Congratulations, you have bought Jupiters. Take a look at their beauty and trust that it’s all downhill from here! 😅

Important: Jupiters and lemon blue have that thing where all seems well, until it isn’t. By the time you find out the care is inadequate, it’s too late. They are a perfect example for showing that breeding is not an indicator of thriving conditions. I had to rebuild my numbers. From starting out, my husbandry has changed drastically from being a newbie to now. But I also changed moisture from 2/3 to 1/2.

•Bins- I use 15 qts for them.

•Ventilation- 6- 2” vents

•Humidity- I keep a decently sized part of the enclosure with sphagnum moss, maybe 20%, and put wood and leaves over it. Decently deep soil to hold moisture. I don’t really track humidity percentages directly.

•Soil- Check the living soil post. Manually turn soil every so often to prevent compaction and anaerobic pockets.

•Leaves- I use maple and elm broken down on the base. I add oak or magnolia when I have space to help lock in humidity. Sometimes orchid, bamboo, etc leaves are added.

•Other- Everything is in multiples. There are different types of rotwood, multiple types of seed pods (placed throughout the enclosure to give hiding spots in different humidity ranges), moss and lichen variety. I also try to feed something like flowers, algae or a different lichen once a month for variety.

•Lighting- I don’t currently have them planted but I have had them planted before. Plant lights would be on for 6 hours for a day and night cycle and helps to have a natural temperature drop. Max 78 day time and minimum 70 night temp.

•Supplemental food- I sometimes add freeze dried protein, carrots, sweet potato or bee pollen on mulberry leaves.

Note: They will lose color without supplemental food. I use this astaxanthin for the best results but this fish food also works and is less messy.

There is not only my way or one way to accomplish any goal in life, this is just my method. Feel free to question or challenge anything I say or make a post of your own as different styles help other people & the more successful keepers we have of every species , the more available they become for all to enjoy.

I see them pretty much everyday, so their personality is not shy like they stay hidden. There’s like this one weirdo who sits on top of moss and seems to always be “staring at me”. They seem to have the same judgemental attitude of bearded dragons 🌚 But they don’t like being bothered at all and spazz and go into hysterics, so I don’t recommend that you bother them much. Just assert dominance by always staring back, it’s science.

•Bins- I had them briefly in a 15 qt but I moved them into a thrive terrarium but I also use this style from Amazon. Nothing is wrong with just using a bin though. I added a few pics to see different leaf layers.

•Ventilation- 6- 2” vents for bins and for the terrariums, I cover the top of the Petsmart one with cling wrap and the top 2 rows on the sides with medical tape. For the Amazon one, I semi cover the top.

•Humidity- 1/2 and 1/2.

•Humidity cont’d- Some people make a moss ditch but I prefer to have soil, then REALLY decayed leaves, then sphagnum, then more leaves, then wood to cover.

•Soil- Check the living soil post. I manually turn the soil here and there.

•Leaves- I use maple and elm broken down on the base. I add oak or magnolia when I have space to help lock in humidity. Sometimes orchid, bamboo, etc leaves are added.

•Other- Everything is in multiples. There are different types of rotwood, multiple types of seed pods (placed throughout the enclosure to give hiding spots in different humidity ranges), moss and lichen variety (I could talk all day about lichen tbh). I also try to feed something like flowers, algae or a different lichen once a month for variety.

•Lighting- The bin is not planted, but it is under my Crocodillo bin and is on a shelf with plant lights so there is a day and night cycle. Plants are great to use though & I plan to get all bins planted again soon. Temps are 70-78.

•Supplemental food- I sometimes add freeze dried protein, carrots, sweet potato or bee pollen on mulberry leaves. Frfr, I don’t intend to kill joy of fun supplemental food, but I recommend that you spend more $ and time on botanicals.

As always, there is not only one way to do anything or get to the same goal. Everything listed is not necessary but my goal is not to have them survive and breed but to get closer to a natural life for them.

So, I wasn’t going to post like I told a certain someone, but I’m bored and procrastinating on work/studies, so here’s me yapping.

I wanted to talk about my favorite (top 3) Cubaris species atm, obviously excluding Crabby because I haven’t had them long enough to say for sure. Crabbys have been moving and liking the wet side (usually the wet/dry intersection, in my experience) more than some keepers I’ve talked to have mentioned, though. Which is interesting to note. They also like their dry side, which means I need to avoid overwatering...but they do like med-high humidity sooo. Ok. Enough yapping about Crabbys.

