Armadillidium gestroi Isopod Care Guide

#isopods #armadillidium #armadillidiumgestroi Armadillidium gestroi is one of the best pet isopods, due to its beautiful colors, hardy nature, and large size. In this isopod care guide, I’ll introduce this amazing pet isopod, discuss its care and housing, the potential for this isopod for use in Bioactive vivariums, and finally, Armadillidium gestroi as a pet / hobby /display isopod.
Special thanks to Brandi at www.rhactasticrhacs.com for her contributions to this video!
Links to isopod supplies:
Here is a link to the Kathy Auto Magic Fungus gnat trap. It also works for other pest insects, such as fruit flies and mosquitoes!
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Check out these LINKS to Isopod foods and supplies below. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
#ad here is a link to the Fungus Gnat trap I tested in this video: amzn.to/3qtA2pn
#ad I use this breathable medical tape to cover ventilation of some of my isopod enclosures: amzn.to/35oMTkn
I really enjoy my enclosures from www.tarantulacribs.com/
Vivariums in the Mist makes some great isopod foods: www.vivariumsinthemist.com/is...
Wally at Supreme Gecko makes a great Isopod food: www.supremegecko.com/shop-onli...
superior shipping supplies.com makes the smaller isopod enclosures I show in the video.
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Isopods will munch on dried River shrimp as well!
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#ad To give your isopods calcium, you can use cuttlebone: twin pack: amzn.to/2S9H3hG
I own a copy of book on isopods by Orin McMonigle, a great source of isopod knowledge:
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#ad here is a link to the sphagnum moss I use to help hydrate my isopods: amzn.to/36BxXiz
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#ad here are the oak pellets I use for my isopod’s substrate: amzn.to/2JYaznQ
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#ad Here is a link to the 6-quart sterilite tubs I use to house many of my isopods: amzn.to/2syYGZJ
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Isopod Substrate ingredients:
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#ad 1 part Alder Pellets: amzn.to/2MBYj9O
#ad 1 part pesticide-free hardwood leaves, you may collect them locally or purchased pre-sanitized: amzn.to/2We6GNm
#ad I make my own isopod substrate, but here is a link to Josh’s frogs isopod substrate : amzn.to/2TfyC1D
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I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. In other words, I earn a small commission when you use that affiliate link, at no cost to you.
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[@fritzleipold4520]

was unable to resist getting a small colony of gestroi yesterday, glad to see a video of their specific care & feeding :)

[@rebeccabirch6130]

Just ordered some of these as my first pet isopods (aside from my dwarf whites- which were supposed to go in a bioactive set up but that ended up needing to be taken apart) and I am so happy to hear that they are bold, beautiful, and won't breed so quickly that I need to upgrade their house right away! I can't wait for them to arrive!

[@Morgan-oz8ud]

Ive just bought a culture of these guys. You dropped this video just in time!

[@jeffer2350]

Thanks for all the great information you provide. I love your videos. This is my first isopod unit other than springtails. Mine love freeze dried river shrimp too. It is fun watching them drag a shrimp which is bigger than the gestroi for a distance when they find it. I now have a bunch of baby ones in the container so I guess I will need to monitor population soon in case I need to expand to a new container.

[@TheSeptemberRose]

I JUST got some A. gestroi today at a Reptile Expo. I hope they do well and breed well. I just bought them as pets, not as a clean up crew. Thanks for all your info!

[@MIsopods]

Nice! What do you keep them in?

[@summern3064]

An Armadillidium granulatum video added would be wonderful if you keep them yet. 😊 I recall you mentioning a few times a while back that you don’t have that species yet. They like it dry with only the moss corner damp and I’ve also heard they have a specific preference for loquat leaves so I am buying some as well 😄

[@caust1k_244]

Armadillidium gestroi are probably one of my favorite species in isopods. Great video as always, Rus. Very informative.

[@imjustarandom1459]

Looking forward to my batch of gestrois arriving soon! I'll use this guide in making their bin.

[@Aquarimax]

I hope they thrive for you! 👍🏼

[@imjustarandom1459]

@@Aquarimax Thank you! I'll try to study more about them to ensure that their new home would be something they'd love!

[@ckandrew]

Stunning little critters!!

