Researching and purchasing a new pet can be an involved, long process. Even if it’s for a relatively easy creature to care for like the isopod. There are over 10,000 species of isopod in the world (not all of them pets), and as you can imagine, they are not all built the same. After all, you wouldn’t keep a panda king isopod for the same reasons you’d keep a zebra isopod. Many have different breeding and care requirements. With this guide, we hope to set you down the right path of understanding what role you want your isopod to fill in the first place, and how to find the right one for you in the long run.
How to Choose The Right Isopod
Choosing the right isopod for your collection will depend largely on what you want to do with it. Are you planning to breed and sell? Do you need them for another pet? How fast do you need them to breed? How often can you tend to them? These are all important questions that you’re going to eventually need to ask. Thankfully, isopods are a highly diverse species, and there is likely to be one that’s right for you.
For Utility
One of the primary benefits of owning isopods is their pure usefulness. They are excellent in disposing of waste and parasites for your reptiles, small mammals, and arthropods, and can provide a nutritious, enriching snack at the same time. Typically, people seek out easy to raise, quick to reproduce isopods to get these particular jobs done. This includes the powder orange/blue isopod and Armadillidium peraccae varieties.
For Looks
If you have spent any time in the isopod collecting world, you will see that certain species cost quite a bit more than some others, and sport rather flashy patterns on their shells. Typically, these isopods are created by researchers and breeders looking to express certain genes for looks alone. Some examples of this are the rubber ducky and shiro utsuri isopods. While most of these crustaceans require minimal, hands off care, these varieties of isopod are especially notorious for being difficult to breed, only reproducing a few times a year and having small yields. Normally, the people seeking these crustaceans out would never think about feeding them to a larger pet.
Now we wouldn’t typically recommend these isopods for beginners. However, if you want to get your hands on something a bit easier as practice, you can certainly try other cool looking, somewhat easier to raise isopods, such as the dairy cow.
What to Expect
When bringing isopods for sale home, you can usually expect a fairly smooth transition. While they may choose to hide or not eat too much during the first few days, they should start adjusting and proliferating in no time. Just make sure that you provide them with a well ventilated enclosure in a dark, quiet area.
Final Thoughts
Bringing home your new isopod should be a fun, exciting experience. All it takes is a little bit of know-how on how to pick out the right isopods for sale. As long as you’re caught up on best husbandry practices, your new crustaceans should feel right at home.