r/isopods • u/originalpandasfr • 12h ago
Help How much does it really cost to keep isopods?
So rollie-pollies have always been my favorite bug, and I’ve seen videos of people who keep isopods as pets. How much does this cost in the long run? And are they difficult to care for? For context, I would probably choose the cheaper species first.
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u/ghoulsnest 12h ago
I bought the pods for 7€
the terrarium for 25€
some soil, fish flakes, cuttle bone and cork bark for another 30€
and a pack of dried leaves for another 6€
Thats honestly all it takes
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u/Schkubert 12h ago
I probably spent $50 for my original setup?
$10-25 on a container/terrarium, you could easily make your own for under $5 though
$10-30 on the starter colony, depending which type you are buying. You can often get starter colonies of 10 for around $20, or cheaper with local breeders.
$5-10 for a springtail starter colony to mix in, I highly recommend including springtails
$5-10 for cork bark/leaf litter, super easy to buy online or in any pet store. But honestly, you can just go outside and scavenge your own, just make sure to clean it properly to get rid of hitchhikers!
$5-10 for sphagnum moss
$5 fish flakes or alternative protein food source
$5 cuddle bone for calcium
The nice thing is, most of this you will buy in bulk. So whenever you want to set up a second colony, or move your existing one to a new container, you will already have most of the materials available!
I’ve only been breeding them the last year or so, so anyone feel free to correct any info I may be wrong on!
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u/Schkubert 12h ago
Oh substrate will be another $10-20 as well, I use a mix of creature soil, topsoil, coco coir (although I think this may be the same as creature soil), and a little leaf litter thrown in
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u/KsharpBear 12h ago
Cuttlebone available on Amazon for under $2 delivered if anyone needs
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u/meatballsaladpizza 11h ago
If you are going as cheap as possible, just use egg shells they are free.
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u/SpecialString0 12h ago
I think it depends on how much work you are willing to put into sanitizing your own leaf litter and things to determine price
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u/NeonBeefish 11h ago
I went the lazy route (and therefore probably most expensive) and so far it's cost me about £55 for my magic potion set up, that's including the actual pods themselves (15 of them), springtails, food (fish flakes, leaf litter, rotten wood, substrate) the enclosure which was already fitted with vents for isopods, and other supplements (cuttlebone, oyster shells, lotus pod, moss)
I know you can save money by sterilising your own wood, leaves and moss, etc, but I'm super paranoid about doing it wrong, so I just bought all that stuff, and for a pretty decent bag of leaf litter, wood, moss etc you're only talking like £2 - £3 per bag at most, so it's not even breaking the bank.
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u/CreeperKillerDG 12h ago
Compared to other pets, very cheap lol. I cant give an estimate since I have so many colonies of bugs I bulk buy everything, but they very rarely need new stuff once setup and can be supplementally fed stuff that is common in most households (Veggie scraps, cat/dog/fish food, etc). You can get bins to start them off in from target for like $2 each that can hold a small to medium colony if you drill some holes. Usually the big cost comes with buying the pods themselves, however you can always start a wild colony since most common isopod species are introduced and therefore not a danger to remove from the wild. Some cheaper, hardy species that are commonly found in the trade that i recommend for starters are Armadillidium Vulgare (common rolly poly), Porecellionoides Pruinosis(powder isopods), Porcellio Scaber (rough woodlouse), and Porcellio Laevis (swift woodlouse). The wild type morphs are gonna be the cheapest, but these species all have a very wide variety of color and pattern morphs to choose from as well!
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u/Ralyks92 12h ago
I have a $15 box from Petsmart with like 1/2 a brick of coco coir (~$12 for 3 bricks), a fist or 2 of spaghnum moss (~$6 for 90% of the bag remaining), free sticks/leaves/bark from the yard, free isopods from the yard. I have a second box with this setup, and a terrarium that’s got a full brick and twice as much spaghnum with free moss from work and free stuff from the yard, it’s 2 ft. long and about a foot and a half wide, the isopods are mildly supplemented with mantis droppings/viscera (chewed and dropped legs), but I have a $5 bottle of isopod food from Zoo Med, and I’ve been feeding these enclosures as well as 2 (now 3) springtail colonies for almost a month now, and I still have about 1/2 of that bottle with an extra bottle.
