How Long Do Isopods Live?

Oh, this is a tricky question, and I'll be honest I almost wasn't going to try and attempt an answer, but I like a challenge.

 

If you want a totally honest answer, we don’t know, isopods in the wild don’t have unique stripes like zebra, or identifiable tail flukes like some whales. But there are some things we do know.

 

Pet Species

 

As a rough range for most species in the hobby, you are looking at 18 months to 3 years. If you look at each of our isopod pages many of them have an estimated lifespan. There are some species that may live up to a decade, but they are the exception rather than the norm, but here is a problem.

 

The extremes are not the norm

 

Let’s step outside crustaceans and into mammals, specifically hedgehogs, Long Eared Hedgehogs and African Pygmy Hedgehogs. Both are estimated to live 3 to 4 years in the wild, in captivity Long Eared Hogs sometimes live to 7 years old, Pygmy’s can reach a decade. But those are the exceptions. Many perfectly healthy pet hedgehogs only last a few years.

 

Some cats make it to 30 years old, a small handful of dogs have made it to 25 years old, a dog dying in their early teens is still considered to have a good life.

 

The reason we know the ages of mammals with much more certainty is that they are recognisable as individuals, we keep them in small numbers or singly. We have vet records that mean we know when they were born, and most of us keep good enough records of when these pets breed to be able to say which animals we are keeping.

 

Isopods aren’t as individual as say your dog or cat, so it’s difficult for anyone to say for sure that a single isopod has lived a certain amount of time.

 

The reason we know that Giant Isopods live such a long time is that a small number are kept worldwide, mostly in professional aquariums, those individuals are carefully monitored and generally kept in small numbers, and tagged in some way to allow their keepers to keep records about them. That’s why we know they live so much longer.

 

What factors Decrease Isopods Age

 

In the wild, predation is a leading cause of death. But we know other factors. In some species, the more females breed the shorter time they live. Stress, an incorrect diet, and incorrect humidity can all lead to a reduced lifespan.

 

How Often Will I Need to Buy Isopods

 

That’s entirely up to you, but in a way how long an individual lives doesn’t matter that much, once you have the conditions in the correct range for them, and assuming you have the right mix of males and females, the colony will start breeding, and that means that the next generation will be moving along. Meaning that whilst individuals may pass on, the colony as a whole will carry on.