[@finsfangs5141]

Beautiful 😍

[@AquaGardenZen]

Those zingers 😍 are dreamy I can’t wait to see offspring in my gestroi culture so exciting great video as always thank you Russ for sharing

[@Ramingor]

Thank you for the wonderful and informative video, a great insight🙌🏻❤️

[@Bugrealms2]

Thanks for this wonderful video. Ive followed you for a long time, i just rarely comment 😊

[@lincoln_lifts]

Thank you, just what I needed!

[@Aquarimax]

Great to hear it!!

[@thejuggernaut3778]

These are my favorite isopod. Glad you finally got to them, I mean all your vids are great though.

[@frankdughtank8327]

Excellent!!!

[@Aquarimax]

I can always count on you, Frank!

[@Hicks_geckos401]

After my rubber ducky’s I love my orange scapers but these gestroi is a must have!!!! Thanks for your videos

[@imamayoub8066]

Very cool

[@Crystalspets]

Those are some really cool collection of isopods

[@Aquarimax]

Thank you Crystal!!

[@waverindarkness3385]

I’m getting some gestroi soon. So excited!!

[@Aquarimax]

I think you’ll love them!

[@brandishoogy]

they are so cool lookin

[@Aquarimax]

They are!! I can’t get enough of them!

[@elizabethp2094]

Hellooo! I was wondering if you had thought of writing an online accessible Isopod profile?☺️ Not for necessarily care but I think natural habitat, behaviour, anatomy, breeding habits etc. Would be incredibly helpful for keepers

[@anniek4919]

A couple months ago, I bought 10 of these as adults(12 arrived in the little tub! Yay!) within a week there were so many babies! Maybe 20 or so! I had these all in a one gallon glass jar and decided with all the new babies I’d just put 1/2 the adults in my crested gecko vivarium- why not? At best they would clean up, and worse case, they would become a snack for my crested. I had added 25 dwarf whites 6 months earlier and wasn’t sure if they were still in there - it’s a big vivarium so they could just be hiding underneath the dirt as they do… but haven’t seen any lately - anyway, once I put these new black and yellow adults in, I never saw them again, but figured they were in there because leaves were being eaten and the fish food flakes would be gone in a day- same with the gecko shed. Skin was there before I went to bed and literally gone by morning! After 2 months I was adding a new plant and moved the giant hollow cork hide tube and there they all were, sleeping in the hide with the gecko 😂. No fear! Meanwhile, I somehow killed off all but one of the new babies. I have 6 adults and one 2 month old teenager in my original glass jar. They sure love eating leaves!!!

[@RebleGreyWarden]

Hello :D Thank you for providing great information! I got my first isopods today (dairy cows) and I am much more confident in my abilities thanks to your videos!

[@Aquarimax]

That’s precisely what I love to hear!

[@Mercedes_may]

I know I’ve already commented here but I’m revisiting this because I just got these little loves today! They are amazing 🥰

[@Aquarimax]

They really are!

[@Mercedes_may]

@@Aquarimax indeed! I already have babies! ❤️

[@praiseHashut]

you got yourself a subscriber! A. gestroi is a recent find of mine, and probably my new favorite isopod.

[@Aquarimax]

Thank you for subscribing, and may I say that you have great taste in isopods!

[@thefishchannel_uk]

Great video

[@Aquarimax]

Thank you!! Do you keep these?

[@thefishchannel_uk]

@@Aquarimax no but I would love to . Also I bought the brine shrimp hatcher you reviewed and I really like so thank you

[@ScipioAfricanus100]

These are so cool. They're a bit expensive (~30€ for 12 animals) around here, but maybe this video will finally convince me to get some.

[@tudormr7721]

In my country, Romania, i found a lot of them in my backyard... they were like 10.😅

[@unlimited99]

i like it

[@zer0coolninja887]

Just picked some up at our first reptile show in our city

[@Aquarimax]

Awesome! I’ll bet you’ll love them!

[@MIsopods]

I JUST uploaded a video on these guys and BOOM. Your care video is suggested. KZbin is like a broken clock, but I'll take what I can when I get it! I have had a starter colony that I got in September, and as you mention, they're not the fastest to mature and establish themselves, but I just checked on them today and MAN, they're getting big. That's a great morph, the Zingers. I prefer the normal morph, as I'm partial to that color scheme, but it is amazing. I think they should name it "Rorschach's Isopod" haha. How have they been since this video? Go easy!

