#bookshelf bugs

[papermonkeyism]

Out of curiosity, how are your isopods doing? I haven't heard anything about them in a bit.

My isopods are currently on a vacation to a friend's place.

Last year when I was leaving to spend the yule - new year holidays at my parents' place, I knew I was going to be away for almost two weeks, and my former bugsitters had both moved away during the year, and I was too afraid of leaving them alone for that long of a period, so I asked for a friend to get them.

I had previously promised some isopods to this friend, once my colony would be big enough to split, so we just switched the timeline up, I gave the colony to her, and she would then give me some back once there was enough to split the colony.

Just haven't had the chance to do that yet, the guys can take six months to grow up to breeding size, and we'd like them to be well established before splitting them up again.

[papermonkeyism]

Two guys hanging together, sleeping(?) under a cork bark, with just their faces sticking out.

[papermonkeyism]

It was time to upgrade the Bug Box into the former, bigger terrarium. This time with a little less starting substrate, so it'll be easier to add more later.

The guys seem eager to explore the new digs!

[papermonkeyism]

I put a piece of carrot into the Bug Box to lure the guys somewhere I can see them, but joke's on me, because the guys have rolled the carrot piece underneath a dried oak leaf, where I can't see them, and now they can just munch it while staying hidden.

You win, I guess.

[papermonkeyism]

A whole bunch of small guys.

[papermonkeyism]

Omnomnom, cucumber.

It's pretty rare to see so many (3) of the old big guys in one place! The new guys are also starting to get quite big! A friend of mine has reserved ten of them, and I'm now waiting for enough many of them to get big enough I can pick them out and send/bring them to her place without worrying they wouldn't make it.

Yay for dirt shrimp!

[papermonkeyism]

I've been preparing the Bug Box for the midsummer vacation these past couple days, and discovered five of the big guys out in the open!

I honestly thought I was down to two individual adult isopods by now, as that's the most I've seen out and about (they are of two different sizes, so I could tell them apart from that), especially as I've had couple new deaths around. Haven't seen this many of them since maybe january!

Also there's, like, fourty something of the small guys. Gonna have to prepare the bigger Bug Box to move some guys over later in the year. (A friend of mine has reserved a dozen, so some of them will eventually move out too once they're big enough.)

Last year's evacuation seems to still be successful!

[papermonkeyism]

Isopods are such graceful animals.

One just slipped and fell off a piece of carrot, and onto a cork bark hide. Except it panicked, and in an attemp to wiggle back on its feet, the guy managed to fall through a small hole in the cork bark it had fallen on.

Amazing. Great job dude, that was talented. Wish I'd had a camera.