Keep mold down for low ventilation species Eat dead roaches Gets to the grains before other annoying things do Plus keeping isopods can be just as addicting as roaches. Trust me... I have touched into many branches of the invert hobby... And it doesn't look like I am stopping either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonsaladsandwich Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 It's also good to have a supply of clean, home raised isopods for when you have heartburn. Wild ones are terrible bioaccumulators of heavy metals and you don't know where they've been... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRoach Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Heartburn? Haha, do you have to eat them or?. I can't imagine crunching on one of these guys. Personally, I only use them alongside springtails and lesser mealworm beetle larvae to clean up dead roaches, eat spilled food, and keep mold off new wood thrown into moist enclosures. They can breed more prolifically than some of the roaches I keep so I have another spare tub that I throw excess isopods into. Sowbugs do better in enclosures with at least a little ventilation, in my experience. The pillbugs especially like their fresh air. They always slowly die on me when I don't give them ample breathing holes. I use sowbugs as "canaries" in some of my enclosures that lack ventilation by seeing how well they do. I know I need to open up my sealed roach enclosures more often when they become lethargic and stop breeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonsaladsandwich Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 No I don't eat them but they are high in calcium and can be used to treat heartburn. They're nature's Tums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRoach Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Hmm, that's really interesting. Thank you for that piece of information. I'll keep it in mind in case of an extreme emergency Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornelius Posted July 13, 2015 Author Share Posted July 13, 2015 Not like I do it every day, so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acro Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 They are often kept: *As aquarium "cleaners" (mentioned above). *As feeders for dart frogs, assassin bugs and other small carnivores. *And as pets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bamboo Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 I love keeping these and I have yet to still figure out why! hahaha .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jared Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 They can indeed be eaten. I'm going to try some of these recipes once I have more. https://toservearthropods.wordpress.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonsaladsandwich Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 The isopod fried rice sounds like a good idea, the bread not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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