{"title":"Invertebrate Food and Supplements","description":"\u003ch1\u003eInvertebrate Food and Supplements\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor a detritivore, the substrate is the diet. Leaf litter and rotting wood are not bedding that happens to be edible: they are what isopods, millipedes, springtails and most display roaches evolved to eat, and a colony with good litter available is never going hungry. Everything on this page is food, from the staples that make up most of what your animals consume to the protein and calcium that drive breeding and moulting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you want the short version: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/leaf-litter-1l\"\u003eleaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e as the base, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e left in permanently, and a protein source once or twice a week. That is a complete feeding routine, and it costs a few pounds a year to run.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe staples: leaf litter, wood and flake soil\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/leaf-litter-1l\"\u003eLeaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e is the single most important thing in the enclosure. It is food, cover and humidity buffer at once, and it should never be allowed to run out. Ours is mixed broadleaf from Southern England woodlands, processed to be pest-free. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/leaf-litter-substrate\"\u003eCrushed leaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e is the same material milled finer, which suits mancae and works well blended through rather than sitting on top.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/shredded-rotten-wood\"\u003eShredded rotten wood\u003c\/a\u003e is the other half of a natural diet, and the part most keepers under-supply. White-rotted hardwood is softer, more digestible and considerably more nutritious than sound wood, and millipedes in particular need a lot of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eFermented flake soil\u003c\/a\u003e sits somewhere between substrate and food. It was developed for beetle larvae, it holds moisture like coir, and unlike coir it actually feeds the colony. It is the one item here I would not run a colony without.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/bamboo-leaf-litter\"\u003eBamboo leaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e breaks down more slowly and holds its structure, which makes it useful in a display setup. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/asian-leaf-mix\"\u003eAsian leaf mix\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e are tougher, longer-lasting leaves that give a mixed litter layer some variety and structure. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/lotus-pods\"\u003eLotus pods\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/beech-seed-pods\"\u003ebeech seed pods\u003c\/a\u003e are grazed slowly and double as cover for smaller species.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCalcium, permanently available\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIsopods and millipedes rebuild their exoskeleton every time they moult, and a failed moult is usually a calcium problem rather than a humidity one. Millipedes need more of it than anything else we sell. Put a piece of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e or a scatter of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/crushed-oyster-shell-100g\"\u003ecrushed oyster shell\u003c\/a\u003e in and leave it there. It does not go off, and the animals take what they need when they need it. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/malawi-light-limestone-for-inverts\"\u003eLimestone\u003c\/a\u003e does the same job and doubles as climbing structure, which cave species in particular appreciate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eProtein, in small amounts\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the single biggest lever on breeding rate. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dried-calciworms-for-inverts\"\u003eDried calciworms\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dried-anchovies-100g\"\u003eanchovies\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dried-large-sprats-100g\"\u003esprats\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dried-silkworm-pupae-100g\"\u003esilkworm pupae\u003c\/a\u003e all work. Offer a pinch, on the drier side of the enclosure, and take out whatever is uneaten within a day or two before it moulds. More is not better: too much protein is the most common cause of a grain mite bloom.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWorth having, not essential\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/kinshi-made-with-lions-mane-mushroom\"\u003eKinshi\u003c\/a\u003e and the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/organic-seven-mushroom-blend-powder\"\u003eseven-mushroom blend\u003c\/a\u003e are readily taken by almost everything and add variety without adding protein, across isopods, millipedes and roaches alike. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/bee-pollen-50g\"\u003eBee pollen\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/brewers-yeast-50g\"\u003ebrewers yeast\u003c\/a\u003e are traditional conditioning foods, used sparingly. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/bat-guano\"\u003eBat guano\u003c\/a\u003e is a supplementary food for cave-origin species, closer to their wild diet than anything else here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe fish foods are here because they work, not as a novelty. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/spirulina-algae-wafers-100g\"\u003eSpirulina wafers\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/oak-algae-wafers-100g\"\u003eoak and algae wafers\u003c\/a\u003e and the flake foods are dense, cheap, keep indefinitely and are eaten readily. A tub lasts most keepers a very long time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow often to feed\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLess often than you would think. Keep litter and a calcium source permanently available, and treat everything else as a supplement rather than a meal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLeaf litter and wood:\u003c\/strong\u003e always present, topped up when it visibly thins.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCalcium:\u003c\/strong\u003e permanently available, never removed.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFast breeders\u003c\/strong\u003e (Dairy Cows, Powders, dwarf whites): protein twice a week, and they will process it.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eArmadillidium and most Porcellio:\u003c\/strong\u003e once a week is plenty.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCubaris and other slow builders:\u003c\/strong\u003e once a week, small amounts, and be patient.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMillipedes:\u003c\/strong\u003e rotting wood always available, and calcium more generously than you would give an isopod.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSpringtails and roaches:\u003c\/strong\u003e they will take most of the same foods, in much smaller quantities.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRemove uneaten fresh food within 24 to 48 hours. If you are getting mould or mites, you are feeding too much rather than feeding the wrong thing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you do not need\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCharcoal is sold widely as an isopod additive and sits firmly in the \"does not hurt, is not essential\" category. Good ventilation, a sensible moisture gradient and a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail\u003c\/a\u003e population do far more to keep an enclosure fresh than charcoal ever will. The same goes for most vitamin powders: an animal eating varied leaf litter with calcium available is not short of anything.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor the full picture, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/what-do-isopods-eat\"\u003ewhat do isopods eat\u003c\/a\u003e covers the diet from the ground up, and the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/limestone-for-isopods\"\u003ecalcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e goes deeper on supplementation than any product page sensibly can. For the hides, moss, tubs and tools that go around the food, see \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/accessories\"\u003edrygoods and accessories\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEverything here ships from the UK, Monday to Thursday, alongside any livestock in the same order. If you are not sure what your species needs, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/pages\/contact\"\u003eask me\u003c\/a\u003e before you order.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"bat-guano","title":"Bat Guano 50g","description":"\u003cp\u003eOpen this one over a sink and dampen the powder before you start mixing it into anything. Dry guano makes dust, and the dust is the part worth taking seriously. The fungus behind that caution, \u003cem\u003eHistoplasma capsulatum\u003c\/em\u003e, grows in soil enriched by bird and bat droppings and is commonest in North and Central America. It is not present in British bats or in the British environment, which is reassuring right up until you remember that commercially traded guano is mined from caves in the parts of the world where it does live. In 2024 a case report in Open Forum Infectious Diseases described two fatal infections in cannabis growers, one of whom had bought his bat guano from an online store, and its authors recommended that products of this kind be labelled with a warning and instructions for safe use. So: wet it down, do not tip or sweep it dry, wear a mask if you are working with a quantity of it, and wash your hands afterwards. We have not found anything that puts a number on the risk from a 50g bag and inventing one would not help you.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith that dealt with, what it is for. Guano is a nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium source, and those figures vary enormously between one deposit and the next and between insect-eating and fruit-eating bats, so any printed analysis should be read as indicative and not as a spec. Guano is often sold as composted over hundreds of years. Cave deposits do reach great age, but the process is not composting and age is not a quality mark: in damp caves it strips the organic content out instead of concentrating it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy isopod keepers use it\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe reasoning is ecological. Inside a cave, bat droppings are one of the few substantial energy inputs into a system with almost no plant material arriving, and the invertebrate life tracks that. One survey in the Levant found isopods made up 19.5 per cent of all arthropods in caves holding fruit-bat colonies, against 1.8 per cent in caves with no bats at all. Isopods in the family Armadillidae, which is the family \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sits in, have been recorded feeding directly on fresh and mouldering bat droppings in Philippine caves. What does not exist is a feeding study on any of the Thai cave species actually sold in the hobby, and Zimmer's 2002 review of isopod nutrition, still the standard one, does not mention guano anywhere. Offer it as a plausible enrichment for cave-origin species, not as something they require.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eUse it sparingly, because it is high in nitrogen and nitrogen accumulates in a closed tub. Roughly a teaspoon mixed thoroughly through five litres of substrate at setup, or for an established enclosure, damp a very small amount and work it into the surface instead of dusting it on dry. It is a supplement and not a food: \u003ca href=\"\/products\/leaf-litter-1l\"\u003eleaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e and rotten wood still do the feeding, and it does nothing for calcium, so keep a \u003ca href=\"\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e in regardless. Between uses, keep it sealed, cool and dry. A 50g bag mixed at that rate goes a very long way, which is the other argument for restraint.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56769501725054,"sku":null,"price":3.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/bat-guano-25g-1256654.jpg?v=1767449840"},{"product_id":"cuttlebone-100g","title":"Cuttlebone","description":"\u003cp\u003eA woodlouse does not moult in one go. It sheds the back half of its shell first and the front half a short while later, and it gets through that gap on calcium it banked in advance. In the run-up, chalky white deposits build under the first four plates of the underside, then dissolve away again so the mineral can be pulled back out and used to harden the new shell. We can usually pick them out as pale patches on an animal that is about to turn. All of it depends on there having been enough calcium in the enclosure to build the reserve from in the first place.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA block of cuttlebone is the easiest way to make sure there was. Cuttlebone is the internal shell of the cuttlefish, \u003cem\u003eSepia officinalis\u003c\/em\u003e, and runs to about 95 per cent calcium carbonate, the remainder being the chitin and protein that hold the architecture together. The mineral is aragonite, stacked into chambers separated by thin corrugated pillars, which is why a piece weighs almost nothing and why it gives way under a mandible instead of resisting one. Limestone and oyster shell are the other crystal form, calcite, and both are harder going. Cuttlebone is the softest calcium we stock and the animals treat it accordingly. Sodium and magnesium come along with it as trace elements.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCuttlebones strand along the southern and western coasts of Britain, which is where these are gathered before being rinsed in reverse osmosis and deionised water and packed. They arrive clean. We would still drop a piece into just-boiled water for twenty minutes and let it cool and dry before it goes in, because anything off a beach has sat in salt water, and twenty minutes is a small price for not wondering about it. Expect a faint fishy smell on opening. That is normal for a marine product, it fades, and the animals are drawn to it rather than put off.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eUsing it\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePut a piece in and leave it. The drier end of the enclosure keeps it in better condition for longer, hard side down if you are laying it flat. Break it up and mix it through the substrate when you are setting a tub up, or half-bury a chunk so there is something to work at. You will know it is being used because the surface goes pitted and grooved where mandibles have been scraping. \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/em\u003e and the big Spanish \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e strip a block fastest, millipedes work through one steadily, and land snails or hermit crabs sharing an enclosure will use it too. One claim we are not going to repeat is that powdered calcium sticks to isopods and dries them out; we went looking for the basis of it and found nothing behind the repetition. The case for a solid block stands on its own anyway, because it stays where you put it, a misting will not wash it away, and you can see at a glance how much is left.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSupplied in pieces. Keep one available permanently instead of offering calcium now and then, store the rest somewhere cool and dry, and swap the piece out once it has been scraped hollow. Worth reading alongside our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-calcium-guide\"\u003eisopod calcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e and our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-moulting-the-complete-guide-to-ecdysis\"\u003eguide to moulting\u003c\/a\u003e, and pairing with \u003ca href=\"\/products\/crushed-oyster-shell-100g\"\u003ecrushed oyster shell\u003c\/a\u003e if you want something slower to disappear.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"100g","offer_id":57349581373822,"sku":null,"price":3.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"250g","offer_id":57349581406590,"sku":null,"price":6.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/cuttlebone-100g-1108263.jpg?v=1767449830"},{"product_id":"shredded-rotten-wood","title":"Shredded Rotten Wood for Isopods \u0026 Detritivores","description":"\u003cp\u003eShredded rotten wood is naturally decayed hardwood, the pale, soft, crumbly material sometimes called white rotten wood that you find breaking down on any woodland floor. It plays two roles at once in an invertebrate setup. It is a foundational part of the substrate, and it is a food in its own right. Detritivores such as isopods, springtails, millipedes and roaches feed on decomposing wood exactly as they would in the wild, working nutrition out of the softened fibres and the microorganisms that colonise them as the wood slowly rots down.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat makes it so useful is that the hard work of decomposition has already happened. The tough cellulose has begun to break apart, so the wood is soft enough for small mouths to graze, and it carries the fungi and microbes that detritivores rely on to digest their food. We select broadleaf hardwoods such as birch and oak and leave out pine and other softwoods, whose resins and aromatic oils do many inverts no good. Good rotten wood should be pale, light in the hand and earthy smelling, and that is what we look for when we choose it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is all sourced from UK woodlands and frozen to see off mites, gnat larvae and any other hitchhikers before it reaches you, so you can add it straight to an enclosure without introducing anything unwanted. It comes ready to use in convenient shredded form, sized to mix easily through a substrate rather than sit on top of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn practice you can work it through the substrate as a food and moisture layer when you set an enclosure up, or lay it in patches under bark and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/leaf-litter-1l\"\u003eleaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e so your animals can graze at will. It holds damp well, which keeps a humid microhabitat ticking over, and it breaks down gradually as the colony feeds, so it doubles as slow release food and shelter. Alongside \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e and a scatter of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e, it forms the base of a healthy bioactive setup and helps \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail\u003c\/a\u003e and isopod numbers build over time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKeep any you are not using somewhere cool and dry, and give it a light mist to rehydrate if it has dried out before it goes in. It is one of those quiet staples that earns its place in almost every tank, and you will find it beside the rest of our substrate ingredients in the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories\u003c\/a\u003e collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56782627340670,"sku":null,"price":3.