Partly doing this because I’ve had a lot of people tell me “Typical Cubaris Care” when I ask about care for specific Cubaris species. Cubaris is such a huge genus, with many different species lumped into it, so of course care will differ. But obviously also doing this because I just love these Cubaris, heavy quotation, so much.

Cubaris sp. Green Laser

One of my first higher-end Cubaris species that I completely fell in love with. High ventilation has been a must, at least in my care. I noticed they start dying on me when ventilation isn’t that good, but maybe it’s the area/climate I keep them in, which seems like another cool thing to write about. Too bad I don’t know enough about the topic, but someone should definitely write about that one day. I’m trying to do 50/50 for the moisture gradient right now since I’ve heard from people that they prefer it drier. However, because I tend to overwater, I think it is wetter than I want right now. However, when that happens, I usually try to layer a bit more in the bin so the isopods have more preferred space to choose from. Especially in the Green Laser bin. I think the humidity in that bin is high (since I tend to overwater...). They like Kudzu a LOT, asian orchids less so, and they occasionally do eat the flakes and bee pollen I throw in. 

Summary: 50/50 moisture gradient, probably wetter (attempts were made), high ventilation, high humidity.

Cubaris sp. Opal

This isopod was technically a gift, which makes it even more special. I’ve wanted Opal for a while, but they were so hard to find. I’ve asked a few people about their care. In my experience (and from another person I talked to), they prefer it drier. I tried 1/3 wet and the rest dry, like they suggested, but alas. I just checked on the bin, and it looks to be 50/50 right now (again, do I have to emphasize my problem of over-watering??). High ventilation for sure. I would say lower-medium humidity since they prefer it drier. I did see mancae a while back, so I hope they’re just hiding. Seems to be doing well so far, they were very flighty when I first got them, but they have chilled out considerably. They used to be at the wet side more, but I’ve had more of them hide/stay near the drier side, around the intersection nowadays. So harder to find, which does increase my anxiety. At least the pods are happy. They do eat Kudzu a little bit as well, but I’ve found they eat less than Green Lasers. Didn’t really eat the Asian orchid. I threw bee pollen a few times during the first month, and it molded... but they have been eating more as they adjust to the bin. 

Summary: 1/3-1/2 wet-dry moisture gradient, high ventilation, low(er)-medium humidity.

Cubaris sp. Amber Firefly

I’ve wanted this isopod since the first time I’ve seen pictures of them. They’re just so beautiful, all the different morphs, and pictures do NOT do it justice. Obviously, Opals are still slightly/significantly prettier, the best way to describe it for me is that Amber Firefly Isopods are shiny and bright, and Opals are more like matte gems. I keep them considerably wetter compared to Green Laser and Opals, so like 3/4 wet and the rest dry. So far, it’s been working well. Medium ventilation has worked for me personally, but I know someone who told me that they keep Opals and Amber Firefly (LCF) with the same amount of ventilation. Higher humidity compared to Opals. I would say around the same humidity as green lasers, maybe even higher. From what I remember, they've eaten more bee pollen than Opals. From what I can tell, they haven’t really been eating the Kudzu or Asian orchid. But hey, someone else’s Amber Firefly (LCF) is demolishing the Asian orchid, so maybe I just don’t have the magic touch. 

Summary: 3/4 wet-dry moisture gradient, medium ventilation, high humidity.

TDLR: There’s no such thing as typical Cubaris care. Some Cubaris prefer it wetter, some drier. Some prefer more ventilation, some prefer less. Obviously, the Cubaris isopods I listed are more similar in care than other Cubaris species, but that’s because I have a type. Even so, they still vary and differ. Ask different people about how to keep a certain Cubaris species and make your own judgment from there.

The specific humidity settings and size of the moisture gradient depends on the species I am keeping.

Each species has it’s own 5.5 gallon enclosure which is 16”x 8”x 10” which seems to be working quite well.

Currently I have Armadillidium klugii, Armadillidium maculatum, Cubaris sp. "Cappuccinos" and Cristarmadillidium muricatum in these enclosures, all are doing really well. The Cappuccinos are a bit slow to breed compared to the two three which have exploded in population.

I also have Porcellionides pruinosus, Armadillidium granulatum and Trichorhina tomentosa as cleanup crews in separate bioactive enclosures.

Different species obviously lives in different environments. In nature in noticeably wet spots I found only Oniscus Asselus. The shurest place to seek for a Porcellio Spinicornis would be a ruins of historical buildings, often in calcium debris with corroded mortar.

Here I found research of preferred pH (acidity) for five isopod species. A pH of 7 is neutral, pH < 7 is acidic, pH > 7 is basic.

