Cleaner woodlice advice..

[Steve Coe]

Hi.

I would like a little info on cleaner woodlice before I buy and enter them into my T enclosures,

How many should be put into each enclosure?
Do they self regulate colony size or do I have to remove them?
Where is the best place to purchase them?

Thanks for any advice with this.

[Peter Lacey]

I purchased some tropical woodlice online and they came with springtails. I keep a cricket tub full of wet peat, wood chips and rotten vegetable matter right up against the heatmat which I use to heat my sling enclosure. They thrive and require little attention.
You could also do the same with British woodlice but I'd recommend quarantine of a fortnight. I'll give a check tonight, could prob give some away, pm me.
In the enclosure I just spoon a bunch onto the substrate and moisten the area once a week. Its a good idea to position this around the water bowl. I haven't had a population explosion in any of my enclosures, they seem to be self regulating, but I do remove any obvious uneaten insects, bolus etc when its visible. My pokie communities are quite busy so its often the case a mealworm or 2 will die at the bottom and I let the feeder insects sort these out if I can't reach with tweezers. You'll notice they come "out of the woodwork" when you moisten the substrate. I have noticed there's sometimes beige mites in the enclosure but only for short periods and they move faster than the white ones which I rarely see these days, perhaps these are good predatory mites?

[Andrew Ferguson]

You could also do the same with British woodlice but I'd recommend quarantine of a fortnight.

Or like (and I'm sure Colin has done the same) me you could collect them from a wooded area where no, or at very little insecticide can get into the food chain. However, since my Brachypelma last moulted, I have found that they last no more than a night. So now I don't bother.

[Stuart Lee]

Im thinking of grabbing some of these out my garden before winter sets in, My Goliath tank could use some help being kept clan as I can never find any bodies lying about and this T eats lots lol. I saw some white woodlice on a website but cant rem which one.

[Brendan Owens]

Hi Folks,

I think these chaps sell woodlice (they sell other things like roaches, locusts, crickets etc.)

http://www.blades-bio.co.uk

I also found a really good place for my roaches

http://www.roachshop.co.uk

They delivered next day and the roaches were/are in really good condition. They also sell them in different sizes which is handy if you don't want to wait for your culture to develop

[Gayle E. Anderson]

I'm looking to get some cleaner bugs.
I want them to get rid of mould and the do general cleaning!

Which would be better, springtails or tropical woodlice?
They'll be going in with slings as well as adults.

dartfrog.co.uk seems to be best for both, unless anyone has any better suggestions?

[Colin D Wilson]

As i have done for many many years.....go into the woods (or any other non-toxic area) and get some of our own species, they are as good as the tropical variety.

Keep them in quaranteen for about two weeks and feed them veg / salad / tropical fish flakes, this will help clear their system of any toxins they "may" have.

As long as they have a place to hide in the spiders tank (preferably damp i.e. under water bowl etc) they will be ok and clean the tank of all moulds, food bolus etc (i have even experienced woodlice feeding on mite and fly eggs in our cockroach tank)

[Gayle E. Anderson]

Are our native woodlice not a bit too big to go in a sling pot?
Its mainly my avic that needs them, its only about the size of a woodlouse! Its in a 8cm x 14cm sweetie jar.

Wouldn't the woodlice bother a burrowing spider, especially a sling?
My chromatus sling is also only about the size of a woodlouse :\

(I'm one of these nervous keepers who worries about everything!)

[Colin D Wilson]

If you use the very small woodies (about 2mm long) then there isn't a problem usually
If you keep a little community of woodies then after a few weeks you'll have young ones to transfer into sling pots as they breed easily in the right conditions.

[Gayle E. Anderson]

I would prefer to order some... but I suppose I might as well go catch some instead as I only have 4 T's (9 after the post comes today! ) , and only one of them has mould (avic sling) so I don't need loads, only a couple.

Its only a few wee white spots of moulds on the sticks (that I baked for 45mins, at least!), I've doubled the amount of ventilation holes in its enclosure an the humidity high enough that I can let it drop a bit.... will my avic be ok until the woodlice are ready to go in? Or do i still need to replace all the sticks?
I'm assuming here that the woodlice will climb up the sticks and get rid of the mould?

Or do I need springtails for mould?

[Nicola Dolby]

If you've got any logs or piles of bricks in the back garden look under there. Ordinary woodlice are fine but they need a moist substrate. Agagin avoid any pesticides, the tarantulas won't eat them but its better to be on the safe side.

[Gayle E. Anderson]

Ok. I'll get some from the local park, they should be nastiness free if I get them from there.

Will my sling be ok til the slaters are ready?

[Nicola Dolby]

As long as your sing has the right conditions (temp/humidity etc.) tand food/ water it'll be ok. Regarding Andrew's post, Brachys like dry conditions when they stop being a sling, though they need a water bowl. With these copnditions its unlikely that there is the danger of fungus or parasites so woodlice are not really necessary. I think the same can be said of Grammostola though some like mollicoma (funny thats the second time I've mentioned them today) might need higher humidity and therefore woodies. Others can tell you a lot more about Grammies than me though. Good luck

[Gayle E. Anderson]

Its an avic, the conditions are correct its the sticks I put in when I rehoused it have started to grow small dots of white mould

[Nicola Dolby]

I'd reduce the water. Just a fine bit of spray on the walls of the container for moisture and drinking each morning and before you go to bed will be enough for a sling. If the substrate gets too ichy then cut the moisture down to once a day, unless its a fasciculata which need high humidity. For now I'd put in some fresh sticks too, rather than introduce woodlice and when the spider is about 5cm put the woodies in. Give the little one 2-3 crickets a week and plenty of little holes in the container lid for ventilation. use a needle or a pin to make these, no bigger or you'll find your sling walking accross your ceiling on morning like I did! You can use net curtain for an alternative lid, though the jar with the holes in is fine for a little one.