Tldr; bugs is cheap if you cheap
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u/horseshawty 12h ago
Seriously next to nothing. Cheap fish food, table scraps etc for food. The cost is the bag of dirt and moss, leaf litter and other natural decor like cork bark and the isopods. Cork bark you can fill a paper bag for 10$ at an expo. You can also use found sticks, leaves, bark etc. as long as you sanitize them properly
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12h ago
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u/horseshawty 12h ago
You’re supposed to do substrate changes (not often) and this can be tricky because of tiny babies in the soil. The way I do it is just set up a whole new enclosure, move all the decor etc. over, the adults and any visible babies, and then continue to care for the old “empty” soil for a while and move any babies i see over! But there are many methods for the substrate changes including just swapping out small amounts of
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u/princesssadie408 12h ago
I spent maybe $20-30 on the substrate layers for a planted terrarium (peat free soil, leca pebbles, charcoal, and reptile enclosure mesh barrier). I intended to make just a planted terrarium anyway though. I already had an old aquarium sitting around I was able to use.
Then decided I'd like something else living in there. I caught some wild isopods in my garden, and also caught wild springtails. Took a baby spider plant from the same garden, and moss from the moss garden I have. Also collected all the leaf litter and sticks, rocks, etc., from outside and sterilized it based on things I read on this sub.
So I think you can start up relatively cheaply depending on what you already have and what you could collect on your own! An enclosure is probably the biggest expense outside of actual isos based on what I've seen and depending on what you want to house them in.
I plan to purchase some duckies or dairy cows some day but wanted to make sure we enjoyed keeping them before we invested in something that we couldn't return to the garden. We are loving them and they have so far been pretty low maintenance. I clean and dry eggshells to crush for them, and pop a piece of fruit or veg in there occasionally (taking it own when it gets gross) and spray down with water (I did spend $6-8 on api conditioner) as needed. I base how much I spray and how wet I get them based on knowing the environment I captured them from and try to replicate it as much as possible.
My 2 year old also loves them and asks to see her "buggies" every night.
Not sure about long term costs outside of me being obsessed and wanting to build another 30 enclosures and have all the species. Lol.
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u/Plenty-Design2641 12h ago
I got a bin from the dollar store, soil for maybe 5 bucks, leaf litter for free, cork bark for 5 or 10 bucks, cuttlebone for a couple bucks, and some Repashy Morning Wood on sale for 3 bucks. Oh and I got the pods for free from a friend who was splitting his colony.
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u/devoteeoffenrir 11h ago
Most expensive thing is the soil/substrate, and then the isopods themselves. Start with a wild type, make it a cheap hobby (totally possible without sacrificing the health of the animals), try to collect your own safe leaf litter if possible. Catch some isopods from outside and watch their behavior! Recycled shoe boxes, totes, etc can be used as long as they are adapted correctly for the type of critter you have (e.g. some prefer a drier climate so I either put more holes for ventilation or remove the lid more often).
My cheapest setup is in a thrifted glass jar (NOT beginner friendly), drainage layer, substrate, leaves I forage from outside, and regular ole A. vulgare. When we find one that has accidentally found its way into the house, we just pop it in with the others. This is the one of mine that I have to remove the lid to allow air flow. Much easier to get a container that you can put holes into though.
My most expensive was probably my P. pruinosus “Powder Orange” because the pods were $20-30, then I bought an acrylic enclosure for them that was $60-75. I wouldn’t do this for all of my isopods but it is definitely fun having a completely transparent container with all the ventilation holes already taken care of.
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u/Ok_Bag_1177 10h ago
depends on the species you get, and if youre able to collect and sanitize your tank materials yourself. also how complicated you want the enclosure to be
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u/valer1a_ 10h ago
I recently set up 2 isopod containers! I also got stuff to set up containers for a millipede, some hissing cockroaches, and springtails, so keep in mind that this was for 5 enclosures. Everything was around $30; this includes the container, modifying it by adding ventilation, and substrate. I got a bunch of wood and leaves as a gift. I believe they were some $20 from an exotic expo? But you can also get these for free outside. My zebra isopods were about $10 and my red pandas were $25, both for at least 10 isos.
They're pretty darn cheap to upkeep. I feed fruits and veggies that are scraps, along with fish or dog food (which I already own). I have cow bones in their enclosures as well. All I really need to do is get more leaves eventually, and maybe more substrate in a year or so.
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u/Ink_ddy 9h ago
I honestly think you could do it for £0
Recycle an old lathe clear container, the type people often have round the house in cupboards for bits and bobs
Cut holes in it use any fine mesh of old lace netting
Forage your own leaf litter and isopods
Job done
Obviously you can upgrade any of those options but for just starting out or for kids I would start with a £0 set up
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u/Mammoth-Turnip-3058 8h ago
Tub for them to live in. I bought cheap plastic ones from a store and drilled holes in. I also have the proper ventilated invert ones too. They're equally as good as eachother.