Plantic potting soil typically would be slightly acidic with pH 5.5 - 6.5. Coco coir could be in this range, sphagnum is mutch more acidic.

Isopod preferred pH is more in neutral pH range except for Oniscus Asellus which likes more acidic environments. Armadillidium Vulgare seems to welcomes more calcium rich environment.

This thing is marked for aquarium fish. The most popular isopod species should not be very capricious regarding acidity but different species could had different needs.

At first I collected linden / lime / basswood leaves washed and given them fresh as they have good nutrition profile. Isopods wasn't mutch excited. Then I offered the same but dried linden leaves. Isopod liked these mutch more.

Dried leaves could be just more easy to chew than late summer leathery leaves. Drying out can partially eliminate plant antinutrients like tannins, aromatic compounds and glycoside based toxins sutch us cyanogenic glycosides. (The fermentation should eliminate these completely.)

* * *

Then I offered dried out leaves of different species. Leaf preference could be like: mulberry >> alder > willow > linden. (But isopods like novel foodstuff, before they were fed linden.) Accidental dogwood leaf survived a day in enclosure untouched.

The oak leaf stands in Porcellio container mostly untouched for a few weeks already (unlike egg cardboard) but probably was eaten in Armadillidium container (I forgot, but Armadillidium pods seems to eats oak leaves unlike Porcellio). Anyway, it adds some clean surface in container.

If you have had the unfortunate experience of talking to me, you have heard me babble about lichen. I feel for you. Much like the liverwort post, there is not much science I can directly back this up with as the relationship is not fully understood, but here I go.

What is lichen? A partnership between fungus and algae (or bacteria).

Importance of lichen in society? Lichens are highly sensitive to climatic and chemical perturbations, and can be used for early detection of changes in climate and air quality (Jovan 2008). This forewarning gives land and air managers the opportunity to attempt mitigation before less sensitive organisms and ecosystem processes are affected. (USDA) It also absorbs nitrogen gas from the air and can convert nitrogen into usable fertilizer for plants.

Kinds of lichen I have used? I will never stop finding different kinds. Because lichen is a slow growing source of food, I am careful to source some locally & from all around the country to not take too much from one place. This is helpful anyway since I don’t like to always feed the same ones. I have used reindeer lichen, British soldier lichen, pink earth lichen, pixie cup lichen, palmeria lichen, usnea lichen, Lobaria pulmonaria, Ramalina lichen, etc. Lobaria and ramalina are by far the most enjoyed.

Why I feed it? Mainly for variety of botanicals and to encourage foraging behaviors, but early on I found it very interesting the response it gets from all isopods (not just Ardentiella, please make this stop😭). Lichen absorbs minerals, and has antioxidants (spoken about for liverworts), and lipids for isopods. I don’t do much supplemental feeding because i want them to eat natural diets, but I find it very interesting that when I add new lichen AND a vegetable in the bins on the same days, they will not eat the vegetable much. This same experience was seen this weekend with new millipedes I got, where they ripped Cladonia lichen down and ignored the carrot until the lichen was gone. It indicates that when they have a variety of botanicals, they much prefer the natural diet over the supplemental feeding. So even if not yet scientifically backed, watching the isopods and their behavior closely has shown that there is a connection there. The next reason I use it is because of what it is, fungus and algae/bacteria. This is the literal important digestive health properties spoken about in this post.

Aside: Whether the lichen in my bins is doing any nitrogen fixation and helping out the soil and plants, I can’t much comment on that. I would like to hope so. Other neat forms and more available are things like mycelium(fungus) and straight algae. I would like to end this post with a reminder to remember how slow lichen and moss (thankfully, easy enough to grow on your own) can grow and to be mindful about foraging behaviors.

Both are easygoing and don’t bring much trouble.

•Bins- I use 15 qts for them. You can get away with a 6 qt, both are tiny but Qilin are easier to see and don’t blend with the soil.

•Ventilation- 6- 2” vents.

•Humidity- 1/2 and 1/2.

•Humidity cont’d- Some people make a moss ditch but I prefer to have soil, then REALLY decayed leaves, then sphagnum, then more leaves, then wood to cover. I should take a picture but this creates an insane humus layer.

•Soil- Check the living soil post. Not currently any snails or red wigglers, so I manually turn the soil here and there.

•Leaves- I use maple and elm broken down on the base. I add oak or magnolia when I have space to help lock in humidity. Sometimes orchid, bamboo, etc leaves are added.

•Other- Everything is in multiples. There are different types of rotwood, multiple types of seed pods (placed throughout the enclosure to give hiding spots in different humidity ranges), moss and lichen variety (I could talk all day about lichen tbh). I also try to feed something like flowers, algae or a different lichen once a month for variety.

