If you're using a terrarium or aquarium, wipe down the glass if there's dirt or smudges on it. While it's safe to keep them for longer, you should release them into their natural habitat so they can mate. Hold the woodlice gently when you want to handle them. If you'd like to take a woodlouse out of its container to observe, carefully pick it up with your thumb and forefinger.
Leave it in the palm of your hand until it unrolls. You can also set it down on a flat surface so you can count how many legs it has and watch how it moves. They usually have a diet of rotting plant material, such as sticks and leaves.
Not Helpful 26 Helpful Not Helpful 32 Helpful Not necessarily. If you want to see the woodlouse though, you might want to get a transparent box. Otherwise, it should be fine. Just make sure to check it every day! Not Helpful 43 Helpful Not Helpful 37 Helpful Woodlice, like many other insects, get their water from their food. Consider spraying them with water to add moisture. Make sure there are no pesticides, baby predators or ways they can get stuck. Not Helpful 33 Helpful They're bugs, they don't eat much.
They eat decomposing plant matter, so you don't need to worry about it spoiling, just leave it in there. You can cover the soil or wood chips with moist leaf litter, which is also a food source for the woodlice. If nothing else works, you could just spray it in the evening and in the morning. Not Helpful 16 Helpful You can get wood chips from pet shops, get rabbit wood shavings or hamster bedding. Not Helpful 36 Helpful It is very hard to figure out the sex of a woodlouse. Look at their antennae.
If it is quite long then it is an adult male but if it is shorter then it would be an adult female. Not Helpful 13 Helpful Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Since woodlice can live up to 5 years, enjoy your pets for a few days and release them back into the wild. Helpful 8 Not Helpful 4.
Woodlice also like wood chips or mulch. If you want to put it in their container, ensure that you're using non-toxic wood. Helpful 7 Not Helpful 0. Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Related wikiHows How to. How to. About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: May 9, Categories: Bugs. Article Summary X If you want to keep a woodlouse as a pet, fill a small, sturdy container with about 2 inches of soil.
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 92, times. Woodlice will feed mostly on decomposing plant material and wood.
They prefer damp environments, which they thrive in. If you have a compost bin, consider finding some woodlice around the garden. They will work wonders for your compost heap, and it may also stop them from being a nuisance in other areas of the garden.
When woodlice find their way into our environment, they often become a nuisance. They also get a taste for other food such as paper, including wall paper.
Now we know the answer to the question what do woodlice eat, we can look at some other fabulous facts about the natural recyclers known as woodlice. This is the most common species found around the UK, except for the super cold highland areas. They even eat their own excrement, an act known as coprophagy. The species does this to recycle copper in their diet as their blood is copper-based like marine crustaceans.
Woodlice also play a vital role as decomposers — compost heaps are woodlouse heaven! Woodlice make a distinctive bad smell by excreting ammonia through their exoskeleton. You can test this by keeping woodlice in a jar for a short time and sniffing the air inside. The mother lays her eggs into the pouch and her offspring hatch inside. Even when they have left the pouch, the mother stays close to her young for a few months until they mature.
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