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/shredded-rotten-wood-1l-2733695.jpg?v=1767825381"},{"product_id":"leaf-litter-1l","title":"Leaf Litter for Isopods (Mixed Broadleaf, 1L)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is mixed broadleaf leaf litter: a blend of dried British hardwood leaves, birch, oak and beech among them, collected from woodland across Southern England. It is gathered away from paths, roads and dog-walking areas, then aged naturally for several months, so it is clean, dry and ready to feed. PostPods sources, selects and packs each batch by hand, so what lands in the bag is a varied mix of shapes, thicknesses and decay rates rather than a single leaf type. That variety matters, because different leaves soften and break down at different speeds and your animals like to pick and choose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter is the single most important food source for detritivore invertebrates. For isopods, springtails, millipedes and roaches, dried fallen leaves are not décor, they are the foundation of the diet these animals evolved to eat. On the forest floor, leaves fall, soften and grow a film of microbes and fungi, and it is this slowly rotting material that detritivores graze on day and night. Give a colony a steady supply and you see the difference: more activity, steadier moults and more reliable breeding. Run it low and animals become stressed and slow to reproduce.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUsing it is simple. Lay a generous layer across the substrate surface, thick enough that you cannot see the soil beneath, and treat it as the constant base of the diet rather than an occasional extra. The colony grazes it down over the weeks and you top it up whenever the layer starts to thin; with detritivores there is little risk of offering too much. That same layer earns its keep as cover, holding humidity in the enclosure and giving mancae and juveniles somewhere safe to shelter and moult. You can use it dry or mist it lightly before it goes in; either way it soon takes up moisture from the air around it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a complete forest-floor base, pair it with \u003ca href=\"\/products\/shredded-rotten-wood\"\u003eshredded rotten wood\u003c\/a\u003e and a scoop of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, which between them cover the wood and soil sides of the diet. If you want to broaden the menu further, our \u003ca href=\"\/products\/asian-leaf-mix\"\u003eAsian leaf mix\u003c\/a\u003e and hard-wearing \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e bring in different textures and decay rates for the colony to work through at its own pace. You will find the rest of the range over in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories\u003c\/a\u003e. Keep the bag somewhere cool and dry, and the litter will hold indefinitely until you need it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"1 litre","offer_id":56787914752382,"sku":null,"price":3.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"3 litres","offer_id":57200221192574,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"5 litres","offer_id":57200221225342,"sku":null,"price":12.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/leaf-litter-1l-4865726.jpg?v=1767825378"},{"product_id":"flake-soil","title":"Fermented Flake Soil for Beetles \u0026 Inverts","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe name is the first thing to get past: flake soil is not soil. There is no soil in it, no compost, and nothing that came out of the ground. It is hardwood sawdust that has been deliberately fermented until the wood breaks down into something a larva or a detritivore can digest, and the \"soil\" in the name is just what it ends up looking like. Once you understand that, everything else about how to use it falls into place.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe technique comes out of the Japanese beetle-keeping scene, where competitive breeders weigh larvae against each other and the quality of the feeding medium is the difference between a good beetle and a record one. Decades of that pressure produced a substrate that does one job extremely well: it makes hard wood edible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat is actually happening in the bag\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWood is difficult to eat. The cellulose inside it is perfectly good food, but it is locked up in lignin, which almost nothing can digest directly. In a forest, fungi solve this slowly by rotting the wood over months and years. Fermentation solves it fast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHardwood sawdust is mixed with water and a carbohydrate source, then seeded with microorganisms and turned repeatedly while it heats and works. The bacteria and micro-fungi break the lignin into shorter chains and leave the cellulose intact, and the resulting material is darker, softer and considerably richer in nitrogen than the wood that went in. That nitrogen enrichment is the part that grows large larvae.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is worth distinguishing three things that get muddled constantly. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/shredded-rotten-wood\"\u003eWhite-rotted hardwood\u003c\/a\u003e is wood that fungi have degraded in place, and it keeps its structure. Kinshi is sawdust colonised by mushroom mycelium and used mainly for particular stag beetle larvae. Flake soil is the fermented option, and it is the most generally useful of the three across different animals. There is a fuller explanation in my write-up on \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/articles-not-isopod-related\/what-is-flake-soil\"\u003ewhat flake soil is\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat to use it for\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBeetle larvae.\u003c\/strong\u003e This is the primary use and the one it was invented for. Rear larvae in firmly packed flake soil, replacing it when they have worked through most of the tub and returning a portion of the old material to preserve their gut fauna. Our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/rainbow-stag-beetle-larvae-phalacrognathus-mulleri\"\u003eRainbow Stag Beetle larvae\u003c\/a\u003e are reared on it, and it suits rhinoceros and flower beetle larvae equally.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMillipedes.\u003c\/strong\u003e Mixed through the base layer it raises the nutritional value of the whole enclosure. Millipedes eat their substrate rather than merely living in it, and a colony on plain inert bedding is a colony being slowly starved. Worth adding for anything in the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/millipedes-for-sale\"\u003emillipede range\u003c\/a\u003e, and particularly for the fast-growing species that go through wood quickly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIsopods.\u003c\/strong\u003e Not required as a base layer, but a scatter worked into the top few centimetres gives a hard-breeding colony a genuine lift. Keepers of prolific species tend to notice the difference in brood size first. Useful across most of the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopod range\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBioactive setups.\u003c\/strong\u003e A component rather than the whole answer, mixed into a broader forest-floor base such as our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/substrate-for-invertebrates\"\u003eready-made invertebrate substrate\u003c\/a\u003e to feed the cleanup crew working underneath the display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to use it\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor beetle larvae, use it neat and pack it down. Loose medium is a problem because larvae need to hold an open tunnel, and a tub that collapses each time they move costs them energy they should be spending on growth. Moisten to the point where a squeezed handful holds together without releasing water, and no further.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor millipedes and isopods, mix it through rather than layering it. Somewhere around a fifth to a quarter of the total volume is a sensible starting proportion, blended into a base that also contains leaf litter and coarser rotten wood for structure. My notes on building a full mix are in the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003eisopod substrate\u003c\/a\u003e guide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKeep the bag closed and somewhere cool between uses. It is a biologically active material, not an inert one, and it will keep working slowly wherever you leave it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eTwo things to avoid\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNever use softwood-based substrate for larvae. Pine, spruce and the rest carry resins with antifungal and insecticidal properties, and they are unsuitable for both the animals and the fungi they depend on. Everything here is hardwood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe other one is coco coir, which sits at the opposite end of the scale from this product. Coir holds water beautifully and contains essentially nothing a wood-feeder can use. For a springtail culture that is fine, since springtails graze surfaces rather than eating the medium. For beetle larvae and millipedes it is bulk without nutrition, and larvae fed on it do not do well. If you take one thing from this page, make it that fermented hardwood and coir are not alternatives to each other.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho this is for\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnyone rearing beetle larvae needs it, and there is not really a substitute. For millipede keepers it is the single most effective upgrade you can make to an existing enclosure without changing anything else. For isopod keepers it is optional but rewarding, particularly if you are trying to push a breeding colony rather than just maintain one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHave a look at the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/other-inverts-for-sale\"\u003eother inverts collection\u003c\/a\u003e for the beetles and less common species this substrate was designed around.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"1 litre","offer_id":56871049822590,"sku":null,"price":6.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"3 litres","offer_id":56871049855358,"sku":null,"price":16.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"5 litres","offer_id":56897201176958,"sku":null,"price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/flake-soil-3853330.jpg?v=1770408563"},{"product_id":"lotus-pods","title":"Lotus Pods","description":"\u003cp\u003eA lotus pod is built to float, which explains a lot about the trouble people have sinking them. When the sacred lotus, \u003cem\u003eNelumbo nucifera\u003c\/em\u003e, has finished with its seed head, the whole structure dries out, snaps off the stem and drifts away, dropping its fruits through the holes in the flat face as it travels. Buoyancy is the point of the thing. Anyone who has held one under water in an aquarium and watched it bob straight back up has been losing an argument with several million years of seed dispersal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBotanically it is not a pod at all. It is a spongy receptacle, the swollen top of the flower stalk, and the pits in its face held fruits rather than seeds. The hobby calls them pods and we are not going to fight that, but the structure is worth understanding because it is exactly what makes them useful in an enclosure. The hollow chambers and the open face give isopods and springtails a lattice of small spaces to sit in and under. Springtails in particular gather on them, which makes a pod a handy way of lifting a portion of a culture out of the soil without digging.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBoil them before they go in. It softens the material, deals with anything that came along from collection and storage, and for aquarium use it starts the waterlogging. Give them a good hour on a rolling boil, which is our own figure and not a published one, and plan on weighting them down overnight regardless. Once in a humid enclosure they soften over months, not years, and eventually go the way of the rest of the leaf litter, which is fine. Top up as they collapse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat they will not do\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey are decor with a useful side. They will not lift your breeding rates or rescue a struggling colony, and a setup without them is not missing anything essential. Leaf litter, rotten wood and a permanent calcium source do the real work; pods are what you add once those are in place. They also break down faster than cork bark, so treat them as a consumable. In an aquarium they release tannins and will tint the water, which is the effect blackwater keepers are after. They are widely said to lower pH as well; no measurement of that exists that we can find, so take the tint as the reliable part.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne thing worth checking wherever you buy them. Lotus heads are a staple of the dried-flower trade and a great many of them are dyed, grey-washed or otherwise treated for floristry, none of which belongs near live animals. Ours are sold for enclosure use, undyed and untreated. Scatter them across the substrate among \u003ca href=\"\/products\/leaf-litter-1l\"\u003eleaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e, wedge one under a slab of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/small-cork-bark\"\u003ecork bark\u003c\/a\u003e, or cluster two or three where you want the colony to congregate so you can check on them without turning the tub over. Stored dry they keep indefinitely, so a pack of twenty is not a commitment.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"1","offer_id":56916487340414,"sku":null,"price":1.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"5","offer_id":56916487373182,"sku":null,"price":5.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":56916487405950,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":56916487438718,"sku":null,"price":18.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/lotus-pods-8189129.jpg?v=1769459672"},{"product_id":"leaf-litter-substrate","title":"Crushed Leaf Litter Substrate","description":"\u003cp\u003eA premium, ready-to-use leaf litter substrate made from chopped and milled beech and oak leaves, perfect for isopods, millipedes, beetles, and a wide range of invertebrates. This finely processed blend provides a nutrient-rich, natural food source and habitat foundation that closely replicates the forest floor your invertebrates would experience in the wild.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat's In It?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis substrate is composed of beech and oak leaf litter (with smaller pieces of branch material), which has been chopped and milled into a homogenous, easy-to-use mix. It arrives ready to use straight out of the bag - simply add it to your enclosure and you're good to go.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Use Leaf Litter Substrate?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter is an essential component of any isopod or invertebrate setup. It serves as both a primary food source and a key part of the habitat, giving your colonies somewhere to forage, hide, and breed. As the leaf litter breaks down, it enriches the substrate and supports the microbial activity that keeps your enclosure healthy and thriving. If you're new to keeping isopods, our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/the-beginner-s-guide-to-keeping-isopods-in-the-uk\"\u003eBeginner's Guide to Isopod Keeping\u003c\/a\u003e covers everything you need to know about building the perfect setup.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use It\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eUse leaf litter substrate as a standalone layer on top of your base substrate, or mix it in to create a richer, more diverse environment. It pairs brilliantly with organic topsoil and sphagnum moss for a well-rounded habitat - you can read more about building the ideal substrate mix in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003eIsopod Substrate Guide\u003c\/a\u003e. For species that benefit from higher levels of white rotten wood in their diet (such as many stag beetles and giant beetles), you can blend this leaf litter with decayed wood to suit their needs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGood ventilation within the enclosure is important when using this substrate to prevent stale air and keep your colonies active and feeding well. Adequate airflow also helps maintain stable humidity and supports overall colony health.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSuitable For\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIsopods (all species), millipedes, rose beetles, stag beetles, giant beetles, slugs, and other detritivorous invertebrates. It also makes an excellent addition to bioactive terrariums and vivariums. For a complete bioactive cleanup crew, pair your isopods with \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtails\u003c\/a\u003e to keep mould in check and maintain a balanced micro-ecosystem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailable sizes:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 litre, 2.5 litres, and 5 litres - ideal quantities for hobbyists looking to set up or top up individual enclosures without the waste of buying in bulk.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"1 litre","offer_id":56899386900862,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"2.5 litres","offer_id":56899386933630,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"5 litres","offer_id":56899386966398,"sku":null,"price":18.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/leaf-litter-substrate-1l-9669842.jpg?v=1770408559"},{"product_id":"pond-sticks-mix-1l","title":"Pond Sticks Mix 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003eA high-quality blend of ultralight floating sticks made from wheat, soya, wheat germ, spirulina, and paprika - packed with protein, vitamins, and minerals that isopods, millipedes, and cockroaches absolutely love.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePond sticks are a staple food in the invert hobby, and for good reason. They're easy to break up and scatter across your enclosure, absorb moisture quickly to create a soft texture your inverts can readily feed on, and they won't mould as fast as fresh foods.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy These Sticks?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eProtein-rich (18%)\u003c\/strong\u003e to support growth and breeding\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSpirulina \u0026amp; paprika\u003c\/strong\u003e provide extra nutrients and natural colour-boosting properties\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWheat germ\u003c\/strong\u003e for easy digestibility\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eContains essential vitamins, minerals, and trace elements\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUltralight formula breaks down and softens quickly when misted\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA varied mix of stick types for a more balanced diet\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSimply scatter a few sticks into your enclosure and lightly mist them. Replace any uneaten food after a couple of days to keep things fresh. Great as a regular part of a varied diet alongside leaf litter, vegetables, and other protein sources.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePond sticks are a versatile protein source that works across the hobby - ideal for \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e, millipedes, and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cockroaches-for-sale\"\u003ecockroaches\u003c\/a\u003e alike. Browse our full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e for leaf litter, calcium sources, and the other components of a complete invert diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSize\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e100g - a generous amount that will last a good while, even across multiple enclosures.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56925249077630,"sku":null,"price":1.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/pond-sticks-mix-100g-5647303.jpg?v=1771068437"},{"product_id":"insect-granules-100g","title":"Insect Granules 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003ePremium, high-protein granules built around mealworm meal and herring meal - an excellent supplementary protein source for isopods, millipedes, and cockroaches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith a massive 44% crude protein content, these small 1mm granules are ideal for supporting growth, breeding, and overall colony health. The insect-based formula uses mealworm meal as its primary ingredient, making it a natural and highly digestible protein source that your inverts will readily feed on.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy These Granules?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e44% protein\u003c\/strong\u003e - one of the highest protein contents you'll find in a supplementary invert food\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMealworm \u0026amp; herring meal based\u003c\/strong\u003e - a far more natural protein source than generic fillers\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eEnriched with betaine, beta-glucan, and amino acids\u003c\/strong\u003e to support health and vitality\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eKelp \u0026amp; brewer's yeast\u003c\/strong\u003e provide additional vitamins and minerals\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEssential vitamins A, D3, E, and C plus trace elements including iron, zinc, and manganese\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSmall 1mm granule size - easy to scatter and readily eaten by inverts of all sizes\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eScatter a small amount into your enclosure. The granules will soften when misted, making them easy for your colony to feed on. Remove any uneaten food after a couple of days. Best used as part of a varied diet alongside leaf litter, vegetables, and other food sources.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIdeal for \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e, millipedes, and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cockroaches-for-sale\"\u003ecockroaches\u003c\/a\u003e - a protein boost that supports breeding and growth across the hobby. Browse our full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e for leaf litter, calcium sources, and the other components of a complete invert diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eNutritional Analysis\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCrude protein 44% | Crude fat 2% | Crude fibre 6.5% | Moisture 8%\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIngredients\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMealworm meal, herring meal, whole wheat, hydrolysed fish protein, corn, potatoes, brewer's yeast, kelp.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSize\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e100g - a generous amount that will last a good while, even across multiple enclosures.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56925381329278,"sku":null,"price":3.75,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/insect-granules-100g-3681887.jpg?v=1771444757"},{"product_id":"spirulina-forte-flakes-100g","title":"Spirulina Forte Flakes 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003ePremium flakes with a minimum of 30% \u003cem\u003eSpirulina platensis\u003c\/em\u003e algae - a nutrient-dense superfood supplement for isopods, millipedes, and cockroaches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSpirulina is widely regarded as one of the best supplements you can offer your invert colony. It's packed with vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that support immune health, promote growth, and help keep your inverts in top condition. These flakes deliver all of that in an easy-to-use format with an impressive 47% crude protein content.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Spirulina Flakes?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMinimum 30% Spirulina platensis\u003c\/strong\u003e - a blue-green algae rich in vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e47% crude protein\u003c\/strong\u003e - excellent for supporting growth, breeding, and moulting\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePrebiotic effect\u003c\/strong\u003e - supports healthy gut function and digestion\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRich in vitamins A, D3, E, and C\u003c\/strong\u003e for overall health and immune support\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAlso contains cereals, fish and crustacean by-products, vegetables, yeasts, and oils for a well-rounded nutritional profile\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFlake format is easy to crumble and scatter - softens quickly when misted\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCrumble a small pinch of flakes into your enclosure and give them a light mist. The flakes will soften and your inverts will readily feed on them. Remove any uneaten food after a couple of days. Works brilliantly alongside other foods like leaf litter, pond sticks, vegetables, and protein sources for a varied diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIdeal for \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e, millipedes, and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cockroaches-for-sale\"\u003ecockroaches\u003c\/a\u003e - spirulina is particularly valued for supporting colour and overall condition. Browse our full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/foods-and-supplements\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e for the other components of a varied invert diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eNutritional Analysis\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCrude protein 47% | Crude fat 4% | Crude fibre 3%\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIngredients\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCereals, spirulina (min. 30%), fish and fish by-products, molluscs and crustaceans, vegetables and vegetable by-products, yeasts, oils and fats.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSize\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e100g - a generous amount that will last a good while, even across multiple enclosures.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56925384671614,"sku":null,"price":4.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/spirulina-forte-flakes-100g-8271423.jpg?v=1771444752"},{"product_id":"tropical-fish-flakes-100g","title":"Tropical Fish Flakes 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003eA high-protein, multi-vitamin flake mix made with fish meal, plankton, algae, and lecithin - a fantastic all-round supplementary food for isopods, millipedes, and cockroaches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a blend of 7 different flake types, giving your colony a varied mix of nutrients in every serving. With 47% crude protein and a broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals, these flakes are great for supporting growth, breeding, and moulting across your collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy These Flakes?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e47% crude protein\u003c\/strong\u003e - excellent for supporting colony growth and reproduction\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e7 different flake types\u003c\/strong\u003e in the mix for a diverse nutritional profile\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePlankton \u0026amp; algae\u003c\/strong\u003e provide natural vitamins and trace elements\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLecithin\u003c\/strong\u003e supports healthy digestion\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePacked with vitamins\u003c\/strong\u003e - A, D3, E, C, B2, B12, and K3\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eEssential minerals\u003c\/strong\u003e including calcium, phosphorus, manganese, and zinc\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEasy to crumble and scatter - softens quickly when misted\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCrumble a small pinch of flakes into your enclosure and give them a light mist. They'll soften up quickly and your inverts will get stuck in. Remove any uneaten food after a couple of days. Best used as part of a varied diet alongside leaf litter, vegetables, pond sticks, and other protein sources.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA reliable everyday protein source for \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e, millipedes, and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cockroaches-for-sale\"\u003ecockroaches\u003c\/a\u003e alike. Browse our full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e for leaf litter, calcium sources, and the other components of a complete invert diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eNutritional Analysis\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCrude protein 47% | Crude fat 8% | Crude fibre 2%\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIngredients\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFish meal, wheat flour, vegetable protein concentrate, dried yeast, plankton, algae, oils and fats, lecithin, antioxidants and colourants.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSize\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e100g - a generous amount that will last a good while, even across multiple enclosures.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56925387686270,"sku":null,"price":3.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/tropical-fish-flakes-100g-1965639.jpg?v=1771444748"},{"product_id":"vegetable-flakes-with-spirulina-100g","title":"Vegetable Flakes with Spirulina 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003eNutritious vegetable-based flakes enriched with spirulina algae, plankton, spinach, garlic, and lecithin - a great plant-heavy supplement for isopods, millipedes, and cockroaches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhile many invert foods focus on protein, it's just as important to offer your colony plant-based nutrition. These flakes provide exactly that, with a rich vegetable formula boosted by spirulina for immune support and a solid 40% crude protein content to keep things balanced.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy These Flakes?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSpirulina algae\u003c\/strong\u003e - a natural superfood that supports immune health and overall condition\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e40% crude protein\u003c\/strong\u003e - a well-balanced level that complements higher-protein foods in a varied diet\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSpinach \u0026amp; garlic\u003c\/strong\u003e provide additional plant-based vitamins and nutrients\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLecithin\u003c\/strong\u003e aids healthy digestion\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMulti-vitamin complex\u003c\/strong\u003e - vitamins A, D3, E, and C\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEasy to crumble and scatter - softens quickly when misted\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCrumble a small pinch of flakes into your enclosure and give them a light mist. They'll soften up and your inverts will readily feed on them. Remove any uneaten food after a couple of days. A great addition to a varied diet alongside leaf litter, pond sticks, protein sources, and fresh vegetables.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese plant-heavy flakes are a useful way to balance the protein-rich foods in your colony's diet - ideal for \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e, millipedes, and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cockroaches-for-sale\"\u003ecockroaches\u003c\/a\u003e. Browse our full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/foods-and-supplements\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e for the other components of a complete invert diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eNutritional Analysis\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCrude protein 40% | Crude fat 8% | Crude fibre 2%\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSize\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e100g - a generous amount that will last a good while, even across multiple enclosures.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56925392339326,"sku":null,"price":3.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/vegetable-flakes-with-spirulina-100g-2648338.jpg?v=1771444751"},{"product_id":"spirulina-algae-wafers-100g","title":"Spirulina Algae Wafers 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003ePremium 15mm algae wafers enriched with \u003cem\u003eSpirulina platensis\u003c\/em\u003e, a dense, long-lasting food that isopods, millipedes, and cockroaches love to gather around and graze on over time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAlgae wafers are a brilliant addition to any invert enclosure. Unlike flakes that break down quickly, these solid 15mm discs hold their shape and soften gradually when misted, giving your colony something to congregate around and feed on over a longer period. They're high in fibre for easy digestibility, and the spirulina content provides a natural boost of vitamins and nutrients.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Algae Wafers?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSpirulina platensis (min. 6%)\u003c\/strong\u003e: supports immune health and provides natural vitamins and minerals\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e34% crude protein\u003c\/strong\u003e, solid protein content in a plant-heavy formula\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHigh fibre (5%)\u003c\/strong\u003e: promotes healthy digestion\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRich vitamin profile\u003c\/strong\u003e: vitamins A, D3, E, and C in generous quantities\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e15mm wafer format\u003c\/strong\u003e, holds together well in the enclosure, softens gradually when misted, and gives your inverts something to cluster around\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGreat for leaving in as a slow-release food source between regular feedings\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePlace one or two wafers into your enclosure and give them a mist. They'll soften over time and your inverts will graze on them. Replace any uneaten wafers after a couple of days. Works well as part of a varied diet alongside leaf litter, flakes, pond sticks, vegetables, and other protein sources.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe slow-release format makes these particularly handy for \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e, millipedes, and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cockroaches-for-sale\"\u003ecockroaches\u003c\/a\u003e, leave a wafer in and your colony will graze on it over several days. Browse our full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/foods-and-supplements\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e for the other components of a varied invert diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eNutritional Analysis\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCrude protein 34% | Crude fat 6% | Crude fibre 5%\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSize\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e100g of 15mm wafers, a generous amount that will last a good while, even across multiple enclosures.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56925395353982,"sku":null,"price":2.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/spirulina-algae-wafers-100g-4896109.jpg?v=1771444755"},{"product_id":"oak-algae-wafers-100g","title":"Oak \u0026 Algae Wafers 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003eLarge, thick wafers made with oak bark, spirulina, wheat germ, herring meal, and alfalfa, a superb food for isopods, millipedes, and cockroaches, and particularly well suited to wood-eating species.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat makes these wafers stand out is the inclusion of oak bark, which provides cellulose, an important dietary component for wood-eating invertebrates. Many isopod species naturally consume decaying wood as a key part of their diet, and these wafers deliver that in a convenient, nutrient-dense format. At 17mm x 3mm, they're chunky and dense, holding together well in the enclosure and giving your colony something substantial to graze on over time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy These Wafers?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eOak bark\u003c\/strong\u003e: provides cellulose, essential for wood-eating inverts\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e38.3% crude protein\u003c\/strong\u003e, strong protein content for growth and breeding\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSpirulina\u003c\/strong\u003e: supports immune health and overall condition\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWheat germ\u003c\/strong\u003e: an excellent source of fibre, fatty acids, and essential nutrients\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAlfalfa (lucerne)\u003c\/strong\u003e: adds plant-based nutrition and additional fibre\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRich in vitamins\u003c\/strong\u003e: A, D3, E, and C in generous amounts\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLarge 17mm x 3mm wafer\u003c\/strong\u003e: dense and long-lasting, softens gradually when misted\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePlace one or two wafers into your enclosure and give them a mist. They'll soften over time and your inverts will gather around and graze on them. Replace any uneaten wafers after a couple of days. A fantastic complement to leaf litter, flakes, pond sticks, vegetables, and other protein sources.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe oak bark content makes these particularly well suited to wood-eating \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/millipedes-for-sale\"\u003emillipedes\u003c\/a\u003e, which naturally rely on decaying wood in their diet. Browse our full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e for leaf litter, rotting wood, and the other components of a complete invert diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eNutritional Analysis\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCrude protein 38.3% | Crude fat 3.7% | Crude fibre 3.2%\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIngredients\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHerring meal, soya, wheat, mycoprotein, wheat germ, spirulina, alfalfa, oak bark, zeolite, minerals, rosemary extract, tocopherols, colourants.