Collecting Success and Enclosure Switches

Hey Peeps!(gotta throw in a new intro sometimes) ;)
Well, I've been meaning to make this post for a while, but just never ended up getting to it, please excuse my laziness. LOL A couple weeks ago, I took a trip to this nature preserve that I had only been to once before(before I was seriously into inverts)to look for some rotten wood for a friend of mine. It was a little after four, but since it's winter, it was already pretty dark by that time. I got out my trusty headlamp and went over to the log closest to our car and lifted it up. To my surprise, I had uncovered a nice amount of large, flat, and beautifully-patterned isopods! I collected almost all of the individuals that I saw that day and returned a couple more times ending up with a total of about eighty! During the several trips I made, I also collected about four P.scaber, which despite supposedly being one of the most common isopods in the U.S, are my first individuals that I have ever found, and trust me, I've looked! Although they are very common in the hobby, I loved finally getting my hands on this classic species.
I had originally tentatively identified the isopods that I had found as Oniscus asellus, but fortunately I was given the correct I.D by Alan Jeon. He said that they were actually Porcellio spinicornis, a lovely species that I had been wanting to get a hold of for awhile now! Also, I forgot to mention that out of the eighty or so P.spinicornis that I found, there were a couple very light colored individuals and some unusually large ones too!
Firstly, I'm currently keeping the normal P.spinicornis in a medium-sized, plastic Zip Lock container with twelve ventilation holes in each end. I'm using a substrate mix of coconut fiber and rotten wood with some dead leaves on top. I also have a piece of egg crate in there for them to hide under.
Here's some pics!

P.spinicornis

P.spinicornis enclosure

Secondly, I'm keeping my four P.spinicornis "White"(I call them this, but they do still have some of their markings) in a small, plastic container with a highly ventilated lid(my A .maculatums' old enclosure)where I will try to isolate the trait. I'm keeping them with the same substrate as the normal ones. Additionally, I have a small piece of cork bark in the enclosure for them to hide under.
Here's a few photos!

P.spinicornis "White"

P.spinicornis "White" enclosure

Thirdly, I am currently keeping my ten or so P.spinicornis "Giant" in a medium sized(although larger than the normal P.spinicornis enclosure)plastic Sterilite container with seven ventilation holes on each end and twenty ventilation holes on each side. I'm using the same substrate for these guys as with the normal and "White" P.spinicornis. I also have a couple pieces of cork bark and a piece of egg crate in there to serve as hides.
Here some more pics!

P.spiicornis "Giant"

P.spinicornis "Giant" enclosure

As I said, I originally though that these guys were O.asellus, which I wanted to try an create a stable population of  "Giant" individuals with, so that was the main reason for setting up the largest ones in a separate, low-isolation enclosure. However, since these guys obviously don't have the same size potential as O.asellus, I think I may just make this the normal P.spinicornis enclosure.
I also mentioned that I collected four P.scaber, which I am currently keeping in a two-ounce, plastic deli-cup. I'm keeping these guys on the same substrate as the P.spinicornis(and all my other isopods) with a small piece of egg crate for them to hide under.
I figured I wouldn't show any pictures of their container, since it's so simple, but here's some pics of them!

P.scaber

A last couple things I was going to share with you guys today were a couple enclosure switches. Since I bought a two-pack of the medium-sized Zip Lock containers, after using one for the normal P.spinicornis, I still had one left. I decided to us it for one of my favorite species, my P.pruinosus! So I them, their substrate, and hides into the new, larger enclosure. I was left with their old enclosure, which I then transferred my A.maculatum into in order to make room for the P.spinicornis"White" which took the A.macultums' enclosure. Pretty complicated right? LOL
Here's some pics of the powder blues' and the zebras' new set-ups!

New P.pruinosus enclosure

New A.maculatum enclosure

By the way, just in case you were wondering, I have the same amount of ventilation holes in the new P.pruinosus enclosure as in the P.spinicornis enclosure.
Thank you all for reading another one of my very long posts and have a good night guys! :)

Rotten Wood For All!

Hello!
Since I collected a bunch of rotten wood at that nature preserve I went to last week, I decided I'd give some to my isopods and Parcoblatta pennyslvanica! Besides the small chunks of rotten wood I already had mixed into the isopods' substrate( also mixed some into my A.tesselatas' substrate), I replaced all their hides with nice pieces of rotten wood, which I'm sure they appreciate! I gave the P.pennsylvanica nymphs some vertical rotten wood pieces(since I found them in the same rotten log that I collected the rotten wood from and I know they are supposed to like vertical pieces of wood), and also wedged their piece of cork bark into an upright position.
Here are some pics of their updated enclosures!

P.laevis "Orange" enclsoure

P.laevis "White" enclosure

T.rathkii enclosure

C.convexus enclosure

P.pruinosus enclosure

Orange T.rathkii isolation enclosure

P.pennsylvanica enclosure

The P.leavis "Orange" seem to enjoy their new hides the best since theirs has the most crevices to wedge their selves into! LOL  Even though I used much of the rotten wood I collected, I still have half a gallon freezer bag of small chunks and have about 3 more nice sized pieces( which I will most likely also turn into small chunks.)
While I was exchanging hides, I was also able to take some photos of my young Armadillidium maculatum, some of my other isopods, and my large Parcoblatta pennsylvanica nymphs.
Here they are!

Young A.maculatum

C.convexus

P.laevis "Orange"

Orange T.rathkii

Large P.pennsylvanica nymphs

My A.maculatum have doubled in size since I received them about a month ago, and now have darker coloration and in turn have much more pronounced stripes. Their growth was also why I was able to get much better pics of them than I was before.
Goodnight guys and goodbye!

Isopod Updates

Hello Guys!
I'm happy to say that I have been seeing some babies from my Trachelipus rathkii, Porcellionides pruinosus, and both color forms of Porcellio laevis! Along with these new babies, my Cylisticus convexus have been doing exceedingly well and I have tons of mixed sized individuals from the thirty or so that I started with.
I also sterilized my rotten wood that I collected while at a nature preserve and mixed a good amount into all of my isopods' substrates, so they should enjoy that. Hopefully it provides them with some more nutrients to start kicking out some more babies! Also figure I'd share that I've taken my ten or so orange colored individuals from my T.rathkii enclosure and put them in a separate enclosure to try and isolate the orange trait.
So just some small updates but I thought I'd share them anyway.
Hope you guys enjoyed reading despite the very short length of this post, and until next time, goodbye!

Porcellionides pruinosus

Hello invertebrate lovers everywhere! :)
My favorite species of isopod that I currently keep is, by far, Porcellionides pruinosus. I haven't shared any pics or anything of this species because I only had two( I only found one when I checked the container, but it's probably just hiding very well)of these beautiful, powdery isopods. So I decided I'd thoroughly check around my yard for some. I had only found about two until I lifted up some large rocks that I hadn't looked under in a long time, under those few rocks I found about ten of them, which left me with a total of about thirteen! I should have collected enough individuals to be able to start a nice colony of these guys. For the time being, I'm keeping them in a small deli-cup with a little coconut fiber, dead leaves, rotten wood, and a piece of cork bark to hide under.
Here are some pictures of these very beautiful isopods!

P.pruinosus

I really love the nice gray powder that they have and also really love their striped antennae. I will be moving them into a larger Ziploc enclosure soon where they can start their colony.
Hope you guys enjoyed this post, and until next time, goodbye!