Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone:

Been a while since I've been here. Does anyone know who currently has tiny isopods to introduce into the Dart Frog environment-specifically will imitators take them and who is selling them currently? Fly culture has them as always an 'AVAILABLE SOON" status.

Thanks-Maggie

Hey Maggie-- nice to hear from you again. This place hasn't been as active as before. A lot of people went to the Dendroboard, I think.

I don't know where to get isopods, though. I had a couple of live sowbugs that got into a dart tank from some field plankton, but these were too big for the frogs and they just died off without breeding. You could try collecting some from outdoors and raise them in a box of damp soil with leaves and rock hides, feed them with some cereal such as bran, then feed the babies to the frogs. For some completely irrational reason, my cousin and I used to capture and raise pill bugs and sowbugs when we were youngsters, and this is how we raised them. We used to make match box wagons with button wheels, then hitch our sowbugs to them with thread and have chariot races. The pill bugs would just curl up, but the sowbugs could book along. They're supposed to be nutritious. My daughter used to pick them off the sidewalk when she was a baby and eat them.

By the way, I've added a lot of frogs since I last talked to you. I should be getting a pair of D. azureus as soon as the weather warms.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus

Well Hello Patty!

I've been away for awhile due to some personal Chaos! But the frogs I had remain with me and I can only have what I have for awhile til my sit. changes again! Its always soooo good to get your contribution to our questions! I'm sooo glad you continue on and add to your collection.

I tried getting on Dendro, can't manuver the site well enough and so I return here, but I do notice a slower pace too. Your Isopod experience is hilarious. I bet your daughter was never in need of calcium supplements as those Isopods are supposed to be high in calcium! Tell me how you'd hitch the bugs to your matchbox wagon? My son will get a kick out of it!

Talk to you sooner then later this time,

Maggie

Maggie-- It's ironic, but the day after I posted re: the isopods I fed my P. terribilis a treat of springtails on the pieces of charcoal I grow them on. They like to sit around "the table" and lap them up. When I turned them over after a few hours so they could lap the other side, the bottom was full of little baby sowbugs, and today I found an adult. So I guess they have been breeding in there all along, but staying buried. So now, I'll have to atttract them to the surface with either the charcoal or a small piece of wood that can be turned over, because the darts don't seem to find them otherwise. The little suckers run back under the charcoal pretty fast, so it's hard to keep them in sight long enough for the frogs to notice them.

I hope you stick around here. We need some support and more activity here.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus

Hey Patty:

Sure has changed around here! But its reassuring to see you're still here! I found the micropods being offered by Flyculture. They finally had some cultures do well enough to break off into starter cultures. But, I hadn't thought of what you mentioned about the fact that they stay hidden a bit too much. In fact, I find this to be true of Springtails as well. I have a Juv. Imitator that became too thin because in my inexperience, I placed plenty of Sptingtails in but he was not catching them well enough. I had to make sure that I placed PLENTY of FF And Springtails to ensure his success rate at catching some dinner. During the summer I will have tons of whiteflies to offer but its back to Melanogasters til then. Hey do you know if larve of Green Lscewings could be offered? I've completely given up on Aphids. Too hard to rear. Guess what is too easy though? Stick bugs!

Maggie

Maggie-- Try some of the organic garden catalogs for lacewings, Years ago I purchased some for the greenhouse, but can't remember how they came--whether is was egg cases or pupae or what.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus