How to Make a Roly-Poly Habitat

How to Make a Roly-Poly Habitat

I love creepy crawlies, insects, snakes, and even some spiders! When my niece texted me that she made a roly-poly habitat, I told her she had to show me how to make one. So together, we created a habitat and collected the cutest roly-polies.

Before we get into the habitat, you might be asking, “What exactly are roly-polies?”

What is a Roly-Poly?

Some people call them roly-polies. Some other names for them include woodlice, potato bugs, chiggypigs, penny sows. Their real name is pillbugs. Roly-polies are isopods, not insects. Other famous isopods (crustaceans) include lobsters, shrimp, and crab. But isopods also live in freshwater and on land like roly-polies. Just as their marine counterparts, roly-polies breathe through gills located in the rear of their abdomens. The gills must stay moist.

Because roly-polies gills must stay moist, they live in a moist environment. They are some of our best decomposers. You find them under logs, rocks, or in piles of decaying leaves and wood.

Roly-polies breed in the early spring. The females then carry the eggs in a pouch filled with fluid until they hatch. Once hatched, the babies live on their own.

Roly-polies do not bite or sting or cause harm to plants. They are all-around lovely creatures to have in your yard.

How to Make the Roly-Poly Habitat

You will need to gather the supplies for the habitat:

• Container
• Brown materials
• Roly-polies

For the container, we used a disposable snap-top container with holes punched in the top.

Then we set out to gather the brown materials. Brown materials are dead leaves, wood chips, and moss.

Next, we had to find roly-polies. We headed for a pile of rocks. There we caught about a dozen tiny crustaceans. We added a splash of water to the container to keep the brown materials wet.

It took about 15 minutes to make our roly-poly habitat. Are you going to make one?

Other Related Articles

• Backyard Composting
• Hammerhead Worms

Roly-Poly Habitat