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSize\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e100g of 17mm x 3mm wafers, a generous amount that will last a good while, even across multiple enclosures.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56925397713278,"sku":null,"price":3.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/oak-algae-wafers-100g-8846879.jpg?v=1771444751"},{"product_id":"bee-pollen-50g","title":"Organic Raw Bee Pollen","description":"\u003cp\u003eBee pollen earns its place here as a protein feed. Depending on which flowers the bees were working, it runs somewhere between ten and forty per cent protein by dry weight, carries all the essential amino acids, and sits at roughly one to thirteen per cent fat. For animals whose staple is dead leaves and rotting wood, that is a dense parcel of exactly the thing their staple is short of, and protein is what limits growth and brood size in most of the genera we sell.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTwo claims have come off this page. The first is vitamin D. It appears in several published reviews of bee pollen, but following the citations back, they all lead to the same place: a 1987 analysis of pine pollen, which is wind-blown conifer pollen and not what a bee brings home. We could not find a single modern measurement of vitamin D in bee-collected pollen. The second is calcium. There is some in there, but at a level that would not register against what a moulting isopod needs, and only a fraction of it is available anyway. Keep the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e in the tub; pollen is not a substitute for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWho it suits\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eProtein-hungry species take it fastest. The \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e respond well, particularly the big Spanish ones and the \u003cem\u003elaevis\u003c\/em\u003e morphs, and so do fast-turnover \u003cem\u003ePorcellionides\u003c\/em\u003e cultures where the colony is only ever as good as what you put into it. It is arguably most valuable at the slow end, on \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e and other species where broods are small and infrequent and every one counts. Springtails, millipedes and pet roaches all take it too, so a bag stretches across a mixed collection. \u003cem\u003eArdentiella\u003c\/em\u003e are the one group where the reports conflict: some keepers feed pollen as part of a supplemental diet, other breeders list it among the foods theirs refuse outright, and nothing has been published on the genus either way. Put a little in and watch what happens instead of assuming.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA pinch is enough. Put it on a dish or straight onto bare substrate where you can see it, and clear away whatever has not gone within a couple of days, because pollen will mould if it sits in a damp corner. Offer it alongside the usual diet rather than in place of it. Supplied as raw granules with nothing added, and stored sealed, cool and dry a bag lasts most keepers months. For where it sits in a complete diet, see \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/what-do-isopods-eat\"\u003ewhat isopods eat\u003c\/a\u003e; \u003ca href=\"\/products\/dried-silkworm-pupae-100g\"\u003edried silkworm pupae\u003c\/a\u003e are the higher-fat option to rotate against.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"50g","offer_id":57349586289022,"sku":null,"price":4.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"125g","offer_id":57349586321790,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/brewers-yeast-50g-2071136.jpg?v=1771285723"},{"product_id":"brewers-yeast-50g","title":"Brewers Yeast 50g","description":"\u003cp\u003eA must-have supplement for any isopod or springtail keeper. Our 100% pure brewer's yeast (\u003cem\u003eSaccharomyces cerevisiae\u003c\/em\u003e) is a concentrated source of protein, B-vitamins, essential amino acids, and minerals including chromium, selenium, and zinc. Whether you're growing springtail cultures or boosting the nutrition of your isopod colonies, brewer's yeast is one of the most versatile and cost-effective foods you can keep on your shelf. A little goes a long way - a 50g bag will last most keepers several months.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Brewer's Yeast?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBrewer's yeast is one of the most protein-dense supplements available for invertebrates. The high protein and amino acid content supports healthy growth, moulting, and reproduction, while the B-vitamin complex helps to maintain strong immune function and overall vitality. The enzymes naturally present in brewer's yeast are also thought to aid digestion, helping your invertebrates break down and absorb nutrients more efficiently from their regular diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe Go-To Springtail Food\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you culture \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtails\u003c\/a\u003e, brewer's yeast is widely regarded as the single best food you can use. Just a tiny pinch sprinkled onto your charcoal, clay, or LECA substrate is enough to sustain a thriving culture for days. The yeast develops a light layer of mould in the humid culture environment, which the springtails feed on readily. It's clean, easy to use, and far less likely to attract mites or foul your cultures compared to alternatives like fish flakes or fruit scraps.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBrewer's yeast works brilliantly across all commonly cultured springtail species, including:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFolsomia candida\u003c\/strong\u003e (Temperate White Springtails) - The most widely kept species in the hobby. Brewer's yeast is the number one recommended food for culturing these on charcoal or clay substrates, producing rapid population growth with minimal maintenance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSinella curviseta\u003c\/strong\u003e (Pink Springtails) - Another popular species that thrives on a brewer's yeast diet, responding well to regular light dustings in humid cultures.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTomocerus sp.\u003c\/strong\u003e (Silver\/Grey Springtails) - These larger springtails feed readily on yeast and benefit from its nutritional profile, particularly when cultured on coconut chip or similar substrates.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTropical springtail species\u003c\/strong\u003e - Whether you keep blue, orange, or other tropical varieties, brewer's yeast is an excellent staple food that supports healthy cultures across the board.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eA Valuable Isopod Supplement\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e, brewer's yeast works best as a supplementary food alongside leaf litter, calcium, and other protein sources. The concentrated protein and mineral content makes it particularly useful for:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePorcellio \u0026amp; Porcellionides\u003c\/strong\u003e - Active, protein-hungry species like P. scaber, P. laevis (Dairy Cow), P. ornatus, and Porcellionides pruinosus (Powder Orange, Powder Blue) will readily consume brewer's yeast. These fast-breeding genera benefit from the extra protein to fuel their high energy levels and rapid reproduction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/strong\u003e - Species like A. vulgare, A. maculatum (Zebra), A. klugii (Clown), and A. gestroi appreciate brewer's yeast as part of a varied diet. The mineral content supports healthy exoskeleton development through successive moults.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCubaris\u003c\/strong\u003e - Slower-breeding species like Rubber Ducky, Panda King, and other Cubaris varieties can benefit from the nutritional boost that brewer's yeast provides, supporting colony health and breeding success where every brood matters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTrichorhina\u003c\/strong\u003e (Dwarf White\/Dwarf Purple) - These tiny, prolific species respond well to brewer's yeast as a food source and are often kept alongside springtails in bioactive setups.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBrewer's yeast is also suitable for other invertebrates including millipedes, cockroaches, and beetles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor springtail cultures:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sprinkle a very small pinch onto your substrate every 2-4 days, or when the previous feeding has been consumed. Less is more - overfeeding can cause mould overgrowth and reduce oxygen in sealed cultures.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor isopods:\u003c\/strong\u003e Lightly dust a small amount into the enclosure as an occasional supplement alongside their regular diet of leaf litter, vegetables, and calcium. Remove any uneaten food after 48 hours to prevent unwanted mould.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBrowse our full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e for springtail culture supplies, substrates, and the other components of a complete invert setup.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat You Get\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e50g of 100% pure brewer's yeast. No additives, no fillers - just brewer's yeast.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56928951861630,"sku":null,"price":3.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/brewers-yeast-50g-8540961.jpg?v=1771538665"},{"product_id":"crushed-oyster-shell-100g","title":"Crushed Oyster Shell","description":"\u003cp\u003eCrushed oyster shell is the slow option. A cuttlebone can be scraped hollow inside a few weeks in a busy tub, whereas a scoop of shell worked into the substrate gives itself up over months, which suits an enclosure you would rather not keep opening. At least 95 per cent of it is calcium carbonate, laid down mainly as calcite, the harder and less soluble of the two crystal forms molluscs build with, alongside trace magnesium and sodium. Hardness is the whole point: it is what stops it vanishing in a fortnight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEverything with a shell or a shed skin needs a supply, and the demand is not evenly spread. Millipedes calcify more heavily than almost any other land arthropod and add fresh segments at every moult, so what they need keeps climbing as they grow; most species eat their own cast skin afterwards to get some of it back. Land snails are the extreme case, since the shell is close to being nothing but this mineral, and a snail running short ends up with thin, pitted, easily broken growth. Isopods sit between the two, recovering much of the old cuticle before they turn and making up the shortfall by eating. Hermit crabs will take it from a dish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYou may have read that oyster shell beats crushed eggshell because eggshell attracts mites. We went looking for evidence of that and could not find any, in the literature or in anything the hobby cites, so it is not a reason to choose between them. The mites people have in mind are mould and grain mites, and what brings those in is damp plus something mouldering. If mites are the problem, the things to look at are ventilation and how long uneaten food sits out, which our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/mites-and-pests-in-isopod-enclosures\"\u003emites and pests in isopod enclosures\u003c\/a\u003e goes through.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eOffering it\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHow you do it depends on what you keep. For millipedes, work it into the substrate at build time so they meet it as they burrow, and scatter a little near where you feed. For isopods, tip a small pile onto bare substrate or into the food dish, and top it up every few weeks as it goes. Snails and hermit crabs do best with a shallow dish they can return to. You need very little, and overdoing it slightly will not foul anything.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSupplied crushed, with nothing added. Stored closed and dry it keeps indefinitely. Worth having alongside a \u003ca href=\"\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e, which is soft enough for smaller and younger animals to make use of straight away, and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/malawi-light-limestone-for-inverts\"\u003eMalawi light limestone\u003c\/a\u003e if you want a permanent block sitting in the enclosure as hardscape. The reasoning behind all three is in our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-calcium-guide\"\u003eisopod calcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"100g","offer_id":57349579669886,"sku":null,"price":2.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"250g","offer_id":57349579702654,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/crushed-oyster-shell-100g-7404804.jpg?v=1771444755"},{"product_id":"dried-large-sprats-100g","title":"Dried Large Sprats 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003e100% natural dried whole sprats, a protein-packed, omega-rich treat that makes an excellent supplementary food for isopods, millipedes, and cockroaches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDried sprats are small whole fish from the herring family, gently dehydrated to preserve their nutritional content. With an impressive 70.4% crude protein and a rich supply of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, they're one of the most nutrient-dense foods you can offer your colony. They also contain natural astaxanthin, which can help enhance colouration, and all essential amino acids for complete nutrition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Dried Sprats?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e70.4% crude protein\u003c\/strong\u003e, an exceptionally high protein content to support growth, breeding, and moulting\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e100% natural\u003c\/strong\u003e, whole dried sprats with nothing else added\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRich in Omega-3 \u0026amp; Omega-6 fatty acids\u003c\/strong\u003e: promotes overall health and vitality\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNatural astaxanthin\u003c\/strong\u003e: can help enhance and intensify your inverts' colouration\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAll essential amino acids\u003c\/strong\u003e: provides complete, balanced protein\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLarge size\u003c\/strong\u003e: can be broken into smaller pieces or left whole for your colony to gather around and graze on over time\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBreak a sprat into smaller chunks and scatter them into your enclosure, or leave one whole and let your colony cluster around it. They're a firm favourite and you'll often find your inverts swarming them. Remove any uneaten fish after a couple of days. Best used as a protein supplement alongside leaf litter, calcium sources, flakes, vegetables, and other foods as part of a varied diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA high-value protein treat for \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e, millipedes, and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cockroaches-for-sale\"\u003ecockroaches\u003c\/a\u003e, particularly useful for fuelling breeding colonies. Browse our full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e for the leaf litter, calcium, and other foods that make up a complete varied diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003ePlease Note\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese are large whole sprats. They do have a strong fishy smell, which is completely normal and part of what makes them so attractive to your inverts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIngredients\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e100% dried whole sprats.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSize\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e100g, a generous amount that will last a good while, even across multiple enclosures.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57139609502078,"sku":null,"price":3.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/dried-large-sprats-100g-2821075.jpg?v=1774025177"},{"product_id":"malawi-light-limestone-for-inverts","title":"Malawi Light Limestone for Invertebrates","description":"\u003cp\u003eThese are natural lightweight limestone pieces, chosen for isopod, millipede and other invertebrate enclosures. PostPods sources and selects each batch for its pale colour, porous surface and irregular shape, so what lands on your substrate looks the part and does real work at the same time. This is natural stone rather than anything moulded, so no two pieces are alike and sizes vary from one to the next.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA good piece of limestone does three jobs at once. It gives your animals a slow, steady source of calcium that they graze straight off the surface as they need it, which supports healthy moulting and, in the case of pill species, those heavily calcified shells. Over the weeks you will spot faint scrape marks and a little gentle erosion across the stone, which is simply your colony feeding. It also creates caves, ledges and shaded crevices where \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e can tuck themselves away and feel secure, and it mimics the karst limestone country that many of the most sought-after species come from, cave \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris\u003c\/a\u003e especially, so you are recreating a key element of their wild home rather than just decorating the tub.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe listing gives you two options. Order the larger ornamental pieces and you will typically receive one or two substantial stones, big enough to act as the centrepiece of a setup while still feeding calcium into the enclosure over the long term. The smaller loose stones suit smaller tubs and are easy to scatter through a setup wherever you want a little extra mineral access or structure. Because they are cut and collected by hand, the loose stones are not always in stock, so take them when you see them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn use, limestone asks very little of you. Give each piece a rinse before it goes in, then leave a piece or two in permanently and your animals will graze the surface for minerals whenever they want them, wearing it down so slowly that you will rarely need to top it up. Position the larger stones to throw shade and create that cave-like feel, tucking them where your animals already gather. Pair the lot with \u003ca href=\"\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e if you like to keep more than one calcium source on hand, and it sits happily alongside \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, leaf litter and cork. You will find the rest of the setup over in our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Small stones \/ 200g+","offer_id":57216231276926,"sku":null,"price":4.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Small stones \/ 300g+","offer_id":57216231342462,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Large Stone(s) \/ 200g+","offer_id":57216231309694,"sku":null,"price":4.