PostPods - How it all started: Featuring Diary Cows of course

Now for anyone who knows dairy cows, you already know where this story is going...within a few weeks I didn’t really see many of them about. After 2 months I saw a large amount of these dairy cows as they had quickly reproduced. Also they were doing an amazing job of keeping the tank clean. 

Whilst i was impressed with the dairy cows clean up performance. I didn't really like their grey colouration against a stunning albino Burmese python. It was in that instant I wondered if different colours of isopods exited. And down the rabbit hole I went….

As a hobbyist leopard gecko breeder I had connections within the invertebrate hobby for livefoods in particular. My friend Tom Marsh over at Exotic Empire would supply me with plentiful dubia roaches. It was by pure coincidence I ended up on Exotic Empires website reading up on the different isopods and seeing the vast range of isopod species and morphs available. This led to Tom and I discussing isopods. Tom kindly offered to trade some isopods for a leopard gecko nd from that day on the addiction started.

I had read isopods could be kept in small tubs/enclosures such as braplasts. I didn’t have spare vraplasts but I did have a lot of 32 litre tubs. It gave me comfort knowing any isopods I kept would have a large home which seemed to make my colonies flourish. I found myself creating more space for new isopod colonies.

I noticed using the large tubs I could easily control the humidity levels. Plus the isopods has more room to hide and forage. I was obsessed with looking and caring for each of my colonies thinking this was best practice. However I noticed my colony numbers started to decrease. After doing more research on isopod care it turns out the longer I could leave them without disturbing them the better they bred and fed. 

Over the next 2 years, I started speaking to more keepers trading tips and tricks about keeping isopods, learning the different ways people keep them and sharing experiences. In this time my collection kept growing. Gotta catch em all. I had over 20 types of isopods.

I was buying isopods whenever I had spare money and would often spend time sat with them on an evening  taking photos of them, checking different things in the tubs as I strive to try and provide the best care possible for them. After speaking with good friends in the hobby I decided to branch out to sell and trade some of my isopods. Aswell as create an educational platform for other isopod enthusiasts. This is when www.postpods.co.uk was created. 

I also joined a WhatsApp group with other invetebrate honbyists and enthusiasts. The group is excellent. All participants are welcoming, non judgemental and happy to share their knowledge and experiences with the group members. I bet Tom is happy to be receiving fewer questions from me now. I used to send him loads! But now I can hear lots of different opinions from a range of people which have been fantastic in helping me ensure my colonies thrive.