Cyndy L Linsteadt wrote:
>
> My PM Grandis love pill bugs. Any one else feeding these to their gex?
YES!!!! Gecko, chams and dart frogs (though they get the babies only). Pillbugs
are isopods, and unlike most bugs and worms we feed to our herps, their
exoskeleton is calcium carbonate.... nice plus, huh?
> Does any one know of a commercial source? I have seriously depleted my
> local resources. I have my niece hunting them in another county. I got
> her started with a Fat Tail so she owes me.
No, I have never seen them offered for sale commercially in North America,
though they are sold in Europe. I raise my own indoors for winter use, in summer
I raid my garden and composters.
Doug Johnston wrote:
>
>
> I haven't tried them with my cresteds, but whether they eat them or not,
> the pillbugs help keep the tank cleaner.
I've rarely seen a crested eating one, but they must like them a lot.
Considering how many I put into their tanks, there should be an inch deep layer
of them, but I only see the odd one.
There's a distinct difference in how 'fresh' the tanks smell when comparing the
ones with and without resident populations. I try to keep pillbugs (and sowbugs)
growing in all the humid terrestrial tanks. Some geckos (like female pictus) eat
them to the point where it's almost impossible to get a culture started in their
tanks.
Chris wrote:
>
> Wonder if crested geckos will like them? I have my cresteds in a fully
> planted tank (ficus) and have a fair amount of leaves on their cage floor.
I'd add some to the tank, if not for food, but for cleaners. If it's damp enough
for pillbugs to live in the soil, it will increase the tank humidity
considerably.
My U. phantasticus, ebanaui and sikorae love them as much as snails. I've seen
them pick pillbugs over crickets many times. From my experience, P. pictus,
Pachydactylus tigrinus, just about any forest dewlling species I've had, has
recognized them as food. Even the Stenodactylus and Coleonyx eat them, though I
have no idea if they would find pillbugs in deserts.
Pillbugs are easy to raise. Check out these sites for info:
http://www.earthlife.net/insects/woodcare.html
http://www.dryad.demon.co.uk/julies/woodlice.htm
http://www.bugsdirect.co.uk
Hilde
--
~*~***~*~
Chaos, panic, & disorder
- my work in the kitchen is done.
"Mageirocophobia" is the intense fear of having to cook.
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