ISOPOD STARTER

Isopods like very similar conditions to millipeds, as they fill a very similar role within the ecosystem. The specifics of the species we keep are listed over on our Isopods page, but here we'll try and cover some of the more general care guidelines. 

​Firstly, your substrate. Much like millipeds, we find that a soil mix with lots of loose, dead leaves mixed in works best. While Millipeds need nice deep substrate, Isopods don't need quite so much. Some species will still burrow and make tunnels, but for most, only a couple of inches of substrate is more than enough. 

​On top of that, we add even more broken down leaves. In general, the perfect leaf mulch is the nice crunchy brown leaves from Beech and oak trees. That said, dead leaves from most deciduous trees are perfectly fine! You'll likely find some species prefer other trees, but where we've noticed this we will list it on the species pages. 

​Finally, we add some large pieces of white rot wood on top. This acts as food and hides, as the isopods chew their way through it then use the holes and tunnels they have made as hideouts. White rot wood is best, as the fungus that breaks down the wood lignin leaves the cellulose behind, which the Isopods will eat. You can tell what is White-rot and what isn't simply by its colour. Dark-rot is, well, darker. White-rot is pale, dry and crumbly. 

​Now depending on the species, we spray the tub down with water to make it nice and moist, and add pieces of live moss - lots of species love mosses for food and hiding places. From here, we keep them warm (Again, depending on the species!) top up the leaf litter as it gets eaten, and supplement their diet with extra foods like fruit pieces, fish flakes, bee pollens and bug grubs. Isopods go wild for fish food, being so closely related to crustaceans, they really benefit from foods their water-based relatives benefit from.  With some species, protein is a very important part of their diet, so be sure to make sure they get enough or they can turn cannibalistic! We use dried Sprats, snake sheds from our other animals, fish flakes, and our very own Fishy Things Mix (From The Crab-Claw Cafe) for this. We've tried to list on the species guide which species are protein fiends too. The final diet part is calcium. Having to grow big armoured plates across their backs takes a lot of calcium - just like growing our bones. So to make sure they get enough we make sure our colonies have access to cuttlefish bones at all times. These are soft enough they can chew into them and are very, very high in calcium. All this combined will lead to happy, healthy Isopods that will go on to reproduce and create nice big colonies in your vivaria.

MILLIPEDE STARTER

The biggest, most difficult part of keeping millipedes is getting the substrate just right - it's their home, their food and where they lay there eggs so it really is everything to them. We find that a soil mix with lots of crumbled, dead leaves and rotten wood flakes mixed in works best. Check out the store if you want something to base your own mixes on, our Premium BugSub Range has been specifically designed for detrivores that need high wood and leaf content in their substrates. Millipedes also need nice deep substrate to burrow and make tunnels, so aim to create enough to make it as deep as the adult millipede is long.

​On top of that, we add even more broken down leaves. In general, the perfect leaf mulch is the nice crunchy brown leaves from Beech, Oak, Maple and similar trees. That said, dead leaves from most deciduous trees are perfectly fine! You'll likely find some species prefer other trees, but where we've noticed this we will list it on the species pages. 

​Finally, we add some large pieces of white rot wood on top. This acts as food and hides, as the millipedes chew their way through it then use the holes and tunnels they have made as hideouts. White rot wood is best, as the fungus that breaks down the wood lignin leaves the cellulose behind, which the millipedes will eat. You can tell what is White-rot and what isn't simply by its colour. Dark-rot is, well, darker. White-rot is pale, dry and crumbly.  If you like, you can also add mosses and lichens - check out bug safe options in the store! These help hold humidity, provide alternative foods which some species like polydesmids really prefer, and goes a way to making the enclosure a little more colourful too.

​Now we spray the tub down with water to make it nice and moist, and add more pieces of live moss - lots of species love mosses for food and hiding places. From here, we keep them warm (Again, depending on the species!) top up the leaf litter as it gets eaten, and supplement their diet with extra foods like fruit pieces and fish flakes. We also offer our bugs Bee Pollen from time to time. This is very high in nutrients and will help ensure your bugs get all the goodness they need to grow big and reproduce well. With some species, protein is a very important part of their diet too! We use dried Sprats, snake sheds from our other animals, fish flakes, and the great bug-safe Fishy Things mix from The Crab Claw Cafe which you can also find in the store . We've tried to list on the species guide which species are protein fiends. The final diet part is calcium. Having to grow big armoured plates across their backs takes a lot of calcium - just like growing our bones. So to make sure they get enough we make sure our colonies have access to cuttlefish bones at all times and break some up to mix in to the substrate too. These are soft enough they can chew into them and are very, very high in calcium. An alternative to cuttle bones is limestone powder, which can also be easily mixed in to your substrate mixes. All this combined will lead to happy, healthy millipedes that will go on to reproduce and create nice big colonies in your vivaria.

Finally, some millipedes do benefit from added heating over the colder months. Whether you need to consider this or not is going to depend on where in the world you are - here in the UK we need to keep most of our species a bit warmer over winter. Many are from tropical countries where even the coldest months are much warmer than ours. On our species page, we've included the kinds of temperatures that we find they do best at to help make keeping them as easy as possible.

Further reading:
If you'd like to learn more on the captive husbandry of Millipeds, we highly recommend these two books:
Millipeds in Captivity, Diplopodian Husbandry and Reproductive Biology by Orin A. McMonigle
Millipedes, Chimera Professional Breeders Series by Shurá Sigling

Both these books have been a great reference resource for us. Orin A. McMonigle's book is the shorter and is the lighter reading, but the species guide in S. Sigling's covers more species.

COCKROACH KEEPERS

Cockroaches, often reviled, come from a huge range of places around the world. Many of the species we keep in captivity are from the Americas and surrounding islands, the odd few from Madagascar and then the more uncommon species from Thailand and Vietnam. 

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This starter guide will cover off some basics of keeping roaches but with such a variety of species from a host of different countries, it can be tricky (Aka impossible) to write a guide for them all in one go. 

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However, being so hardy, thankfully they are usually quite easy to keep so general guidelines are simple to put down. 

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For the temperate and more tropical species, we prefer a substrate of topsoil, just like our isopods, which is then mixed with some decaying leaves and pieces of wood. These help supplement their diet with a lot of species and helps maintain humidity requirements for the more tropical ones. 

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Feeding is just as easy, most will happily eat leftovers, fruits and pieces of vegetables. Here at the Pede we feed our colonies once a week on either a mix of fruits and veg or dry dog food, which they really seem to love. Occasionally we supplement this with fish flakes and even dried sprats (like those sold as dog treats) to add variety and extra vitamins to their diet too. 

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From there it really depends on the roach in question, some are certainly more picky and need closer attention - and some from places like Egypt (Polyphaga, we're looking at you!) need completely different conditions to truly thrive. We've got dedicated care guides for these particular species in the works too.