Pure Ducky Pictures, Hemilepistus Babies & More!

My Cubaris sp. "Rubber Ducky - 2017" line have been doing great for me, and seem easier (and larger) than the "Blondish" line I had a couple years ago that threw out all sorts of colors (and may have been a different species entirely, as is currently suspected).

Here are a couple pics I shot of them recently:

So glad to have the OG Duckies in my collection, love their consistent coloration and dark grey banding.

---

Now, in big news for my collection, I've successfully bred Hemilepistus pavlovskii!!! 😁 Unfortunately the smaller of my two females didn't survive over winter, but the larger of the two did, and gave birth some time over the past month or so. I hadn't seen her in a while, so I'm pretty sure she burrowed down and gave birth underground, and likely guarded and cared for the offspring for their first molt or two. I think this is the case, because I only noticed mancae on the surface when they were at least a couple molts into life.

The babies are growing quite quickly, which is great to see, I think there's about 20 of the little things in there. Hopefully they will grow well and provide me with another generation! 🤞 

Here are the cuties:

They almost look like baby Porcellio hoffmannseggi in patterning. 😄 I hope I can continue to succeed with this species, time will tell!

---

My Armadillidium maculatum "Yellow" from Billy Yadeskie are doing well, I recently started feeding them a beta-carotene rich diet, and their colors are really popping now!

Here are some pictures of one of the largest adults in the culture:

A beautiful morph, and one that's been doing quite well for me. 😄

---

Lastly, I've been culturing some normal, wild type Armadillidium vulgare from Kuna, ID for a couple years now. They've done well for me, and I just decided to get some pictures of them the other week for fun.

Here they are:

Might not be anywhere near as colorful as most of the other morphs and strains I have of this species, but I like a nice wild type every now and then. 🙂

Anyways, that does it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time! 😉 

Isopods from Isopodcrossing

I've gotten a bunch of goodies from Kyle at Roachcrossing over the past couple months, and so I figured I'd lump all the isopods I got from him in one post. 😀 

First off, I got a nice group of Armadillo officinalis "Orange Crush". A lovely orange morph of this species, presumably from the OG no locality stock (or a locality crossed line). 

I've got them set up in a well ventilated gallon shoebox with an inch or so of coconut fiber substrate, topped with leaf litter and bark. I'm offering dog food as the supplemental diet. I have a quarter of the enclosure humid, the rest dry, and have them at around 75-80F°.

Here are some pictures of a few of them:

Hopefully they will do well for me, my normal A.officinalis have already started breeding in my care.

---

Next up, I got a group of Cubaris sp. "Rubber Ducky - 2017". These are descended directly from the original import in 2017, and are less variable in coloration than a lot of the newer, mixed stocks of this species on the market nowadays (though there is certainly still a little natural variation in coloration). 

I've got them set up in a moderately ventilated enclosure with an inch or so of coco fiber substrate, topped with bark and leaf litter. I'm keeping them humid, at around 75-80F°, and am offering dog food as the supplemental diet.

Here are some pictures of them:

I'm quite happy to have some of the OG Duckies, hopefully they'll do well in my care!

---

Now these may be one of my new favorites, Porcellio ornatus "Witch's Brew". The Dalmatian morph isolated from the "High Yellow" line, these dry hardy Spanish Porcellio are absolutely stunning, pictures simply do not do them justice. 😍 I love variable patterning and bright yellow on an isopod, and these beauties certainly fit the bill.

I have them in a well ventilated enclosure with a thin layer of coconut fiber substrate, topped with bark and leaf litter. I'm feeding dog food as the supplemental food, keeping one third of the enclosure humid, the rest dry, and they're at around 75-80F°.

Here are some pics of them:

Such a nice line, and I'm happy to report they've already produced offspring! ❤️

---

Kyle also sent another species I've been longing for, Venezillo arizonicus "Sahuarita, AZ". This species is native to the SW US, and are found in very arid, warm climates. They need warm temps to reproduce consistently in captivity, and like things dry as well.

I've got mine in a well ventilated enclosure with an inch of coco fiber substrate, topped with bark and leaf litter. I'm keeping a quarter of the setup humid, the rest dry, and at around 80-85F°. I'm offering dog food as the supplemental diet.

Here are some pictures of them:

They've already started producing offspring, they have small clutches, but if kept correctly colonies will grow at a similar rate as other members of the genus (perhaps not as explosively as V.parvus).

Lastly, Kyle also sent some Elumoides sp. "Miami", which are a bit more yellowish than the ones Alan sent me, so I've got them set up separately, we'll see if the difference is strictly environmental, or if there's something else afoot.

Anyways, that does it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time! 😉