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Large Stone(s) \/ 300g+","offer_id":57216231375230,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/malawi-light-limestone-200g-1763125.jpg?v=1774051940"},{"product_id":"large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods","title":"Large Magnolia Leaves For Inverts","description":"\u003cp\u003eLarge whole magnolia leaves, a premium, long-lasting leaf litter that's prized in the isopod hobby for its durability and versatility. Unlike softer leaves that break down within weeks, magnolia leaves are tough, waxy, and slow to decompose, making them one of the best choices for lasting hides, cover, and a steady supplementary food source. Sold by the leaf in packs of 20 or 50, these are large whole leaves rather than crushed litter, so they work as proper structural cover in your enclosure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Magnolia Leaves?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLong-lasting\u003c\/strong\u003e: their tough, waxy structure means they break down far more slowly than oak, beech, or sea grape, so they keep providing cover for months rather than weeks\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMould-resistant\u003c\/strong\u003e: the firm, low-moisture leaf surface is less prone to the rapid mould growth that can affect softer leaves in humid enclosures\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eExcellent hides\u003c\/strong\u003e: large and sturdy, they hold their shape when damp and create lasting overhangs and cover that isopods tuck themselves under\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFood source\u003c\/strong\u003e: as they very gradually break down, isopods and springtails graze on them, so they feed your colony as well as shelter it\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAttractive\u003c\/strong\u003e: the pale, felted underside contrasts nicely against darker substrate for a naturalistic look\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLay whole leaves across the substrate surface to create instant cover and hides, isopods will gather underneath them, particularly during the day. Because they're so durable, a few magnolia leaves provide structure that lasts, so they're ideal as the backbone of your leaf cover, topped up with faster-breaking litter for variety.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey work brilliantly alongside other leaf litter, cork bark, and decaying wood. As with any natural material, a quick freeze or bake before use is sensible if you want to be certain of no hitchhikers, though magnolia's clean, waxy surface tends to carry less than softer leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWhich Species Benefit?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e benefit from leaf litter as both food and cover, but large magnolia leaves are particularly useful for:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLarger species\u003c\/strong\u003e: Porcellio, Armadillidium, and bigger isopods appreciate the substantial, sturdy cover that smaller leaves can't provide\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e: the durable, long-lasting hides suit cave-origin species that value secure, stable cover\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSpringtails\u003c\/strong\u003e: the leaf surfaces make excellent grazing and gathering points\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMillipedes\u003c\/strong\u003e: supplementary leaf litter that lasts well in deep, humid setups\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat You Get\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLarge whole magnolia leaves in your choice of 20 or 50 leaves. As a natural product, size and shape will vary from leaf to leaf. Browse our full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e for other leaf litter, cork bark, substrate, and the components of a complete naturalistic setup.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"20","offer_id":57148903686526,"sku":null,"price":4.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"50","offer_id":57148903719294,"sku":null,"price":9.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-inverts-6073847.jpg?v=1774051934"},{"product_id":"kinshi-made-with-lions-mane-mushroom","title":"Kinshi (Made With Lions Mane Mushroom)","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn Japan, stag beetle larvae are grown on in a bottle. Kinshi is the Japanese word for mycelium, and a kinshi bottle is hardwood sawdust run through by a white-rot fungus until the block holds more fungal tissue than timber. The larva burrowing through it is feeding on the fungus first and the softened wood second, which is the part most descriptions of this material get backwards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThat distinction has been tested. Larvae have been reared successfully on artificial diets made of fungal tissue and nothing else, and when researchers split freeze-dried mycelium into its soluble and insoluble fractions, each improved growth against the control, though neither alone matched whole mycelium. Beetle grubs cannot break down lignin themselves. Adult female stag beetles carry pockets called mycangia, found in the females of every one of twenty-two lucanid species examined, and the five that were cultured held xylose-fermenting yeasts, which the females seed into the wood at laying. Left to a white-rot fungus, lignin and cellulose both come apart, which is what turns indigestible timber into food.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eTwo things to be straight about\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLion's mane, \u003cem\u003eHericium erinaceus\u003c\/em\u003e, is a white-rot fungus of beech and oak, so the mechanism above holds for it. It is not one of the species Japanese breeders traditionally use, which are the oyster mushrooms and turkey tail, so treat this as the same mechanism by a different fungus. Second, and more practically, this material is supplied dried and a kinshi bottle never is. The Japanese product is a live, refrigerated block with a shelf life measured in months, and the larvae are reared inside it. This is a food you add, not a medium you rear in, and any listing that tells you otherwise about dried material is overselling it. Drying does not spend it, because the fungal protein is still there and the freeze-dried work above shows dead mycelium still feeds larvae. What is gone is the living, spreading culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor larvae, rehydrate until it holds together when squeezed without dripping, and work it into the rearing substrate or lay it on the surface where they will find it, refreshing as it goes. For wood-eating isopods and millipedes, break it into pieces and mix it through or scatter it over the surface, then leave them to work at it in their own time. It pairs naturally with \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/shredded-rotten-wood\"\u003eshredded rotten wood\u003c\/a\u003e, which are doing a similar job by a different route.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKeep the unused portion dry and sealed and it will not spoil. If you are setting up for beetle larvae from scratch, the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/rainbow-stag-beetle-larvae-phalacrognathus-mulleri\"\u003erainbow stag beetle larvae\u003c\/a\u003e listing covers what they need alongside this, and the rest of the substrate range is in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"100g","offer_id":57184409256318,"sku":null,"price":3.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"200g","offer_id":57184409289086,"sku":null,"price":6.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/kinshi-made-with-lions-mane-mushroom-6192559.jpg?v=1774832537"},{"product_id":"bamboo-leaf-litter","title":"Bamboo Leaf Litter for Bioactive Enclosures","description":"\u003ch2\u003eBamboo Leaf Litter\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBamboo leaf litter is a versatile and increasingly popular addition to isopod, springtail, and bioactive setups. The long, slender leaves create a fine, naturalistic floor layer that inverts love to forage through, while their tough structure means they break down slowly and last well in a humid enclosure. Low in tannins and naturally mould-resistant, bamboo litter is a clean, attractive choice that works as both food and cover.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Bamboo Leaf Litter?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSlow to break down\u003c\/strong\u003e: bamboo leaves are tougher than many softer litters like oak or beech, so they provide lasting cover and a steady food source\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLow in tannins\u003c\/strong\u003e: won't strongly tint your substrate or push it acidic the way some leaves can, making it easy to use anywhere\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMould-resistant\u003c\/strong\u003e: the firm leaf surface holds up well in humid conditions and is less prone to rapid mould than softer leaves\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFine, naturalistic look\u003c\/strong\u003e: the slender leaves create an attractive, delicate floor layer that looks particularly good in planted and display setups\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFood and cover\u003c\/strong\u003e: isopods and springtails graze on it as it gradually breaks down, while it provides foraging cover and hides\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLay bamboo leaf litter across the substrate surface to create a foraging layer and cover for your colony. It works beautifully on its own for a fine, even floor, or mixed with broader leaves like magnolia and oak for a varied texture. As it slowly decomposes, it feeds the substrate and supports the microfauna that keep a bioactive enclosure healthy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs with any natural material, a quick freeze or bake before use is a sensible precaution if you want to be certain of no hitchhikers. Replace or top up as it gradually breaks down, though its slow decomposition means it lasts well.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhich Species Benefit?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e benefit from leaf litter as food and cover, but bamboo litter is particularly suited to:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSmaller species\u003c\/strong\u003e: the fine, slender leaves create cover at a scale that suits dwarf and smaller isopods\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003eSpringtails\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e: excellent foraging and gathering surfaces in cultures and bioactive setups\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePlanted and bioactive vivariums\u003c\/strong\u003e: the naturalistic look complements live plants and display enclosures\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMillipedes\u003c\/strong\u003e: a useful addition to the leaf component of a wood-and-leaf millipede diet\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat You Get\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNatural bamboo leaf litter in your choice of 1 litre, 3 litres, or 5 litres. As a natural product, the leaves will vary in size and shape. Browse our full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e for other leaf litter, substrate, cork bark, and the components of a complete naturalistic setup.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"1 litre","offer_id":57238423994750,"sku":null,"price":3.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"3 litres","offer_id":57238424027518,"sku":null,"price":9.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"5 litres","offer_id":57238424060286,"sku":null,"price":14.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/bamboo-leaf-litter-for-bioactive-enclosures-4135202.jpg?v=1781367256"},{"product_id":"asian-leaf-mix","title":"Asian Leaf Mix - Thailand \u0026 Vietnam Origin","description":"\u003cp\u003eA premium leaf blend sustainably collected from natural microhabitats in Thailand and Vietnam, including regions close to wild cave systems and tropical forest floors where many high-value isopod species originate. This isn't standard UK leaf litter. It's the actual leaf material your tropical isopods would encounter in the wild.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAvailable in 25+, 50+, and 100+ leaf quantities.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Source Leaves From Thailand \u0026amp; Vietnam?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost tropical isopods in the UK hobby come from specific Southeast Asian regions. Thailand for most \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris\u003c\/a\u003e species, Vietnam for the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/ardentiella-isopods\"\u003eArdentiella (ex-Merulanella)\u003c\/a\u003e genus, and surrounding countries for various other premium species. These animals evolved to feed on the leaf species native to those ecosystems, not oak, beech, or magnolia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUK-sourced leaves (including our own \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/bamboo-leaf-litter\"\u003ebamboo leaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e) work perfectly well as staples and make up the bulk of most isopod setups. But introducing leaves from the actual native range of your tropical species gives them access to flavours, nutrients, and microbial communities they'd recognise from the wild. The feeding response is noticeably different.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis mix was selected and tested specifically for palatability and nutrient availability. Keepers have reported significantly increased feeding activity compared to standard UK leaf material, especially in Ardentiella and Cubaris setups.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWhich Species Benefit Most\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/ardentiella-isopods\"\u003eArdentiella (Vietnam)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e: This genus originates from Vietnamese forest floors and shows particularly strong responses to native Vietnamese leaf material. If you're keeping \u003ca href=\"\/products\/batman-isopods-ardentiella-sp\"\u003eBatman\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/lava-isopods-ardentiella-sp\"\u003eLava\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/pastel-isopods-ardentiella-sp\"\u003ePastel\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/yellow-phoenix-isopods\"\u003eYellow Phoenix\u003c\/a\u003e, or \u003ca href=\"\/products\/lava-pastel-isopods-ardentiella-sp\"\u003eLava Pastel\u003c\/a\u003e, this mix is aimed directly at your setup.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris (Thailand)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e: The cave and forest habitats of Thailand are home to most Cubaris species in the hobby. Rubber Ducky, Panda King, Cappuccino, Rose Quartz, and related species all evolved feeding on Thai leaf litter. Adding this mix to a Cubaris enclosure gives them access to familiar leaf material.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTropical millipedes\u003c\/strong\u003e: Thai and Vietnamese millipedes in the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/millipedes-for-sale\"\u003emillipede collection\u003c\/a\u003e will also benefit. Leaf litter is a primary food source for most millipede species, and region-appropriate leaves are particularly valuable for keepers trying to maximise breeding success.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFussy feeders\u003c\/strong\u003e: Some tropical isopod species can be surprisingly selective about leaf material, especially recently imported or wild-caught stock. An Asian leaf mix often prompts a feeding response in animals that have been ignoring standard UK leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eKey Benefits\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHighly attractive food source for even the pickiest tropical species\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCollected from environments matching native Cubaris \u0026amp; Ardentiella habitats\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEncourages stronger feeding response and natural grazing behaviour\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIdeal for premium setups, dedicated breeding projects, and rare species\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSustainably sourced from natural microhabitats rather than commercial plantations\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Use\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAsian leaf mix works best as a supplement alongside your primary UK leaf litter, not as a complete replacement. The UK leaves (magnolia, bamboo, oak) provide bulk ground cover and long-term structure; the Asian mix adds variety, nutritional depth, and a native feeding stimulus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eScatter a handful across the substrate surface\u003c\/strong\u003e in addition to your existing leaf layer. The mix will integrate naturally with your existing leaf litter as the isopods forage through it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConcentrate near feeding zones.\u003c\/strong\u003e If you typically feed fresh vegetables or protein in a specific corner of the enclosure, placing some Asian leaves in that area gives the isopods an additional foraging focus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRefresh periodically.\u003c\/strong\u003e Leaves get consumed over time. Top up with more Asian mix every few weeks or whenever you notice the original addition has been eaten down. For high-value colonies, regular supplementation keeps the feeding response strong.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003ePairs Well With\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA complete tropical isopod setup uses a combination of leaf types and substrate components:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMagnolia Leaves\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: long-lasting primary leaf cover\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/bamboo-leaf-litter\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBamboo Leaf Litter\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: structural leaf layer with airflow\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFlake Soil\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: fermented hardwood substrate for nutrition\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/kinshi-made-with-lions-mane-mushroom\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKinshi\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: mushroom mycelium substrate for tropical species\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCuttlebone\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: essential calcium for moulting\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/malawi-light-limestone-for-inverts\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMalawi Limestone\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: passive calcium and habitat enrichment\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSpringtails\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: cleanup crew for mould and frass\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEnclosures \u0026amp; Air Vents\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: ventilated setups for tropical species\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a full walkthrough on setting up tropical isopod enclosures, see our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/setting-up-selecting-your-first-isopods\"\u003eguide to setting up and selecting your first isopods\u003c\/a\u003e. Browse the complete \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopod collection\u003c\/a\u003e to find species that will particularly benefit from native Asian leaf material.