Why Do People Buy Isopods?

The majority of the time when we tell people that our business is structured around isopods for sale, this is their first response:

“What do people do with them?”

Here is the best way we can explain it.

You are probably familiar with sucker fish, snails, and shrimp that are used as part of an aquarium clean-up crew. This is a similar concept, but for reptile, amphibian, and bioactive terrarium enclosures.

A large number of our customers use isopods in reptile, amphibian, or natural bioactive terrarium habitats as little janitors—often referred to as a Clean-Up Crew (CUC).

Isopods are decomposers and can help consume things such as leftover food, decaying plant material, shed skin, dead feeder insects, and other decomposing organic matter.

They don't eliminate the need for proper enclosure maintenance, but they can become an important part of a functioning bioactive ecosystem.

Interestingly, isopods can also accumulate certain metals from their environment and have even been studied by scientists as indicators of environmental contamination.

In general, they're an amazing little part of our world that more people are beginning to notice.

With a huge variety of species, colors, patterns, and morphs available in the hobby, the isopod community continues to grow.

And they aren't just clean-up crews anymore.

Many people simply keep isopods as pets.

So, Are Isopods the Best Pet?!

We're probably biased, but we think so!

• They're fun to watch. Some people even find watching an active colony relaxing.
• They're quiet. Your neighbors probably won't complain.
• They're decomposers. A healthy colony spends much of its time eating and recycling organic material within its habitat.
• They're relatively low maintenance. Compared with many traditional pets, a properly established isopod colony doesn't require a huge amount of daily care.

What Else Are Isopods Used For?

Here are some other reasons people keep isopods:

• Bioactive clean-up crews for reptile and amphibian enclosures
• Display colonies and pets for people who simply enjoy keeping them
• Feeder colonies for certain insect-eating animals
• Clean-up crews for feeder insect enclosures, such as cricket colonies
• Educational animals for children, classrooms, homeschool projects, and families—with appropriate adult supervision
• Science and observation, including learning about decomposition, ecosystems, reproduction, behavior, and invertebrates
• Collecting, with enthusiasts maintaining different species, colors, patterns, and morphs

And here's an unusual one:

People have even eaten terrestrial isopods.

Isopods are crustaceans and relatives of animals such as shrimp and crabs, and there are reports of people describing their flavor as somewhat shrimp-like.

Before anyone gets any ideas, though: the isopods sold by Holy-Poly Isopods are sold as live animals—not as food for human consumption.

Whether you keep them as a clean-up crew, collect different species, study them, use appropriate species as feeders, or simply enjoy watching a colony grow, there are a surprising number of reasons people have fallen in love with these little crustaceans.

And now when someone asks you:

“What do people do with isopods?”

You'll have an answer.