List of causes of pillbug death | How to raise them

This blog is run by a Japanese person. Please forgive any mistakes in English.

In this article, I will introduce reasons why pill bugs die other than their lifespan.

When I first started raising pill bugs, I wondered why they died, but no matter how much I searched, I couldn't find any articles that answered my questions.

So I wrote an article that I wish I had read in the past.
Please note that this is purely my personal opinion.

List of causes of death for pillbugs

List of causes of death for pillbugs

The food is not good

When I was living an unhealthy lifestyle, I didn't have any vegetables at home, so I washed the vegetables in the side dishes (the parts that didn't look seasoned) and gave them to them.

It must have contained additives that are bad for bugs, so looking back, it was a cruel thing to do...

But strangely, even though I gave them those poor quality vegetables, they hardly ate them.

Pill bugs are smart and gourmets.

I've now changed my own diet, and I give the pill bugs fresh vegetables, so they eat them heartily.

Also, if you leave yesterday's food out thinking "it's still edible" because you don't want to waste leftovers, pill bugs won't eat much of it.

Replace the food with fresh food every day.

★Things you shouldn't feed to pillbugs
- Things that contain seasonings or additives
- Onions (onions, garlic, etc.)
- Avocados
- Leaves with strong smells (herbs, etc.)
- Things that contain caffeine (tea leaves, coffee, etc.)
- Vinegar
- Things that contain alcohol (sake lees, etc.)
- Things that may cause food poisoning (damaged boiled eggs, etc.)
- Dairy products
- Things that are high in carbohydrates (white rice, bread, insect jelly, etc.)
- Fruits (they like it, but don't give them too much because they're high in carbohydrates)
- Things that are high in fats (nuts, sesame, meat, etc.)
- Sticky things like yogurt (they may stick to the pseudotrachea in their stomachs and inhibit their breathing.)

☆Recommended food
- Tropical fish food in flake form
- Dried shrimp (turtle food)
- Seaweed
- Carrots
- Eggplant
- Dead leaves with white rot fungus (pillbugs love dirty dead leaves.)
- Squid shells (parakeet food)
And many more

Pill bugs have living microorganisms in their digestive tracts that help them digest food.

Perhaps it's because they want to ingest these microorganisms that they are so happy to eat the soil and moldy dead leaves in scrub forests.

Not in a good location

If you put the cage near a window, the UV rays and glare will stress them out. The temperature will also change drastically, so that's not good.

It's also not good to put it near a kitchen, as the heat and smell will stress them out.

Also, they are sensitive to vibrations, so a wobbly place is not good.

Temperature (too high/too low/temperature changes)

Depending on the species, high summer temperatures are more dangerous for Armadillidium than low winter temperatures.

Armadillidiums are originally from a slightly cooler region (the Mediterranean coast), so be especially careful of heat.

They can tolerate the cold quite well, but if they are exposed to the cold in winter, some will die in the spring, as they cannot adapt to the temperature changes that come with the change in seasons.

Keep the air conditioner running at all times to minimize temperature changes throughout the year.

It is best to keep the room temperature above 23°C in winter and below 27°C in summer.

Incomplete shedding due to calcium deficiency

The basic way to prevent incomplete shedding is to give calcium.
Protein is also important.
Dried shrimp and squid shells are recommended for calcium supplementation for pillbugs.

Respiratory failure due to obstruction of the pseudotrachea

Pseudotracheae are the respiratory organs of pillbugs.

They are located on both sides of the lower abdomen and can be easily seen with the naked eye.

Armadillidium vulgare has four pseudotracheae.

Pill bugs are clean animals and often lick their limbs and stroke their antennae, but it looks like they can't reach the pseudotrachea with their mouths or hands.
Pill bugs probably can't remove dirt from the pseudotrachea by themselves, so I think they would easily die from respiratory failure once the pseudotrachea becomes blocked.

★Examples of blockage of the pseudotracheal tube
- Water-absorbing powders such as zeolite or other fine powders adhere to the pseudotracheal tube
- Sticky substances such as yogurt adhere to the pseudotracheal tube
- Large numbers of mites stick to the pseudotracheal tube and block it
- Incomplete molting causes the pseudotracheal tube to become blocked by its own shell

Also, the pseudotrachea is sensitive to both humidity and dryness, so if the ventilation and humidity inside the breeding case are not adequate, the pseudotrachea will not function properly.

