PillBugs Hard to Digest?

R

richard

Guest
I was curious if the hard shell of the common pillbug might deter P. Cinerus from attempting to eat them. I read Alan Cann's pillbug article and I see that they do pose a problem but the info was directed towards frogs. Is this less of a problem with Sals? If i fed the baby pillbugs, then its logical to assume that the shells wouldnt be as formed yet and be easier to eat, but lower in calcium?
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Pillbugs maybe be hard for small salamanders to digest. Have you thought of woodlice. They have a much softer exoskeleton.

(Message edited by slimy on March 04, 2007)
 
I am limited to what i can start a culture from wildcaught specimens. Up here all we have is the big hard shelled pillbugs(Im pretty sure). The only way for me to obtain some would be for anyone send me a package of them to start a culture with. (I'm not really clear on what defines what as a pillbug or Woodlice)
 
PillBugs and WoodLice are easily found under stones and under logs. Try searching outside.
 
Thanks for the tip, but I don't know how to distinguish between the two. I have seen them outside lots, and they have taken up residence in my garage. Unfortunately there is about three feet of snow oustside so I can't just go and collect them.
 
the same place in my backyard where i collect my pillbugs i find P. Cinerus.

I'd say pillbugs make a great portion of my marbled salamanders and tomato frog diet. i keep the pillbugs in their tanks and the marbles have eaten off a great deal of the larger pillbugs. i actually just ordered some online since it'll be a few more weeks before i can collect them.

i've only once found an exoskeleton that wasn't digested well and that was of a full grown pillbug. my tomato frog is only like 3months old and his feces looks like little clay balls so i assume they are not as hard to digest depending on their size and phase of molting
 
thanks everyone. I was looking for physical characteristics that distinguish the two. The arthropods I have around here are pillbugs as they roll into balls.
Does the Arth part of the name refer to the jointed exoskeleton of the pillbug?
 
The "arthro" part of the arthropods (which includes spiders, insects, millipedes, centipedes and crustaceans like pill bugs) is from the greek and translates as "jointed." The full name means "those with jointed feet."

There is a little more detail here.
 
Wow cool site. Just what i needed.

How do you make a word in the sentence a link the way you always do with <u>Here</u>
 
I tried but I dont understand how. Do you highlight the word you want to hyperlink? My comp is pretty messed up so it could be the problem.
 
hit the hyperlink button(globe with chain link)
enter the address you want to link into the prompt
you'll then see the code entered into your post in a format like this
\ newurl {http://siteyouwanttolink.com,http://siteyouwanttolinkto.com}
if you change the text after the comma the link will be formated as that text instead of a URL

now to keep this thread pillbug related, the pillbugs i ordered from wormman.com were out of stock. i may try Wards or Carolina they both advertise sowbugs which are harder to find in my area.All the snow has melted but still too cold to collect any from my spots. i recall hitting the pillbug jackpot one day in april when it stopped raining by noon and the sun came out
 
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