[@Aquarimax]

KZbin Can be weird sometimes! LOL… I have a good crop of young Zingers! 😁

[@MIsopods]

@@Aquarimax Can't wait to see the followup!

[@HoustonTrillerThenYoCity]

Can you do a isopod care guide video on cubaris murina

[@monedarden810]

I’ve got about 20 gestroi coming this Monday. They are going to be the clean up crew to my hermit crabs. I got this species because they like a moister environment and they won’t overtake my hermit crabs. I will come back with an update on them when they get settled in their role.

[@monedarden810]

They all came alive! I got juveniles so I’m going to wait until they start breeding to put them in with my crabs. They seem to be settling in well.

[@monedarden810]

@@davem9158 they are great! I just saw breeding behavior so hopefully there will be mancae soon!

[@sullyg9342]

@@monedarden810 Got some ?

[@monedarden810]

@@sullyg9342 I do. They just had babies so I’ll be able to ship some out when they get a little bigger and the weather isn’t as cold. I also have an abundance of powder oranges and T. rathkii that I can lessen their numbers a bit

[@sullyg9342]

@@monedarden810 So cool ! I just got a tiny group of 3 gestroi yesterday in a tiny terrarium, they are so cool, With your experience, what do you advice me to make them happy and entertained ?

[@siyg]

I’m definitely going to get this species soon, sad that Aquarimax shop doesn’t sell these

[@Aquarimax]

I wish I could ship them, but my permits don’t allow it

[@amazingaquaticsandexotics3030]

cool

[@brandishoogy]

they were so tiny when u 1st got them.. adorable

[@Aquarimax]

I agree!! 😃👍

[@k.thomas295]

Porcelio hoffmannseggi next please!! And yes, i do love this whole series!!

[@Aquarimax]

All ready for you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/inKXioufbq5pfNk

[@Hicks_geckos401]

Wow nice white

[@Aquarimax]

The black and white ones are pretty amazing!

[@amyesworldcatherinesminime7945]

I think this species may have made it to the top of my wish list. Certainly from their genus. Competition is Porcellio expansus, having said that, I've just seen some Porcellio haasi 'High yellow'...

[@Aquarimax]

I do love P. expansus and P. haasi!!

[@johannoren2787]

Thanks! Again a fantastic video, and those were amazingly beautiful. What isopods would you suggest to have as a cleanup crew with tarantulas?

[@Aquarimax]

I haven’t worked with tarantulas, but I will soon have some guests who can help with that question.

[@enbrunoise]

armadillidium peraccae please. They are my first isopod. Love them. Love these Care video's too.

[@peterashby-saracen3681]

I guess you're having much more success with peraccae than I am... I'm afraid that they currently get my vote for most boring isopod! :O

[@zer0coolninja887]

Waaazzaah

[@Aquarimax]

You’re first!

[@zer0coolninja887]

Russ is the reason why i got into bugs

[@Aquarimax]

😁👍 I am happy to have helped in that process!

[@infamoushiphop7943]

Im finding zingers in my colony, can't wait to isolate them to make a colony:)

[@joelselph8194]

Could you do a video on Cubaris White Tiger? Mine died off one by one, so I would like to see what I did wrong so that I can get them again.

[@bender501]

Hey Aquarimax! I was curious if orange powders would be a good cleanup for a bioactive pacman tank or would you recommend something else? I already have a healthy colony of springtails... Sadly some fungus gnats from the live plants. Thanks! :)

[@Aquarimax]

I would recommend something burrowing, like Cylisticus convexus if available. That is what I am trying with our new Pac-Man frog.

[@xxgoldenprozxx4092]

Can you do panda isopod and curbaris jupiter pls

[@emilyblech3398]

Hey, do these guys hibernate I added 12 to my terrarium they were loving it for 2 weeks since then I haven't seen them much

[@Aquarimax]

How big is the terrarium? Also, a new colony is likely to be much more secretive than an established one.