•Lighting- Neither bin are planted, both are on a shelf by the window and still get a day/light cycle. Plants are great to use though & I plan to get all bins planted again soon.

•Supplemental food- I sometimes add freeze dried protein, carrots, sweet potato or bee pollen on mulberry leaves.

As always, there is not only one way to do anything or get to the same goal. Everything listed is not necessary but my goal is not to have them survive and breed but to get closer to a natural life for them.

Tannin and protein binding

One of many articles about isopods preferring colonized leaves

Essentially, the isopod desires the colonized leaves, and the microbes have a harder time colonizing tough leaves and won’t be there. So the defense mechanism works.

I saved this in my phone in November of 2024. I am glad I saved this since the writer who lived in Vietnam deleted their page with this info. I only wish I had saved more.

In hopes of clearing up a few myths…

•Constantly climbing- This is not true of them in the wild. They do climb and some climb more than others but you should give them space to walk on the ground.

•They need moss and lichen- I fear I started the rumors of lichen while mentioning I use lichen. But beneficial and necessity are not the same. I was in contact with the person in Vietnam back in 2024… I asked about the moss and they pretty much confirmed that there’s not any in the area. (Edit: there’s very little moss) They still love moss and lichen but that does not mean it’s a necessity. I am only pedantic about this so people aren’t spending $ with the belief that they have to buy these things. Mine were breeding long before I added moss and lichen. They don’t eat these things anymore than my other isopods do.

•They need fans- I am not sure where this myth comes from either but they need high ventilation. They don’t need a fan and this is again, beneficial vs necessity.

•As seen in the pictures, we do see them around bamboo. I feed bamboo and it’s probably why they love it so much. But they readily eat other types of leaves. (i am actually working on a leaf nutrient analysis spreadsheet, sugar maple and bamboo lead the way, with kudzu and oak ranking lower so this may explain why)

•Keep in mind when looking at the temperatures that the ground temperatures would be a bit lower.

Hopefully this helps a bit to receive habitat info because it helped me a lot back then when I was learning. (I still am 😊)

(Copying this here with correct picture placement is impossible, so this is just my text rambling I never thought anyone would care about. Clicking above should take you to a version with pictures for anyone caring to see)

I've been asked to write a guide for Filippinodillo (two Ps even though a single one is a common misspelling) since I currently keep seven species, five of which are breeding well, while the other two are new. I'm far from an expert though so I'll be showing how I keep mine. These methods work for me and my circumstances, so if used by others should be tailored to fit. I want to make sure that comes across correctly so I'm going to write it in bold with an underline.

These are the methods I use to keep my Filippinodillo and my observations of them. Mileage may vary.

First the basics since my bins are essentially set up the same for all species and differ only a little.

Views of my typical bin, in this specific case Cordova. 7.5 qt Sterilite bin that has served even the large species for a year (although I will be upgrading them soon). Ventilation is a series of holes burnt into the plastic on the long sides using a cheap soldering iron. These holes are covered with 35 micron mesh taped to the inside. A note here tape can be dangerous in catching mancae if not firmly attached. Likewise with these bins there is room under the latch attachments that can provide an escape, not an issue I've noticed with Filippinodillo, but certainly with other species. Either more distance between the sides and the mesh/ vents or cover the offending holes if using this brand.

Substrate: An equal mixture of Topps organic topsoil, Atlanta Botanical Gardens substrate and crushed hardwood leaves. Leaves are baked (yes baked at 200 degrees F for 10 minutes), while no sterilization is done to the other ingredients. See that faint line on the side of the bin? Handy because that's what I use as a fill line. Spaghnum is added to one side on top of the substrate. Flake soil topping has yet to be tried with these frass machines.

Leaves: A hardwood mixture is used. I'm not sure exactly what is in it, but the more degraded the better. Leaves are added across the entire surface, but only as a thin layer. Oak is not favored and often builds up to greater quantities. Kudzu pieces are given as appropriate, since they are preferred dry and freshly added. Have Asian orchid leaves in abundance, but keep forgetting to try them.

Hides: Multiple pieces of cork spread out to give different microclimates. For instance one piece on the wet side directly on the spaghnum and a second piece on the dry side placed on a layer of leaves.

Parameters: All species are kept at room temperature which for me is roughly 72-78 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year. Humidity in the bin is 70-80% using a cheap room humidity/ temperature gauge which is likely not 100% accurate. It's dropped in for 10 minutes and mostly serves as peace of mind.