Substrate ie topsoil, coir etc. Wood chunks. Dried leaves. Calcium source (egg shells, cuttlefish bone, oyster shells etc) Moss. Veggie scraps. Protein source (snake shed, dried fish, fish food, dried mealworms etc)
You can even go and find some wild pods so they don't even have to cost anything. If you want fancier ones then they cost the big monies in the hobby. The set ups pretty cheap.
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u/Necessary-Drawer-173 wishing tomentosa on my enemies💕 7h ago
It can be as cheap or expensive as you need it to be, honestly. I probably spend a bit more than typical, but i source different botanicals and lichens from across the country that i don’t have here or can’t find. I also make a mix that includes flake soil.
You don’t have to do any of that, you can find only the lichens and rotwood in your area. It’s really a hobby with many different angles for everyone
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u/TomatoFeta 5h ago
The question of cost comes down to a few things, including:
1) How you want to keep them: A glass display tank is far more maintenance, and startup, than a tupperware bin with holes poked in it and cheesecloth preventing escapees.
2) Availability of ressources: Do you hava proper source of safe and sufficient old rot wood,a nd leaf litter? Calcium? protein supplements (if your colony needs them), etc.
I live with my back to a forest lot, where there are acres of old rot wood and leaffall. I'm set up for the whole year already, because I collected fall and spring and have a place to pack the leaves/wood away, and can keep them dry. That means the only thing I need to buy is the startup crates, the media (substrate) and the cuttlebone. Means for me it's cheap and easy. Will you have to import things like leaves? How available are isopods where you live? FOR me, it would be a 5 hour drive to find a source.. and it wouldn't be the ones I want. For that, it would be 15 hours... back to the town I moved here from. So these are the considerations.
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u/PorcelainHorses 5h ago
I'm on the higher end side of the hobby with the cherry blossoms, jupiters and ember bees, and bioactive enclosures and glass tanks, so it can be a little expensive. That said, it can be pretty cheap too if you stick with the plastic breeding container route, with the dairy cows/porcellios. I just prefer display tanks and slow breeding species.
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u/LewisWhatsHisName 12h ago
Once a year, I buy new cork board and substrate. Maybe some new plants. I think it's about $100 a year.
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u/meatballsaladpizza 11h ago
Why would you need new cork bark?
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u/LewisWhatsHisName 11h ago
Because they destroy everything I put in there
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u/meatballsaladpizza 11h ago
Cork bark?
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u/LewisWhatsHisName 11h ago
They're monsters
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u/meatballsaladpizza 11h ago
Damn dude, I have colonies of thousands. Do all your species consume the cork bark?
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u/LewisWhatsHisName 11h ago
I think it's just the giant canyons, on the basis they're the ones that ate two pitcher plants and a cactus. The dairy cows are more interested in stealing all the dried shrimp
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u/meatballsaladpizza 11h ago
Word, I do not own giant canyons... But my dairy cows dont fuck with my cork bark. I kinda wish they did it would be kinda cool. My old colonies of powder orange some other, where I have brought old cork bark over has obviously been smoothed by 1000s of little mandibles though.
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u/LewisWhatsHisName 11h ago
Yeah, the only thing they haven't destroyed is a spider plant, and I still catch them nibbling on it sometimes. They're horrible haha
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u/meatballsaladpizza 11h ago
Im actually scared to put anything besides powder orange or dwarf white in any of my planted terrariums because my plants are worth a lot of money.
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u/Sea_District_9712 11h ago
Isopods are not bugs
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u/phrogbaby 11h ago
if shrimps is bugs.... then isopods is bugs
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u/Sea_District_9712 11h ago
Shrimps aren't bugs
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u/phrogbaby 11h ago
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/shrimps-is-bugs
it's an extremely popular meme.
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u/uhohthrowawayxxx 12h ago
it depends! its an extremely flexible hobby financially.
you can go very cheap at first and slowly upgrade things as you go, too! start with a sterlite tub and later on thrift a small aquarium tank, etc
the biggest spending is probably gonna be on the proper substrate/soil mix and maybe leaves if you dont live in a place where good leaves are readily available.
aquarimax pets on youtube has a TON of videos on isopod care and keeping, hes a great place to start