1/11/2021: Isopod insanity, January edition

I have been absent from many online communities for some time now, due to a complex combination of circumstances, but have noticed a very dramatic shift in isopod cultivation. The focus now seems to be on getting the rarest, oddest looking isopods ripped straight from the wild and charging the most to the highest bidder, in the most literal sense. While I’d love to say I appreciate the interest they’ve garnered in the last few years, I can’t help but wonder if at some point the love for the quirky crustaceans we’ve experienced in our youth was bastardized in the craze for dollars. It seems to me that charging several hundred dollars per individual of an organism that is best propagated anew in small colonies is an indirect way to sabotage husbandry efforts and perpetuate a system. Though I have many a pricey pod listed on the site, all of my isopods are captive bred and I can offer my exact methods of cultivation to those who wish to do the same.

While I have a lot I’d like to do beforehand (including updated my cockroach care guide, which is needed desperately), I will eventually tackle isopod husbandry, as it has become apparent that some common sense for keeping these simple detritivores has been lost in the commercialization fray. Stay tuned for more popularly unpopular opinions!

-Kyle