Damian came into the living room after finding a Woodlouse in the hallway, he seemed quite taken with this little creature, so I wondered whether they were suitable to keep as pets? Armed with my 'best friend' Google, we researched the Woodlouse and found the following:
Woodlice are fairly easy to keep as pets at home
or in the classroom. Plastic containers make the easiest housing. And
all that is needed to keep them happy is a layer of soil, a piece or two
of bark, and perhaps a stone and some dead leaves.
A small
piece of carrot or other vegetable can be added once a week. Spray with
water occasionally to keep conditions humid. It is important not to make
conditions too wet or too dry. One of the ways to do this is to spray
just the one part of the box. In fact if you have a large box and
different species of woodlice this can be used to study the differences
in species preferences.
We also found out that they eat their own faeces, which while a bit gross, makes them the perfect pet in my eyes. So with the above in mind, we set out to find bark, stones and dead leaves in our garden and along with an old ice-cream tub, some moist soil and a sprig of old lettuce, Woody the Woodlouse now has a lovely new home.
We were quite pleased with our little project, until Erin got a tad jealous that Damian had a pet and she didn't. I suggested we find her a woodlouse to keep but she said she would much prefer a small horse that she can carry around in a bag. I thought she meant a toy horse but she was quite adament that she wanted a real small horse. Maybe another day Erin!!!
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