Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
How can you tell if a rolly polly is a girl?
By Taylor
If it is a female, it will have a grayish shell, and will have brown dots on both sides. If it is a male, it will have a pitch black shell (With no brown spots on both sides). Hope this answered your question! :)
Last summer I found an orange sow bug along with a normal colony of grays. I've really wanted to have more orange sow bugs and all the orange sow bugs online are sold out.
So my last hope is to try to breed it.
The one in the picture below is not mine. It's just an example of what mine looks like.
Females tend to be larger and have bigger abdomens.
With roly poly reproduction, won't the habitat setup soon be overpopulated? I would want to keep them all.
How do you know if a rolypoly has a stinger? I love roly polies and want to keep away from those with stingers. I want to keep some, but I'm afraid of unknowingly housing one with a stinger.
Pill bugs do not have stingers and cannot harm you in any way. However, they may not taste very good if you decide to eat one.
A very easy online search for "how to care for pill bugs" produced many good replies. You can try a search and this very helpful wikihow site:
www.wikihow.com/
I'm writing because I don't know how to make a home for rolly pollies and how to feed it. Please help.
Marissa
Well, I think they eat rotting plant matter and like to live in dark moist spots. I often find them near the drainage holes in plant pots that have been outside for the summer.
What are rolly pollies? And if eating rotting plant matter is good! I really don't think they're something I'd want. Ugh.
Here is a website that tells how to find and care for your pill bugs! Good Luck.
Please help us! Our Roly Poly habitat has gnats! Like small fruit gnats :0(
How do we get rid of the gnats and NOT harm the roly polys?
Thank you
Marissa
just get a tank, small reptile habitat cage / tank - put lots of dirt from your yard or mix in some potting soil. A few small rocks - they love to hide under rocks. Some leave, twigs, pieces or bark or wood...
they eat fish Food! ours Loves Beta Fish Beta food! small cut up pieces of apple, brocc. leaf lettuse, carrot, pears... You have to mist the dirt and keep moist
Ours are doing so well we can't count the babies they have had LOL! Have Fun :0)
I made a cage out of cardboard, plastic (for viewing),
and clear tape. Make sure that the tape isn't sticky in the inside, or it will make them get stuck, and their legs will rip off. My dad owns a mastigator (a kind of juicer), and once it removes all the juice, a cut up, chewed up version of whatever we put in there would come out.
What are all the colors of rolly pollies?
By Mary F. from Fort Wayne IN
There are 2 main colours. Males are significantly darker, brown, nearly a black colour while the female is grey with brown spots on the sides.
I have been hunting them in my yard and I have discovered about six to eight different colors. I also have soft shell ones in many different colors. I also have hard shell ones in different colors.
I have been hunting them in my yard and have found soft shell ones in many different colors and hard shell shiny ones in many different colors. Then I've found ones that lay flat that can't roll up I call them flounders that also are many different colors.
I recently got some pill bugs from my backyard (15) and they then had babies. I need to know what to feed them and how long it takes for them to grow up.
How do you know that rolly pollies are sleeping?
Do roly polies have to be in a big terrarium or a box or something? I know that they eat paper, cardboard, carrots, lettuce, and squash, but does a habitat need to be bigger in order to have roly babies?
I have one roly poly and I gave it a good home. I gave it cut up pieces of carrots. Is there anything else I should give it?
I am trying to raise rolly pollies, but have no idea how to take care of them. Please help!
By Madeline
I'm doing the same thing you need to give it a pretty dark home but they can survive in light. The prefer it to be cool instead of warm or hot. Keep the habitat moist. Id use a spray bottle and but water in it and spray the habitat daily unless the dirt dries out a lot then spray more often.
I didn't have a spray bottle so I used a water bottle and poked a small hole in the cap with a thumb tack. They eat decaying vegetation like grass picked from the lawn or soft decaying veggies or fruit. You can also give them leaves. In their habitat you put in about an inch or 2 of dirt and then grass and leaves and other decaying things and put a few pieces of bark in there too. I hope that helped.
What do they eat?
By Lois from Dallas
they not only eat those,the little bugs,known as pillbugs eat carrots potatoes paper grass leaves and even enjoy a couple bites of chips. dont feed the pillbugs too much or you will get something unexpected. they will die
I got 7 pillbug/rolly pollies. I gave them a small slice of watermelon and 1/2 of a grape along with fish flakes and 2 leaf bits. Is that overfeeding, even though there are 7? How do you transport them somewhere else without hurting them?
And they're not active at night. Are they dying? Is it because the lights are on? How can you tell a male from a female (girl from boy)?I just had pill bug babies, but I have way to many to keep in my container. Do they rely on their mommies and daddies when they are little or can they fend for themselves?
I have some that are almost full grown, and some that are barely visible because they're so brand new. Please help! Thank you.How would you know if a pillbug is pregnant?
You can tell if a Pill Bug is pregnant by flipping it over, look carefully at the lower half, and if you see yellowish/whitish little figures squirming around, it is pregnant.
So I own 5 pillbugs and keep them in a cardboard container and people say they eat cardboard. I don't want them to get out. What should I do? And do I keep feeding them bread?
By Cassie M.
If I was you, I would change to a plastic or glass container. I had three but ended up with five. I think I may have picked up two by mistake or one had a baby. I have mine in a plastic box type. U could keep feeding them bread but I would feed them maybe half a strawberry, dried leaf, moldy piece of wood, and if u look at other replies u will find some more.
Can pill bugs live without water?
By Dhannie Q from Sylmar, CA
In a word no. They must have access to water like all living things on this planet. The site below will help in providing the necessary food, water, etc.:
How can one tell if a pillbug is happy or content?
By
I am not sure how or why you would need to know this but if it can't be found in google. Chances are no one will be able to help. Sorry.
A pillbug needs: Cool temperatures, a place too hide under (a rock, damp cardboard, wood, etc.) and garbage or compost mixed with dirt to eat. If you lift up the cover and the pillbug is usually active, then it's probably happy. Never let it completely dry out (don't flood it, just a little damp).
What do rolly pollies eat?
By Shane from Chesapeake, VA
What can you feed a rolly polly?
By Courtney
My little cousin always brings in rolly pollies and goes straight to the fridge. It turns out that rolly pollies eat lettuce chopped up in to really small pieces. ^.^
they also eat apples and carrots and grass also little pieces of chips
If a Roly Poly is having a baby how do you take care of it?
By Blakely H. from Houston, TX
Do the same you would do as normal. Water its cage, feed her, but since she is having a baby, feed her more than usual.
Why do pregnant rolly polloes need more food then normal?
My roly poly is staying in one place and not moving it has been like that for a few hours. Is my roly poly, Carrot, dead or is it dying.
Please let me know I'm kind of freaking out! I did put some water on it.
I have about 5 water bottles filled with dirt, grass, and sticks. I have two ants breeding in one of the bottles. And in another, 2 roly polies, or pillbugs. In another I have a tiny slug about an inch long.
The slug and the ants' water bottles are the only ones without a top. Is all this normal, and, how do I feed these guys?Can a role poly live in a container with no sticks or dirt, just grass?
My roly poly has little white spots and is big, but I'm not sure if it pregnant?
What happens if a roly poly has white legs? My friend saved a few with white legs, but I want to know what's wrong with them. I'm really worried because she let them go.
