I only culture Porcellioinides pruinosus and dwarf purples as feeders but I've also noticed that feeding dried shrimp causes them to grow and reproduce faster. Presumably due to the extra protein and minerals. I suspect you will also get larger brood sizes from feeding shrimp. It's impressive how quickly they can reduce a whole shrimp to nothing.
I notice much more of a difference with the P. pruinosus than dwarf purples.

 

It's impressive how quickly they can reduce a whole shrimp to nothing.

It’s shocking when compared to the leaves they tend to ignore haha
I also culture dwarf purple. However I didn’t give them any shrimp as I didn’t want them to outcompete the powder blue in a tank they’re housed with. I have a separate bin with only power blues and those have been doing the best on the shrimp, I’d say.

 

Has anyone else fed red shrimp or other crustaceans to isopods with such results?

No, but I think it is an interesting idea to feed (dried) shrimps.

 

Has anyone else fed red shrimp or other crustaceans to isopods with such results?

I haven't but I knew an Isopod Guy (because these are the times we live in, wherein it's possible to know Isopod Guys) who fed dried fish and reported enthusiastic reception thereof.

(The Isopod Guy is now a Tarantula Guy in case you were wondering.)

 

My Isopods love freeze dried minnows.

 

I feed FD shrimp and fish to my ornamental isopods as a protein source, and also provide cuttlebone for a constant reserve of calcium.

Repashy Morning Wood is apparently a good nutrition source, too. It is mainly powdered cellulose (same stuff as wood and leaves are made of), but is laced with the same spectrum of vitamins and minerals that are in all the Repashy line.

 

＊ this is a pretty excellent tip! As far as I’ve seen, isopods will eat pretty much anything, including cork bark. Many people will seem to give them plain vegetable scraps. But freeze dried shrimp seem like an awesome idea! Especially if you’re trying to boost the population.

 

I feed my powder orange isopods vegetable scraps. Takes them a bit but they finish it eventually. Flake fish food goes quick. I have a can of red shrimp that's mostly just bits and powder left. I'll throw that in. My colony is going pretty good.

 

Thank you for sharing this information. This noob killed a batch of "Powder Blues," and I'm not sure if any of my "Dwarf whites" are alive. I've noticed holes in some leaves, so hopefully some survived. Just ordered a batch of "Dwarf purples." Need to get it right this time.

 

This noob killed a batch of "Powder Blues," and I'm not sure if any of my "Dwarf whites" are alive.

Dwarfs are pretty resilient. I’m curious, do you know why the blues died?

 

I feed my isopods and springtails dried crickets and mealworms and also use these to feed my nepenthes plants. I also feed them dried mushrooms I picked in the autumn, ben's jungle isopod/springtail food, dried leaves and there's a cuttlebone in every bin.

 

dried crickets and mealworms and also use these to feed my nepenthes plants. I also feed them dried mushrooms

Never thought about mushrooms!

 

Thanks to this thread I ordered some freeze-dried red shrimp. They were much larger than I anticipated, but I tossed them in with my dwarf white and dwarf purple isopods. Both loved them! The DP seemed to especially, which surprised me because I was told by the isopod guy I got them from they like leaves most in his experience. Well, I'll be adding shrimp from time to time from now on based on the early results. Thanks for this suggestion @PlantNation !

 

Next question... Just how bad of an idea would it be to add a FD shrimp under the leaf litter in a viv once in a while, and then extract the shell a day to two later? I feel like the answer is that it is a bad idea, but I'm not sure why yet. The up side you be the increase in CUC and casual feeders for the frogs, of course. Thoughts?

 

Next question... Just how bad of an idea would it be to add a FD shrimp under the leaf litter in a viv once in a while, and then extract the shell a day to two later?

I add them in my viv. Sometimes on top of the leaf litter. I left for a few days on vacation, so I added two shrimp around their water dish. The shrimp dont bother the frogs. Plus I knew they'd find plenty of isopods and springtails who came up to eat it.

Usually I add one at a time and wait for it to be all gone. I dont extract the shell at all. Although Im not saying you should do the same. Your case is most likely different. For instance if the isopods don't seem to be eating the shell at all. If it's just molding, rotting and stinking I'm sure I'd extract them too. But the shrimp never seem to get to that point since they all get eaten pretty quickly.
In addition, sometimes I sprinkle springtail food in the viv. I try to keep the clean up crew healthy and booming so there's plenty to spare for snacks.

You mentioned the shrimp you got were big. This is the brand I use. They're a great small size. Despite the package saying "Large". As well as the springtail food I use:

Hope that helps!