Transferring pill bugs from different enclosures

funkycowsd

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My marginated's house has a large population of pill bugs and I am making a new enclosure for my Hermann's. Is it safe to transfer some bugs over or could they transmit disease between species?
 

HLogic

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Are these indoor enclosures? I doubt there is any danger but if you wanted to be perfectly safe, lay a piece of flat material (plywood, rock, burlap, etc.) on the ground where they are found. Within the space of a week you should be able to harvest as many as you might need.
 

Tom

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My marginated's house has a large population of pill bugs and I am making a new enclosure for my Hermann's. Is it safe to transfer some bugs over or could they transmit disease between species?

Yes. There is a risk. Some tortoise diseases can be spread by flies moving from one enclosure to another.
 

Len B

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So, only capture pill bugs for transfer to the Hermann's new enclosure that don't associate with flies and everything should be OK.:confused::confused::confused::confused:. I wouldn't worry about them hurting anything in the new enclosure, but that's me....
 

ascott

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My marginated's house has a large population of pill bugs and I am making a new enclosure for my Hermann's. Is it safe to transfer some bugs over or could they transmit disease between species?


I personally would not use one bug from one captive tortoise enclosure and introduce into another tortoise enclosure where the two torts have not shared common ground....the bugs can and will bring bacteria from one location to the new one.....I would seek out some fresh bugs....depending on your temps where you are--you could release some of the captive pill bugs outdoors and let them propagate new ones and while this is going on they will clean their systems of their captive environment and can then be recycled in a safer manner....
 

jaizei

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My marginated's house has a large population of pill bugs and I am making a new enclosure for my Hermann's. Is it safe to transfer some bugs over or could they transmit disease between species?

For them to transmit disease, there would have to be disease present. Do you have reasonable suspicion that your animals are diseased?
 

funkycowsd

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Thanks for the responses. Looks like I'll be exploring outside for new recruits for the clean up crew just to be on the safe side.
 

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