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eTried This Mix?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYour experience matters. Please share how your colonies responded, which species you tested, any noticeable changes in feeding response or growth, and how it compared to your usual leaf litter. Feedback helps confirm results across different setups and ensures we continue offering products that deliver genuine value for keepers, not marketing hype.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"25","offer_id":57296040493438,"sku":null,"price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":57296040526206,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100","offer_id":57296040558974,"sku":null,"price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/asian-leaf-mix-thailand-amp-vietnam-origin-6213883.jpg?v=1776885565"},{"product_id":"ultra-tropical-fish-flakes-100g","title":"Ultra Tropical Fish Flakes 100g","description":"\u003ch2\u003eUltra Tropical Fish Flakes: Premium Protein Supplement for Isopods, Millipedes \u0026amp; Snails\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA super premium, insect-based, high-protein flake food originally formulated for tropical fish, and one of the best protein supplements you can offer to isopods, millipedes, snails, and other invertebrates. The rich blend of insect meal, shrimp, herring meal, and salmon oil provides the kind of dense, easily digestible protein that detritivores need for healthy growth, strong moulting, and consistent breeding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e100g resealable bag, a small amount goes a long way for invertebrate feeding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Fish Flakes for Invertebrates?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExperienced isopod and millipede keepers have used high-quality fish flakes as a protein source for years, and for good reason. Detritivorous invertebrates need protein for growth, moulting, and reproduction, but in the wild, they get this from a varied diet of decaying organic matter, dead insects, fungi, and biofilms. In captivity, you need to actively supplement protein, and fish flakes are one of the most efficient ways to do it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis particular blend stands out from generic fish food for several reasons:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInsect meal as the protein base.\u003c\/strong\u003e Most cheap fish flakes use generic fish meal as their protein source. This formula replaces it with insect meal, fish hydrolysate, herring meal, and brewer's yeast, all higher-quality protein sources that more closely match what invertebrates would consume in the wild. Insect meal in particular is biologically appropriate for detritivores.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e46.2% crude protein.\u003c\/strong\u003e Significantly higher than standard fish flakes. For invertebrates, this means a small amount goes a long way. You only need to offer pinches at a time, and your isopods will respond enthusiastically.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOmega-3, Omega-6, and Omega-9 fatty acids.\u003c\/strong\u003e Important for healthy moulting and shell development in isopods and shell maintenance in snails. The 0.84% Omega-3, 1% Omega-6, and 2.23% Omega-9 content provides a balanced fatty acid profile.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSpirulina, garlic, paprika, and curcuma.\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural ingredients that contribute colour-enhancing properties and broad-spectrum nutrition. Some keepers report more vibrant colouration in colour-morph isopods after switching to high-quality protein supplements like this one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWide vitamin and amino acid range.\u003c\/strong\u003e The full nutritional spectrum (Vitamin A, D3, E, C, lysine, methionine, betaine, beta-glucan, etc.) means this isn't just a protein hit. It's a complete supplementary food.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhich Invertebrates Benefit?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIsopods.\u003c\/strong\u003e All species in our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopod collection\u003c\/a\u003e benefit from regular protein supplementation. Demanding species like \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/ardentiella-isopods\"\u003eArdentiella\u003c\/a\u003e particularly need consistent protein for healthy moulting and breeding, losing animals to moulting failure from protein deficiency is a real and avoidable risk in expensive colonies. Hardier species like \u003ca href=\"\/products\/porcellio-scaber-mix-isopods\"\u003ePorcellio scaber\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/giant-orange-isopods\"\u003eGiant Orange (P. laevis)\u003c\/a\u003e show stronger breeding response with regular protein supplementation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMillipedes.\u003c\/strong\u003e Larger species in our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/millipedes-for-sale\"\u003emillipede collection\u003c\/a\u003e. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/african-giant-chocolate-millipede-ophistreptus-guineensis\"\u003eChocolate Millipedes\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/ghana-olive-millipedes-telodeinopus-aoutii\"\u003eGhana Speckled Leg\u003c\/a\u003e, and other giants, appreciate occasional protein offerings. Most millipedes are primarily detritivores, but a small amount of fish flake once a week supports growth and reproduction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSnails.\u003c\/strong\u003e Both \u003ca href=\"\/products\/rodatzi-giant-african-land-snails\"\u003eRodatzi GALS\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/pink-lipped-giant-african-land-snails-lissachatina-immaculata-panthera\"\u003ePink Lipped Panthera\u003c\/a\u003e benefit from protein supplementation 1-2 times weekly. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/unicorn-snails-subulina-octona\"\u003eUnicorn Snails\u003c\/a\u003e and other small species can also be offered tiny amounts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSpringtails.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003eSpringtail cultures\u003c\/a\u003e respond strongly to protein-rich foods. Crushed flakes added to substrate boost springtail population growth significantly, useful when establishing new cultures or boosting existing ones.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCockroaches.\u003c\/strong\u003e Species in our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cockroaches-for-sale\"\u003ecockroach collection\u003c\/a\u003e are omnivorous and readily consume fish flakes as part of a varied diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow to Feed\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor isopods:\u003c\/strong\u003e Crush a small pinch of flakes between your fingers and scatter on the substrate or place on a small dish. A pinch is enough for a colony of 20-30 isopods. Offer 2-3 times per week. Don't overfeed, uneaten protein in humid enclosures spoils quickly and attracts mites and fruit flies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor millipedes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Place a small amount on a flat surface near where they're active. Offer once per week as a supplement to their primary leaf litter and rotting wood diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor snails:\u003c\/strong\u003e Crumble a small amount and place on the substrate or mix into a vegetable serving. Offer 1-2 times per week.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor springtails:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sprinkle a small pinch directly onto the substrate. Springtails will rapidly colonise and break down the flakes, which both feeds them and accelerates substrate microbiome development.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGeneral principle:\u003c\/strong\u003e Less is more. A small pinch is enough. These flakes are dense and concentrated. Overfeeding causes mould and pest issues that can damage the entire enclosure. Better to offer small amounts more frequently than large amounts that go uneaten.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eStorage\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eStore the bag sealed and in a cool, dry place. Fish flakes can absorb moisture and develop mould if left open in humid environments. The 100g size will typically last several months for a small invertebrate collection, protein is offered in tiny amounts compared to fish feeding, so the bag goes much further.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eComposition\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInsect meal, fish hydrolysate, herring meal, brewer's yeast, wheat, wheat gluten, soya, shrimp hydrolysate, potato starch, salmon oil, garlic, shrimp, curcuma, crab eggs, carob, spirulina, carrot, paprika.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAnalytical constituents:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCrude protein: 46.2%\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCrude oils and fat: 8.3%\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCrude fibre: 1.4%\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCrude ash: 5.4%\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMoisture: 5.4%\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKey vitamins and supplements:\u003c\/strong\u003e Vitamin A (25,700 IU\/kg), Vitamin D3 (1,500 IU\/kg), Vitamin E (100 mg\/kg), Vitamin C (450 mg\/kg), L-Lysine (500 mg\/kg), DL-Methionine (500 mg\/kg), Betaine (2,000 mg\/kg), Beta-glucan (500 mg\/kg), L-carnitine (50 mg\/kg).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFatty acids:\u003c\/strong\u003e Omega-3 (0.84%), Omega-6 (1%), Omega-9 (2.23%).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTrace minerals:\u003c\/strong\u003e Iron (85 mg\/kg), Iodine (0.6 mg\/kg), Copper (4 mg\/kg), Manganese (17 mg\/kg), Zinc (23 mg\/kg).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003ePairs Well With\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor a complete invertebrate diet:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCuttlebone\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: essential calcium for moulting and shell health\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/malawi-light-limestone-for-inverts\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMalawi Limestone\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: passive calcium and habitat enrichment\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFlake Soil\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: fermented hardwood substrate for fibre and detritivore nutrition\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/kinshi-made-with-lions-mane-mushroom\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKinshi\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: mushroom mycelium for tropical species\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMagnolia Leaves\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: primary leaf litter\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/bamboo-leaf-litter\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBamboo Leaf Litter\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: structural leaf cover\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/asian-leaf-mix\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAsian Leaf Mix\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e: premium native leaves for tropical species\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor more on building balanced invertebrate diets, see our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/setting-up-selecting-your-first-isopods\"\u003esetting up guide\u003c\/a\u003e. Browse the full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e for everything else needed to keep your invertebrates thriving.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57337652740478,"sku":null,"price":4.75,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/ultra-tropical-fish-flakes-100g-1320724.jpg?v=1777659560"},{"product_id":"dried-daphnia-100g","title":"Dried Daphnia 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003eThese are whole animals, freeze-dried, and nothing else. Not a formulated recipe pressed into flakes but the daphnia themselves with the structure intact, which is the reason they work as well as they do in an invertebrate enclosure. Freeze-drying also removes the one real drawback of live food: there is no parasite or pathogen risk to introduce alongside the meal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe numbers\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFifty per cent crude protein, ten per cent oils and fats, seven per cent fibre and eighteen per cent ash. The fibre figure is chitin from the shells, and the ash covers the mineral fraction of the whole animal. For an animal that rebuilds its cuticle every few weeks, protein and chitin arriving together in one mouthful is a sensible thing to offer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWorth noting against the obvious comparison: this is higher in protein than our \u003ca href=\"\/products\/ultra-tropical-fish-flakes-100g\"\u003efish flakes\u003c\/a\u003e, at fifty per cent against forty-six, and considerably higher in fibre. The flakes are the denser, chewier option; daphnia is the lighter one that gets broken down faster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho takes it\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIsopods across the board, and the larger \u003ca href=\"\/products\/giant-orange-isopods\"\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/a\u003e in particular, since fast-growing species get through the most. \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/millipedes-for-sale\"\u003eMillipedes\u003c\/a\u003e take it readily. Snails will clear it. Springtails work over whatever falls into the litter, which gives the fines at the bottom of the bag a useful second life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eFeeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA pinch will do. Not a spoonful. Put it on bark or a jar lid instead of directly onto wet substrate, twice a week at most, and clear whatever remains next day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDo not overfeed this one. Dried daphnia sitting in a warm humid enclosure will take up moisture and grow mould inside a day. The rule that works is small amounts cleared within twelve to twenty-four hours, never large portions left to sit. If you are seeing fuzz regularly, the colony is telling you it wants less.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCalcium, honestly\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDaphnia shells are thin, so treat this as a protein and chitin food rather than a calcium source. For calcium, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e should simply live in the enclosure, and treat the daphnia as the supplement it is.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eStorage\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eResealed, cool and dark. Humidity and warmth are what spoil it, so a cupboard, not the shelf beside the enclosure, and press the air out of the bag before sealing. Stored that way it holds its condition for a long time, and 100g typically lasts a small collection six months or more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat to pair it with\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003eMagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e and rotted wood remain the foundation of the diet, with everything here sitting on top of that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDry goods travel alongside everything else in the order, overnight and tracked, leaving us early in the week.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57337667682686,"sku":null,"price":4.75,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/dried-daphnia-100g-5584689.jpg?v=1777659558"},{"product_id":"dried-silkworm-pupae-100g","title":"Dried Silkworm Pupae 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003eA dried silkworm pupa is a whole animal. Brown, oblong, roughly the size of a large coffee bean, and recognisably the thing it was before the water came out of it. Being a whole animal is the point of them and not a drawback. A milled or formulated protein hands over the protein and very little else, while an intact organism arrives with its chitin shell wrapped around a fat-rich interior, which is far closer to the shape of food a detritivore evolved to break down. Ours arrive in bulk and we pack them into a resealable bag.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe analysis is where they separate from the other protein foods we stock. Crude protein sits at 48%, crude fat at 27%, crude fibre at 8% and ash at 13%. The fat figure is the one worth looking at, since little else on our feeding shelf comes near it. Gravid females and fast-growing juveniles need energy, not only amino acids. The 8% fibre is largely chitin, the same compound the animals eating it build their own shells from, and it is the part a powdered feed cannot give them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eProtein-hungry species are the obvious users. Large \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003ePorcellionides\u003c\/em\u003e go through pupae readily, and both are prone to turning on their own soft moulting animals when protein runs short. Millipedes benefit for the reason any large-bodied animal does, since they have a great deal of body to build and leaf litter alone is slow going. Roaches swarm them within minutes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOffer them sparingly and broken up. One or two whole pupae will do for twenty or thirty isopods, or crush a pupa between your fingers and scatter the pieces so smaller animals can get at the inside. Once a week is enough for most colonies, twice while conditioning for breeding. The fat that makes them useful also makes them the quickest of the dry foods to spoil, so put out only what will be eaten inside a day and lift out anything left the following morning. A dense springtail population in the same enclosure will clear the crumbs before mould finds them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRotation beats repetition. These sit at the rich end of a feeding week, not in the middle of it, with \u003ca href=\"\/products\/freeze-dried-peas\"\u003efreeze-dried peas\u003c\/a\u003e covering the plant protein and fibre side and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/repashy-superfoods-bug-burger\"\u003eRepashy Bug Burger\u003c\/a\u003e carrying the soft, wet part of the week. None of it stands in for calcium, which wants to be permanently available, and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e worked through the substrate is the straightforward way to handle that. Store the bag sealed somewhere cool and dry, since dried pupae draw moisture from humid air and will mould in the packet. Our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/what-do-isopods-eat\"\u003ewhat isopods eat\u003c\/a\u003e puts the whole diet in order, and the rest is in our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/foods-and-supplements\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57337731187070,"sku":null,"price":3.