The effects of inbreeding

Color mutants in particular have been inbreeding for a long time.

If you want them to live longer, it's better to crossbreed color mutants with other color mutants, or to keep wild pill bugs in the first place.

As with hamsters, anything that is close to the original color is stronger.

Stones, or gout

Pill bugs normally take in a lot of calcium in order to shed their skin, which continues throughout their lives.

For this reason, we think they are creatures at high risk of developing kidney stones and gout.

Oxalic acid combines with calcium in the body to become calcium oxalate, which leads to kidney stones. Try to avoid giving your pigs oxalic acid as much as possible.

A typical food that is high in oxalic acid is spinach.

Purines also increase uric acid levels, and uric acid, along with calcium, can be deposited in joints and other areas, causing gout. For this reason, try to avoid giving your pigs purines as much as possible.

Typical foods that are high in purines are brewer's yeast and royal jelly.

Touching too much

When pill bugs curl up, it means they sense that their life is in danger.

Please refrain from curling up unnecessarily as this will cause stress to them.

The breeding environment is unclean (mites, bad odors)

If there are lots of large mites in the breeding case or if there is a foul odor when you open it, some of the pill bugs will die.

Recreate the breeding environment every 3 to 4 months.

When creating the breeding environment, it is a good idea to deliberately lean some bark against the top of the bark.

If several pill bugs gather at the top of the leaning bark as if taking refuge, this is a sign that the environment is deteriorating and it is time to recreate the breeding environment.

Also, I use a deodorizing spray made from lactic acid bacteria and other substances that is harmless to living organisms to eliminate odors inside the breeding case.

The stress of a new environment

After I recreate the pill bugs' environment, one or two always die suddenly or do not molt properly.

I think this is due to the psychological stress caused by the change in environment.

It may be better for the pill bugs' mental health if you leave some vestiges of the old environment in the new one, such as feces or familiar hiding places.

In particular, pill bug feces contains aggregation pheromones, and pill bugs gather in places that smell of feces.
The smell of feces may help relieve some of their stress.

Overcrowding

Having too many pill bugs in a case is not good because the breeding environment will deteriorate quickly.

Furthermore, if there are too many pill bugs, the females tend to die from stress. This is because they are constantly chased by a large number of males in the breeding case, where they cannot escape.

I've seen females who were exhausted from being chased die after a few days, and I've also seen males still clinging to females that were already dead.

I've also seen males clinging to females for more than 10 hours.

I also occasionally see females with missing antennae.

They've probably been eaten by males.

Pill bugs may look like laid-back insects, but the males' obsession with females is incredible.

To prevent pill bugs from becoming overcrowded, cull them from time to time.
Considering how quickly pill bugs reproduce, it is necessary to cull them once every 3 to 4 months.

Deodorizing products that emit odors (such as cypress)

If you are using cypress, cedar, tea leaves, etc. to control odors inside the enclosure, the smell may be causing stress to pill bugs.

Light (too much light/not enough light)

Pill bugs hate ultraviolet light.

But if they hate UV light, does that mean you should keep them in complete darkness all the time? No, complete darkness is not a good idea.
I looked online and found the results of a study by an elementary school student which showed that if pill bugs are kept in complete darkness, they will start to die suddenly after two weeks.

Pill bugs probably have an internal clock, so it's best to keep them relatively bright during the day and dark at night.

Breeding environment: Cover with aluminum sheeting at night.

Captive pillbugs are not exposed to direct sunlight, so it is a good idea to give them Vitamin D. Maitake mushrooms contain a lot of Vitamin D.

Moss moisture is insufficient and molting is incomplete

Pill bugs molt in humid places (inside sphagnum moss or deep in the soil), but in a new environment, the molting may fail if the sphagnum moss or soil is not moist enough.

When creating a new environment, allow the sphagnum moss to absorb plenty of water and then squeeze it out moderately.
It is a good idea to create an environment where the deeper the soil is, the more moist it is.

↓A pill bug that has molted in sphagnum moss.

Respiratory failure due to stuffiness

Pill bugs' respiratory organs (pseudotracheae) are sensitive to dryness, but they are also very sensitive to humidity.

When it gets humid inside their breeding case, they seem to come out to higher up in places where it is less likely to get humid, such as the top of a piece of bark that is leaned up against a tree.