Magnificent & Titanic Isopods!

Mitch Belville Shipment Series, Pt 1/4

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I've been wanting to get back into keeping more isopods lately, perhaps because I've been out of the isopods groups on social media so long that I've forgotten how toxic that sub-hobby can be at times... Which works for me, since I can just choose to steer clear of said groups and do things my own way in my own bubble of ignorant bliss. 😅

The main problem and reason I've NOT gotten more isopods right now is that isopods are EXPENSIVE, another thing I dislike about the isopod hobby in general, the price gouging...

But thanks to the generosity of my friend Mitch Belville (who packed these all excellently BTW, despite him being brand new to shipping out inverts), I've finally gotten starter groups of several beautiful species I've been wanting to work with for a while! 😄

Now these two species are perhaps the most exciting of the new isopod species I've gotten, both of which contend with each other for title of the longest Porcellio in culture. 

Let's start off with the prettier of the two, Porcellio magnificus. This large species has your typical flat but slender Spanish Porcellio look, with mature males sporting extra long uropods and antennae. This species (or at least the wild phenotype in the hobby) is bright orange, usually with cream borders along their sides. They are seasonal breeders, only reproducing in the Fall and Spring, and much like other Spanish Porcellio they can be territorial and start killing each other if not given enough space, and/or if the male count gets too high.

I've got my 10 or so individuals housed in a well ventilated 1 gallon shoebox, with a thin layer of coconut fiber as the substrate, which I'm keeping bone dry except for a quarter of the enclosure, which is kept moist. I've got eggcrate pieces in there for hides, and leaf litter for the staple diet, but I'll also offer dog food regularly as a protein supplement. Keeping them at around 73F° or so.

Here are some pictures of the beauties:

Fingers crossed for some babies in the Spring, don't think any of my females are gravid, but I could be wrong.

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Now onto the less flashy but enormous Porcellio hoffmanseggi. These gentle Giants sport a thinner but overall very similar body shape to P.magnificus, and fully grown individuals are a sight to behold. This species is not a seasonal breeder, and they are one of the more forgiving Spanish Porcellio species in general I believe.

I've got my half a dozen individuals housed in a very similar setup to my P.magnificus, but with half of the enclosure kept humid, half dry, since this species prefers higher humidity than magnificus does (in fact the same holds true for most of the Spanish Porcellio). 

Here are some pictures of mine:

Another pretty species, I really hope these do well for me. 😁

But anyways, that's gonna be it for today, thanks for reading everyone, HUGE thanks to Mitch for sending me this package, his packing was great, especially when you consider the fact that they were stuck in transit for a WEEK, and almost everything came alive and well! 😁 Stay tuned, because we got lots more isopods to cover, expect to see more posts soon! 😉