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/dried-silkworm-pupae-100g-4574521.jpg?v=1777659556"},{"product_id":"repashy-morning-wood","title":"Repashy SuperFoods Morning Wood (Isopod Food)","description":"\u003cp\u003eRepashy SuperFoods Morning Wood is a calcium-fortified, super-firm, long-lasting gel premix, made in the USA by Repashy Ventures and formulated specifically for isopods, springtails and other detritus-feeding invertebrates. That focus is what sets it apart from the crowd. Most invertebrate foods are repurposed fish or reptile mixes pressed into service, whereas this one is built from the ground up for cleanup crews, which is why it has become a staple supplement in serious isopod keeping. You get natural plant ingredients, added calcium and a balanced spread of vitamins in a format that lasts in the tub rather than fouling the way a piece of fresh veg or fruit does within a day or two.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDespite the name, it is not a wood product at all. It is a powdered detritivore food, and the \"wood\" is a nod to the cellulose-rich formula that approximates the decomposed plant matter isopods and springtails feed on in the wild. Alongside that plant base you get seaweed, alfalfa and other botanicals, added calcium and a wide vitamin package, so your animals draw on a steady source of the minerals they need for clean, reliable moulting in the gaps between leaf-litter feeds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTo prepare it, mix the powder with hot water to a firm gel that you can cut into cubes, shred over the substrate, or even dry into a jerky that lasts for days without spoiling. It holds up well in a humid tub and gives your cleanup crew a steady source of calcium and protein between the leaf litter and rotting wood they graze on, which in turn helps drive moulting and breeding. Offer modest amounts and lift out any leftovers if they are not cleared, since even a firm gel will turn eventually in a warm, damp enclosure. A pinch of the dry powder scattered straight on the substrate also works well for springtails and small isopods when you would rather skip the gel step.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you like the Repashy approach and want a higher-protein option to rotate in, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/repashy-superfoods-bug-burger\"\u003eBug Burger\u003c\/a\u003e is the natural companion, and our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/repashy-bug-burger-for-isopods\"\u003eBug Burger for isopods\u003c\/a\u003e walks through where it fits. Pair either with a piece of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e for extra passive calcium and you have most of the feeding side covered. The dry powder stores sealed and cool for a long time, so one tub sees you through plenty of feeds. Morning Wood suits everything in our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods for sale\u003c\/a\u003e range, from beginner colonies to demanding tropical species, and you will find the rest of what you need in the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Repashy","offers":[{"title":"85g","offer_id":57362034524542,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"170g","offer_id":57362075615614,"sku":null,"price":23.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"340g","offer_id":57362034557310,"sku":null,"price":38.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/repashy-superfoods-morning-wood-8218030.jpg?v=1777918811"},{"product_id":"repashy-superfoods-bug-burger","title":"Repashy SuperFoods Bug Burger","description":"\u003cp\u003eRepashy SuperFoods Bug Burger is a calcium-fortified gel premix, made in the USA by Repashy Ventures, and it does two jobs well. First, it works as a complete diet for feeder insects such as crickets, roaches and mealworms, feeding and hydrating them in one go so you can drop the separate water dish along with the mould and drowning that tend to come with it. Second, it is a useful supplementary food for isopods, millipedes and the other detritivore cleanup crews that quietly keep a bioactive setup ticking over. It was designed with feeders in mind, but that second use has made it a firm favourite with invert keepers too.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThat makes it a handy tub to keep on the shelf whether you are running a feeder colony or looking after a display setup. If you breed insects to feed reptiles or amphibians, Bug Burger simplifies the daily routine and keeps the nutrition consistent. If your interest is inverts, it slots in alongside the leaf litter and rotting wood your \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e and millipedes live on, giving them a steady top-up of calcium and protein between the fresh scraps you offer. That extra calcium is welcome in a busy colony, where regular moulting keeps demand high. It is not meant to replace their primary diet, but it earns its place as a regular extra.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePreparing it is straightforward. It comes as a dry powder premix: add hot water, stir to a firm gel, and let it set. A little powder makes a large batch, so a tub goes a long way. Cut the set gel into cubes for a feeder colony, or drop small pieces into an isopod tub. Feeders will strip a cube quickly, so check it every couple of days; a tub of inverts works through it far more slowly. For cleanup crews it is one of the easiest ways to give consistent calcium and protein without daily fresh-food prep, and you should lift any leftovers before they spoil. If you want the detail on rates and how it fits an isopod colony, we have a full write-up in our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/repashy-bug-burger-for-isopods\"\u003eBug Burger for isopods guide\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you keep isopods as your main focus, you might pair it with \u003ca href=\"\/products\/repashy-morning-wood\"\u003eRepashy Morning Wood\u003c\/a\u003e, which is built around detritivore needs, or \u003ca href=\"\/products\/repashy-superfoods-grub-pie\"\u003eRepashy Grub Pie\u003c\/a\u003e for a higher-protein option; you will find both alongside the rest of our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/foods-and-supplements\"\u003eaccessories\u003c\/a\u003e. Because the mix stores as a dry powder, a sealed tub keeps cool and dry for a long time, so you can mix up small amounts whenever you need them and leave the rest on the shelf until the next batch.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Repashy","offers":[{"title":"84g","offer_id":57362038653310,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"170g","offer_id":57362099208574,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"340g","offer_id":57362038686078,"sku":null,"price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/repashy-superfoods-bug-burger-7092423.jpg?v=1777918809"},{"product_id":"freeze-dried-peas","title":"Freeze-Dried Garden Peas","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe ingredient list on these runs to one line: garden peas. Nothing is added, nothing comes out except the water, and there are no binders, preservatives, colourings or fillers in the bag. That matters more for detritivores than it does for most animals, because isopods, millipedes and springtails are working through a diet of leaf litter and rotting wood, and richer or more complex foods tend to sit uneaten, draw in mites and go over before anything has finished with them. I buy these in and bag them here, and nothing else happens to them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFreeze-drying pulls the water out at low temperature instead of cooking it off, which keeps the nutritional profile close to that of the fresh vegetable while leaving something that stores dry on a shelf. Fresh pea in a humid tub moulds inside a day; these sit out without turning, which is the practical gain. Peas run around 23% protein, which is high for a vegetable, and they bring useful fibre along with it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eProtein counts for more in a detritivore enclosure than the leaf-litter picture suggests, and where it runs short the animals find it in each other. Large \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e in particular will start on their own freshly moulted individuals before the new shell has hardened if there is nothing else going. Plant protein covers that gap without the spoilage that animal protein brings to a wet enclosure, so peas and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/dried-silkworm-pupae-100g\"\u003edried silkworm pupae\u003c\/a\u003e tend to get used on different days, not in place of one another.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCrush one or two to powder between fingertips and sprinkle the dust on the dry side of the enclosure. The fine particles give a colony more surface to graze and the response is usually quick. Left whole, a pea is light enough for an adult isopod to drag back under a piece of bark, and you will catch animals on their backs turning one as they eat through it. Either way they soften as they take up humidity from the enclosure, so nothing needs soaking first. Springtail cultures take the dust well, and roaches and millipedes take them crushed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey are a supplement and not the foundation. Leaf litter is the foundation, and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e are what I lay over most of our tubs because they hold their shape for months when damp. Offer peas once or twice a week in small amounts and pull anything still sitting there after two days, since overfeeding is what brings mites and fruit flies in. Keep the bag sealed in a cool dry cupboard. Leave it open in a steamy kitchen and you will be prising a solid block apart instead of shaking loose peas out. There is more in our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/feeding-isopods-freeze-dried-fruit-and-vegetables\"\u003efeeding freeze-dried fruit and vegetables\u003c\/a\u003e, a wider look at \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/what-do-isopods-eat\"\u003ewhat isopods eat\u003c\/a\u003e, and the rest of the feeding range in our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/foods-and-supplements\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"50g","offer_id":57362103107966,"sku":null,"price":2.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100g","offer_id":57362103140734,"sku":null,"price":4.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/freeze-dried-garden-peas-natural-plant-protein-for-isopods-millipedes-detritivores-8602034.jpg?v=1778269155"},{"product_id":"invert-reptile-jelly-pots","title":"Jelly Pots for Reptiles and Invertebrates","description":"\u003cp\u003ePeel the plastic lid off, press the pot down into the substrate until the rim sits level with the surface, and walk away. That is the entire method. There is no dish to fill, nothing to tip over when an animal climbs onto the edge, and no standing water for small isopods or juvenile roaches to drown in. The gel stays where you put it, holds its moisture for days rather than hours, and when it is spent you lift the empty cup out and the enclosure is clean again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEach pot holds around 16 grams of fortified vegetarian fruit gel, sealed under a peel-off plastic lid and ready to use straight from the packaging. The base comes from plant-derived gelling agents, with protein added and fruit flavouring on top. These come in from a supplier and we bag them here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey suit anything that will take a soft sweet food at ground level. \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eIsopods\u003c\/a\u003e, millipedes, \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cockroaches-for-sale\"\u003ecockroaches\u003c\/a\u003e and adult beetles are the main users here, and for beetles in particular a pot can carry most of the adult diet. Crested geckos take them as a supplement alongside their main powdered food, sat in a holder on a branch instead of sunk into the floor. Be ready for the response to vary. Some colonies find a pot within the hour and strip it; other species, and often individual animals within a species, walk past it for a week and never touch it. It is worth trying one before building a routine around them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTreat them as a supplement rather than a staple. Isopods and millipedes still need hardwood leaf litter and rotting wood as the foundation of what they eat, with protein on top of that from something like \u003ca href=\"\/products\/dried-silkworm-pupae-100g\"\u003edried silkworm pupae\u003c\/a\u003e, and roach colonies do better on a gel such as \u003ca href=\"\/products\/repashy-superfoods-bug-burger\"\u003eRepashy Bug Burger\u003c\/a\u003e as the regular feed with jelly filling in around it. What a pot does well is moisture and a little sugar without daily attention, which makes it useful for feeder colonies and for the week somebody else is looking after your animals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a warm humid enclosure the gel will grow mould before it dries out, so lift out anything uneaten after a couple of days instead of leaving the cup in to spoil. Unopened pots keep well stored cool, dry and out of direct sunlight, and once the lid is off, use that pot within a few days. They are formulated for animal feeding and are not for human consumption, so keep them away from children. The rest of what we stock for feeding sits in our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/foods-and-supplements\"\u003eaccessories collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"1","offer_id":57507279962494,"sku":null,"price":0.6,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"5","offer_id":57507280028030,"sku":null,"price":2.75,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":57507283501438,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/jelly-pots-for-reptiles-invertebrates-4513197.jpg?v=1780520124"},{"product_id":"beech-seed-pods","title":"Beech Seed Pods","description":"\u003cp\u003eThese are the husks, not the nuts. Every autumn a beech, \u003cem\u003eFagus sylvatica\u003c\/em\u003e, drops its seed in a woody four-lobed case called a cupule, and once the nuts have shaken out the empty cases lie scattered across the woodland floor. Those cases are what is in the bag. The hobby often calls them beech mast, though mast strictly means the nut crop itself, the food that brings in jays and squirrels and once fattened village pigs. What you have here is the packaging. It is a small distinction that happens to be worth making, because beech nuts carry oxalic acid and are mildly toxic in quantity. The empty cupules are not the part with the problem in them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe shape is what earns them their place. A cupule is a fruit case that has already done its job and split, so it sits on the substrate as four stiff lobes half-closed over a cavity, and that cavity is scaled to a springtail or a newly released juvenile, not to an adult. As the cupules soften they take on biofilm, and for springtails the biofilm is as much of the attraction as the case. They also look like what they are, which plastic decor never manages.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeech litter is slow stuff. It is high in lignin, low in nutrients and has a wide carbon to nitrogen ratio, which puts it in the same camp as oak and well behind ash, lime or sycamore for speed of breakdown. In an enclosure that counts as a feature. Cupules persist for a long time, feeding into the decomposition cycle gradually rather than collapsing into mush in a fortnight, so they hold their structure as cover while they slowly become food. They are not a primary diet and should not be treated as one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eNo preparation needed\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOurs are naturally shed, collected in the UK, cleaned, and then held in the freezer a full three days before they go out. That deals with mites, eggs and the other passengers that come with anything gathered outdoors, so they can go straight into the enclosure with no soaking, baking or further sterilising. Scatter them across the surface or tuck them in among leaf litter and bark. There is no reason to bury them; they work where the animals can reach them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTop up now and then as the older ones soften and disappear. They suit springtail cultures, isopod setups, millipede enclosures and anyone building a bioactive tank that should look like a forest floor. Not essential kit by any measure, but a simple way to add structure that behaves the way the real thing does. A handful covers a starter tub and they store dry indefinitely. Pair them with \u003ca href=\"\/products\/leaf-litter-1l\"\u003eleaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/small-cork-bark\"\u003ecork bark\u003c\/a\u003e and a good \u003ca href=\"\/products\/substrate-for-invertebrates\"\u003esubstrate\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":57602444624254,"sku":null,"price":1.75,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"20","offer_id":57602444657022,"sku":null,"price":3.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":57602446655870,"sku":null,"price":7.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/beech-seed-pods-8777364.jpg?v=1782243507"},{"product_id":"dried-calciworms-for-inverts","title":"Dried Calciworms For Inverts","description":"\u003cp\u003eCalciworms - also known as soldier fly larvae - are the dried larvae of the black soldier fly (\u003cem\u003eHermetia illucens\u003c\/em\u003e), and they're one of the most useful supplementary foods you can keep on the shelf for invertebrates. What sets them apart from mealworms and other dried feeders is calcium - gram for gram they carry many times more of it, along with around 40% protein. That combination of high protein and high calcium in a single food is unusual, and it's exactly what a lot of our animals need to grow, moult, and breed well.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAt a Glance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWhat it is:\u003c\/strong\u003e Dried black soldier fly larvae (\u003cem\u003eHermetia illucens\u003c\/em\u003e)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBest for:\u003c\/strong\u003e Protein and calcium supplementation\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eKey nutrition:\u003c\/strong\u003e ~40% protein, naturally very high in calcium\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCalcium to phosphorus:\u003c\/strong\u003e Positive ratio - rare among feeder insects\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFeed to:\u003c\/strong\u003e Isopods, millipedes, cockroaches, beetle larvae, springtails\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHow often:\u003c\/strong\u003e As an occasional supplement, not a staple\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStorage:\u003c\/strong\u003e Cool, dry, and sealed - keeps for months\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSizes:\u003c\/strong\u003e 50g, 100g, 250g\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Calciworms For Invertebrates?