[@mynala110]

Can you do one on Magic Potions? Struggling with our colony

[@Aquarimax]

I got you covered: Armadillidium vulgare Isopod Care Guide kzbin.info/www/bejne/pl7HhaKhec-hZ5Y

[@Mercedes_may]

Can we have the ducky care video next plz 💛

[@Aquarimax]

I am working on it this very moment!

[@Mercedes_may]

@@Aquarimax awesome!! Thank you 😊

[@rodsprague369]

I have seen local Armadillidium vulgare with the same basic pattern of yellow spots on the dark gray. I am thinking it might be a holdover from populations in the same range as the same pill millipede that A. gestroi imitates or simply a common color pattern in the genus.

[@Aquarimax]

I have been working with a high-yellow strain of A. vulgare for a few years. There are definitely variations on that theme within the genus.

[@peterashby-saracen3681]

I can get gestroi from my supplier here in Spain so I might just indulge in some. Can you obtain Armadillidium frontetriangulum in the US? They seem to be very similar to gestroi, pretty impressive in size, with variable colours - most of mine have yellow and white markings. I've had mine for about 5 months and they have reproduced impressively so I imagine that they breed faster than gestroi? Re: colour, I'm blown away by Armadillidium vulgare T+ - the adults are an amazing amber colour but the juveniles are an even more astonishing bright yellow. Plus, they are very prolific.

[@Aquarimax]

A. frontetriangulum is here, but I don’t have a permit for it. Otherwise I’d love to keep them. The A. vulgare T+ are quite gorgeous too…I have T- albinos, need the T+ as well!

[@peterashby-saracen3681]

@@Aquarimax The juvenile vulgare T+ almost glow, it's an amazing colour! I guess the regulations are very different in the States - there don't seem to be any restrictions on the species we can keep in Spain. The problem here is that there are far fewer suppliers and breeders, even though Spain is home to so many great isopods!

[@troublingleaf]

What would be a good isopod that is a good breeder for a cooler, higher humidity set up? I would like a nice looking isopod in there, but there will be some inevitable predation.... I keep making bad choices in isopods and I've not had much success with them, but I do need a clean up crew... My humidity has to be 75 during the day and 90+ at night, temps are in the low twenties.

[@Aquarimax]

Have you considered Oniscus asellus?

[@timjung640]

Can we get a species profile on the talking catfish at the end of your videos? 😁

[@Aquarimax]

Great idea! It’s a pretty easy species…it thrives on a steady diet of subscriptions!

[@timjung640]

@@Aquarimax LOL! 😆

[@apss5736]

Hello

[@Aquarimax]

Welcome!! 😊👍

[@Hicks_geckos401]

Hey are you into bonsai I got into them along with my geckos and isopods

[@Aquarimax]

I have a Portulacaria afra I have been training in bonsai style

[@acas.04]

Please do amber ducky 🥹💓

[@chayasakpakapatkulawat2704]

Hi Rus, I have started Gestroi culture since 4 months ago and I have been having alot of problems with it. I started with 20 gestroi and now I only got 11 left because they keep dying with no reasons. I thought it was because of moisture but it isnt. Everything is alright with enclosure and substrate. I raise them the same way as I do with dairy cows but why are they keep dying and dont even breed at all?

[@Aquarimax]

What is their diet?

[@chayasakpakapatkulawat2704]

@@Aquarimax cattlebone and alot of leaf litters, I bought two of these from isopod shop too so they are pretty clean and safe

[@Cleeon]

​@@chayasakpakapatkulawat2704sometimes give them fruit

[@lincoln_lifts]

Just found baby armadillidium vulgare wild type and porcellio scaber conmon, they are both wild caught

[@sdqsdq6274]

this species dont like it wet like dart frog tanks ?

[@Aquarimax]

They do prefer a drier area in part of the enclosure.

[@Hicks_geckos401]

Cappuccinos

[@Aquarimax]

I got you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/omSpl6Wbn8StjZI

[@Hicks_geckos401]

Your saying it wrong 😂

[@Mercedes_may]

I wonder if the zingers are an Axanthic morph of the gestroi’s 🖤🤍

[@Hicks_geckos401]

2nd way you said it was correct, lol either works 😂😂🫶🏻