Anyone else use woodlice as tank cleaners?

[Larry Shone]

normally I say that woodlice are great tank cleaners, that no spider wil eat them,and so far that's true! Even Hawk the gannetorious P.camb wouldnt touch em; I even had a colony going in his tank at one point! (tho a Tegenaria I once had would eat them occasionally)
Anyway it seems Eagle the White Knee didn't read the Good Food! guide as he's currently munching on one! (I just sourced a batch from the garden and put two in each tank)
Geez he's such a gannet!

[Christopher Smallman]

The middle of last year I mentioned on AP that my Acanthoscurria geniculata munched the few woodlice I introduced to her enclosure.
I put the woodlice in with her because at that time she thought it fun to web up her waterdish which made the water wick away into the substrate making it rather wet, so much so that I discovered a little mushroom growing in there!!!!!
So popped some woodlice in there thinking they were to small for her to bother with, how wrong was I .

CJ.

[Peter Lacey]

I have tropical woodlice and springtails in all my humid enclosures. They help to reduce mould, mites and generally help as bin men
I use the tropical ones because they're much smaller and as they're white they look good in the enclosures.

I shall have a few starter communities up for grabs on the Invicta table at BTS.

[Colin D Wilson]

I take it you quaranteened the woodies for a fair while?
A couple of weeks is best for them to "release" any toxins they carry. Feeding on salad, veggies and tropical fish flakes does the job.

The normal answers ...
"well my garden is chemical free"
Woodies can cover quite a few hundred yards in a few nights, has Mrs Smith down the road recently done anything to "her" garden?
Whats been tipped in Mr Browns compost heap three doors down?

"I got them from the woods/forest"
Has any forestry work been done, chopping trees (they use chemicals to kill off roots), replanting (strong fertliser/insectaside) general maintenance (again - fertliser/insectaside)

Just one of my "bug bears" that i rant about but "Better "safe than sorry" etc etc

[Larry Shone]

I take it you quaranteened the woodies for a fair while?
A couple of weeks is best for them to "release" any toxins they carry. Feeding on salad, veggies and tropical fish flakes does the job.

The normal answers ...
"well my garden is chemical free"
Woodies can cover quite a few hundred yards in a few nights, has Mrs Smith down the road recently done anything to "her" garden?
Whats been tipped in Mr Browns compost heap three doors down?

"I got them from the woods/forest"
Has any forestry work been done, chopping trees (they use chemicals to kill off roots), replanting (strong fertliser/insectaside) general maintenance (again - fertliser/insectaside)

Just one of my "bug bears" that i rant about but "Better "safe than sorry" etc etc

Well now I never thought of quarantining them-theyre not meant as food so i just put them in and let them do their stuff. Thanks for the heads up Colin, and heres me extolling the virtues of not using garden soil as subsrate for the same reason!

[Paul Gee]

Hi guys.

Forgive me for asking this a little late, as I have only just joined the forums and read this post.

I have recently acquired my first T, Chilean Rose, and I was just wondering if it's ok to plonk in a few woodies to keep her enclosure clean?

Thank guys

[Peter Roach]

No, woodlice will only survive in DAMP and HUMID tanks and a Chile rose needs the tank DRY.

Psul, you are searching for things you dont need.

[Paul Gee]

No, woodlice will only survive in DAMP and HUMID tanks and a Chile rose needs the tank DRY.

Psul, you are searching for things you dont need.

Ok, thanks

[Mark Pajak]

i found a pseudoscorpion in my naturally planted Lparahybana tank the other day!

[martin hudson]

i found a pseudoscorpion in my naturally planted Lparahybana tank the other day!

Yeah,? cool, those little guys are wicked, iv only ever found one, it fell from a tree onto me, it was tiny,!!!