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost keepers reach for a protein food like fish flake or dried shrimp now and then, and rightly so - but the majority of feeder insects have an inverted calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, meaning they actually work against calcium levels rather than for them. Calciworms are the exception. They carry a genuinely positive calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, so they top up protein and calcium at the same time, which matters enormously for any invertebrate that has to rebuild a shell or exoskeleton every time it moults.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn my experience, a varied diet is the single biggest driver of breeding, and consistent breeding is the clearest sign that a colony has settled. Calciworms are one of the ingredients I rotate through to keep that variety up. They sit alongside the rest of our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/accessories\"\u003edrygoods and accessories range\u003c\/a\u003e rather than replacing leaf litter and rotting wood, which should always form the bulk of what your animals eat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eFeeding Different Animals\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIsopods.\u003c\/strong\u003e This is where calciworms earn their place. Protein-hungry species like our best-selling \u003ca href=\"\/products\/dairy-cow-isopods\"\u003eDairy Cow isopods\u003c\/a\u003e (\u003cem\u003ePorcellio laevis\u003c\/em\u003e) have a high protein requirement, and an underfed \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e colony will start nibbling tankmates or each other - so a regular protein source is genuinely important, not just a nicety. The whole \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/porcellio-isopods\"\u003ePorcellio genus\u003c\/a\u003e benefits. For the calcium-hungry side of the hobby - \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/em\u003e morphs like \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/magic-potion-isopods\"\u003eMagic Potion\u003c\/a\u003e with their thick, mineral-heavy shells, and the limestone-cave \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris species\u003c\/a\u003e such as Panda King - calciworms double up as a protein treat and a calcium source in one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMillipedes.\u003c\/strong\u003e A millipede's long, many-segmented exoskeleton is calcium-hungry, and calcium supports healthy moulting across the board. Crushed calciworms scattered on the substrate are readily taken by most of our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/millipedes-for-sale\"\u003emillipedes\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCockroaches and beetle larvae.\u003c\/strong\u003e Growing grubs and our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cockroaches-for-sale\"\u003ecockroaches\u003c\/a\u003e put protein to work quickly, and calciworms are an easy, mess-free way to deliver it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSpringtails.\u003c\/strong\u003e They won't tackle a whole larva, but \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtails\u003c\/a\u003e will happily graze on softened, rehydrated pieces alongside the microfauna already breaking them down.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eHow To Feed Them\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI feed calciworms in small amounts on the drier side of the enclosure, where they won't spoil as fast. For smaller species and mancae, crush or crumble them so the pieces are manageable; for larger \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e and millipedes you can offer them whole or lightly broken up. If you want them taken faster, a quick soak in a little water softens them and releases more scent, which tends to bring animals up out of the substrate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe golden rule with any dried food is not to overdo it. Offer a little, let the colony work through it over a day or two, and remove anything left uneaten before it draws mould. As a supplement fed a couple of times a week alongside a good base of leaf litter and rotting wood, calciworms slot neatly into a varied diet without any risk of overfeeding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eStorage\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKept somewhere cool, dry, and sealed, dried calciworms last for months without any special handling - no refrigeration needed. Reseal the bag after each use to keep them dry and to preserve the scent that makes them appealing in the first place.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eFrequently Asked Questions\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat are calciworms?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCalciworms are the dried larvae of the black soldier fly (\u003cem\u003eHermetia illucens\u003c\/em\u003e). They're also sold as soldier fly larvae, black soldier fly larvae, BSFL, calcium worms, or soldier grubs - all the same thing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAre calciworms good for isopods?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYes. They're an excellent supplementary food for isopods, providing both the protein that species like \u003cem\u003ePorcellio laevis\u003c\/em\u003e need and the calcium that all isopods need for healthy moulting. Feed them as an occasional supplement rather than a staple, keeping leaf litter and rotting wood as the base of the diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo calciworms have more calcium than mealworms?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYes, considerably more - calciworms carry many times the calcium of mealworms, and unlike most feeder insects they have a positive calcium-to-phosphorus ratio. That's the main reason to choose them over mealworms as a supplement for moulting invertebrates.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow often should I feed calciworms to invertebrates?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a supplement rather than a staple - a small amount a couple of times a week works well for most colonies. Leaf litter and decaying wood should still make up the bulk of the diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCan I feed dried calciworms to millipedes?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYes. Millipedes benefit from the calcium for their long exoskeleton and moulting. Crush or crumble the larvae and scatter them on the substrate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo calciworms need to be soaked before feeding?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot necessarily - most invertebrates take them dry. Soaking softens them and releases more scent, which can help if you want them eaten faster or if you're feeding smaller species.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow do I store dried calciworms?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeep them cool, dry, and sealed. They'll last for months with no refrigeration. Just reseal the bag after each use.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"50g","offer_id":57674016293246,"sku":null,"price":1.75,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100g","offer_id":57674016326014,"sku":null,"price":3.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"250g","offer_id":57674016358782,"sku":null,"price":6.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/dried-calciworms-for-inverts-7775279.jpg?v=1783908562"},{"product_id":"organic-seven-mushroom-blend-powder","title":"Organic Seven Mushroom Blend Powder for Isopods \u0026 Inverts","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the wild, a lot of the animals we keep are already eating mushrooms. Isopods, springtails and millipedes spend their days working through leaf litter and rotting wood that is laced with fungi and mycelium, and fungus is one of the foods they actively seek out. This powder simply bottles that part of the diet: a fine, organic blend of seven mushrooms, milled to a soft dust you can offer as an occasional supplemental food.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe blend brings together seven of the best-known edible mushrooms, reishi, chaga, shiitake, maitake, lion's mane, cordyceps and tremella, and it is worth being clear about the grade, because it is a step up from the usual animal food. This is human-grade: the same organic, food-grade powder milled for people, with no fillers, no grain and no bulking agents, just mushroom. For a detritivore that is a naturally rich mouthful, a source of protein and fibre and exactly the sort of fungal matter a cleanup crew is built to process. Each of the seven, from the dense, woody reishi and chaga to the softer lion's mane and tremella, brings something a little different, and a blend tends to hold a colony's attention better than any single dried food. I offer it as one part of a varied diet rather than a staple, alongside leaf litter, rotten wood and the occasional piece of veg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFeeding it could not be simpler. Dust a light pinch onto the substrate or into a feeding dish once or twice a week and let them graze it down. A little goes a long way, and as with any protein-rich food it is best kept modest, so match the pinch to the size of your colony and lift out anything still sitting after a day or two. Because it is a single clean ingredient, it is easy to see what has been taken and what has not, which makes the amount simple to judge over the first week or two. \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eIsopods\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtails\u003c\/a\u003e usually find it within hours, and millipedes, beetle grubs and roaches will take it too.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBecause it is a dry powder, keeping it dry is the whole job. Mushroom powder clumps and eventually spoils if it draws in damp, so every bag leaves here with a food-grade silica gel sachet tucked inside, the cobalt-chloride-free, non-toxic kind used to keep spices and supplements fresh. Leave that sachet in the bag rather than the enclosure, reseal after each use, and the powder stays loose and usable right down to the last pinch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt comes in 20g and 50g pouches, so you can start small and size up once you see how your cultures take to it. It sits happily beside the other supplemental foods on the shelf, our \u003ca href=\"\/products\/bee-pollen-50g\"\u003ebee pollen\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/brewers-yeast-50g\"\u003ebrewer's yeast\u003c\/a\u003e among them, and rounds out a varied menu rather than replacing the leaf litter and wood that should still do the heavy lifting. Add a bag to any order and give your isopods, springtails and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/millipedes-for-sale\"\u003emillipedes\u003c\/a\u003e a taste of the fungi they would otherwise be hunting down for themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"20g","offer_id":57748219003262,"sku":null,"price":4.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":57748219036030,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/organic-seven-mushroom-blend-powder-for-isopods-inverts-2338891.jpg?v=1785010664"},{"product_id":"pleco-wafers-100g","title":"Pleco Wafers 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe wafers are 16mm across, which is wider than most of the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e that will end up sitting on one. It matters more than it sounds. A wafer that holds its shape when damp does not disappear into the substrate overnight, so a colony can work at the same piece for two or three days and anything left over lifts out clean.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese started life as a sinking food for bottom-feeding fish, which is where the density and the shape come from. Knowing that explains what they do well in an invertebrate enclosure and where the sensible limits sit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat is in them\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHerring meal and soya carry the protein. Wheat and potato bind the wafer and give it the slow-softening texture. Then the plant matter: spirulina, mycoprotein, alfalfa and spinach.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe additive list is longer than most foods aimed at this hobby. Vitamins A, D3, E and C, a mineral premix covering iron, zinc, copper, manganese and iodine, then lysine, betaine, beta-glucan, L-carnitine and omega-3 oils.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eComposition runs to 47.4% crude protein, 4% oils and fats, 3% fibre, 7.9% ash and 8% moisture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey also contain colourants. Those are in the formula for the aquarium market and do nothing for a woodlouse. I would sooner print that than trim the ingredient list down to the flattering parts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProtein is a frequency question\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eForty-seven per cent is high, and the hobby tends to react to that number in one of two unhelpful ways: treat the food as dangerous, or tip it in daily because the isopods clearly like it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNeither is right. Protein does not poison a colony. What it does is sit uneaten if you put too much in, and uneaten protein in a warm damp box is how you end up with a grain mite bloom or a fungus gnat problem. The fix is portion size and interval, not avoidance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter and decaying wood stay the base of the enclosure. The wafers go on top of that as a supplement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHow I feed them\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn my shelves a mixed \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/porcellio-isopods\"\u003e\u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e tub gets a broken quarter-wafer once or twice a week, put down on a piece of bark or an upturned bottle cap so it stays off the wet substrate. Anything untouched after two days comes out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e take less and take it slower. \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003eSpringtails\u003c\/a\u003e will find a wafer within hours and graze the surface of it, which is useful if you are running them as a cleanup crew, though it does mean the isopods get less of the wafer than you would assume.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDampening one before it goes in speeds the whole thing up. Dry, it takes a colony a while to start. A brief dip softens the edges and it gets found faster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFeed less in the winter, or whenever a tub is cooler and the animals have slowed down. At 21 to 26°C a colony works through a quarter-wafer briskly. Below that they will not, and the leftovers are the problem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat else takes them\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/millipedes-for-sale\"\u003eMillipedes\u003c\/a\u003e will eat them, with less enthusiasm than isopods, and they want calcium and rotting wood more. Darkling beetle larvae and roach colonies clear them fast. The original audience still holds too, so if you keep plecos, corydoras, loaches, shrimp or crayfish alongside the invertebrate shelf, the wafers do the job they were designed for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eStorage\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeep the bag sealed, dry and out of direct sun. Moisture is the thing to watch, because a wafer that takes up damp in the packet will go mouldy in the packet. 100g is a long run of feeds for a shelf of isopod tubs, so this is being stored for months, not weeks.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57780572717438,"sku":null,"price":3.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/pleco-wafers-100g-9979871.jpg?v=1785622642"},{"product_id":"dried-anchovies-100g","title":"Dried Anchovies 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003eBreak one in half first. A whole fish runs 3 to 5cm, which is more food than a small colony will clear while it is still fresh, and the broken edge gives them a way in. Dried skin is tougher than it looks and an intact anchovy can sit for a day or two while the colony works around the outside of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is in the bag is fish and nothing else. No binder, no colourant, no vitamin premix, no preservative. The animal with the water taken out of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe figure to look at is the ash\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAsh on a feed label is what survives after everything organic has burned away, so it stands for the mineral content. These come in at 15.8%, and in a whole small fish most of that is skeleton. Protein is 70.4%, oils and fats 4.3%, fibre under 0.2% and moisture under 12%.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRead in that order it changes what the food is for. Plenty of things will deliver protein to an invertebrate colony. Far fewer deliver protein and calcium through the same door, and that is what a whole fish does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy calcium is worth targeting\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eIsopods\u003c\/a\u003e reclaim what they can from their own cuticle at each moult, which is why you see them eating the shed halves. It is not enough on a substrate made of leaf and rotten wood, and a colony short of calcium moults badly and breeds slowly. Cuttlebone and crushed limestone are the standard fixes and I still keep both in every tub.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis sits alongside them, not instead of them. The difference is that a mineral block waits to be found, and a fish gets eaten with some urgency.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePortions, and knowing when to take it out\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHalf a fish suits an established tub. A quarter for a young culture or a small species. \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/a\u003e will cover one within a few hours if the colony is dense.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFish spoils in a way plant food does not. In a warm humid box the flesh softens and starts to smell, and that is the point at which flies find it. My rule is simple: if a piece smells of anything at all, it has been in too long. Nothing should be sitting there on day three.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat else will take one\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/millipedes-for-sale\"\u003eMillipedes\u003c\/a\u003e want calcium more than almost anything else on their shelf and will work at a fragment steadily. Roaches and darkling larvae strip one fast. Springtails graze the surface without making much impression on it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eKeeping them\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSealed, dry and dark. The risk with a dried fish is not damp so much as the oil going rancid, and warmth and daylight are what drive that. A cupboard is fine. The bag should smell clean and faintly of the sea when you open it, and if it ever smells sharp instead, that batch has turned.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57780578091390,"sku":null,"price":3.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/dried-anchovies-100g-8649714.jpg?v=1785622644"}],"url":"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/foods-and-supplements.oembed","provider":"PostPods","version":"1.0","type":"link"}