Sow bugs/pillbugs as food

[TJ]

Anybody have any information/advice/warnings on using these isopods as food? They're being sold here in Japan for that purpose. I've tried them with some of my newts/sals but not sure yet whether they've been eaten.

 

[mike]

Good food! See:
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net/Amphibiary/frogfood1.html

 

[kaysie]

if you're using them for terrestrial sals, i think they'd be great. they eat detritus in a tank, and are edible by the sals. good news for everyone!

 

[TJ]

Thanks Mike & Kaysie. And by the way, excellent site, Mike!! (esp. interesting as I also keep tropical fish & goldfish)
I'm checking it out here for the first time. Wouldn't mind being reincarnated as one of your C.orientalis in my next life! Hope you'll expand the newt/sal section as times goes on

Concerning sow bugs, pillbugs/woodlice, Mike says on the site that they have a calcium rich exoskeleton,can live in the sal's enclosure for some time until being eaten, and are actually quite useful scavengers, eating decaying plant material.

(Message edited by TJ on September 24, 2003)

 

[kai]

You can also feed them to aquatic species.

They are a good addition to any whiteworm culture and help to avoid mold...

 

[rancidevilpingu]

i never knew woodlice were called pillbugs!!! or sow bugs

 

[mark]

could these woodlice/pilbugs be fed to terrestrial juviniles, as my garden is full of them.

Mark

 

[mike]

Yes!

 

[chris]

Mike,
what temps do you keep your woodlice cultures at to increase the quickest?
Chris

 

[mike]

As long as you get the moisture right, the warmer you keep them (within limits), they faster they breed. The trick is to allow plenty of ventilation, keep the substrate damp (not wet) and allow them to choose their own moisture level - they are more fussy about this than the temperature. I use corrugated cardboard (pieces of old boxes) to let them climb about and pick the microclimate they like.<br>They don't breed that fast, doubling about once every two months, but they are pretty maintenence free. A large plastic food container would keep most people going!