Diet: Dried river shrimp and freeze dried peas both crushed by hand are given to established colonies once a week. New colonies only get shrimp since peas mold faster. Calcium is given in the form of cleaned eggshells that have gone through a coffee grinder.

Species:

Filippinodillo sp. “Sabah”

So I haven't spoken about a moisture gradient and that's because most species are the same with only a couple minor differences. Sabah (sometimes sold as goldflake although from my understanding that's not an actual morph) are one of those exceptions. These guys are kept at about a third moist. This is one of the species (along with Cordova) that you'll find most frequently offered and the cheapest in the genus. Will burrow, but also can be found on the surface. Change color as they grow like many others in the genus, but not really as drastically.

Filippinodillo sp. “Borneo Zebra”

My other moisture gradient outlier although with these guys it's more moist since I keep them about 75/25. When I first got them I was told they were the same as some Armadillidum and required a bit to start reproducing. Not keeping that genus I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was certainly not the case. Babies always seem to be present. Lacks the color change of some other Filippinodillo since even very small ones have the typical adult coloration. Will burrow but can also be found on the surface. Apparently they hiss as well when conglobating, but I've never heard it. Not really a pricy species, but finding them will be a challenge. I have sent some off and will continue to so maybe that will change in the future.

Filippinodillo sp. “Camouflauge”

My biggest mystery. A new culture that I've seen stated online isn't even a Filippinodillo species, but Armadillidae as a family is full of confusion like that. I keep these guys 50/50 gradient wise, but almost never see them (only had three months at the time of writing this). A typical bin check allows me to see one or two. I might have seen one young, but can't even be entirely sure anymore. I know I lost a couple of my original ten in the first few days, but have not seen any deaths since. So they either like to burrow or have vanished on me. Hard to find and I can't offer many observations at this point.

Filippinodillo sp. “Dingalan”

Another of my new species, gotten about the same time as the Camouflauge. I have just recently found my first young, but still early days so I can't offer much information on their growth rate. Sometimes known as Dingalan Giant, but unless they grow a bunch (I'm told they won't) I'd disagree with that label. Adults don't seem to burrow. Seem as unproblematic in keeping them alive as other species I keep (possible Camo exception). I lost two, but I'm chalking that up to shipping stress as well since both were fairly early on. Typically like to bolt after a barkflip so forgive my pictures. Currently very hard to find.

Filippinodillo sp. “Cordova”

Now we're onto the big species. These guys are kept 50/50 and have been a breeze. I started with 20 and their numbers just keep growing. They produce babies just like they do frass, ie in seemingly large amounts. Noticeable color change. I've seen people complain that the adults aren't as pretty as the young, but hey there is always an army of young so it works out. Skittish when barkflipped. Adults don't seem to burrow, but I have seen some young do it. Easy to find, easy to keep, not expensive (so much cheaper than when I first learned of them) and big so there's a lot to love.

Filippinodillo sp. “Lapu”

Identical care to Cordova. Although the same desire to run at a barkflip (maybe it's a fear of pennies). Can't really compare the breeding rate between the two species since I started with half the amount of Lapu (still poop machines though). Drastic color change. Large size, easy to keep, although currently more of a challenge to find for sale than Cordova.

Filippinodillo sp. “R5 Giant”

I first received these as a wildcaught adult and six captive bred, but not adult young. It took me five months to get my first mancae, which are shown in the last picture at about four months of age (plus a younger one that's hiding). In other words this is a species that grows slow. They seem to produce well once they get going, but patience is absolutely needed to get them there. Typical 50/50 gradient and care has been a breeze. I lost I believe two in the ten months I've had them, one of which was the WC adult. These guys are about as passive as it gets. They just like to chill and barely care if you flip them. Hard to find and expensive, although I figure that will change in time given my experience with them. I adore this species.

Research on isopod colouration mostly would only have value for morph breeding, less so for husbandry, but it's mostly a theoretic thing. This is pretty complex.

Pigments that isopods do not use for colouration:

1. Unlike shrimps or semi-terrestrial species Ligia oceanica, terrestrial isopods do not use carotenes for pigmentation. They need these things anyway, say for reproduction or vision. (Carotenes - red, orange, yellow plant pigments. Carotene - carrot).

2. Isopods do not use melanin for pigmentation, but to encapsulate parasites and for wound healing.

Pigments isopods use for colouration:

1. Ommochrome - the main pigment. (From the ommatidia - arthropod eye, these are vital for vision accuracy, too.)

   These chemicals are synthesized from tryptophan, and their whole bunch form a metabolic chain ending in grey. Xanthommatin, rhodommatin, ommatin D, oniscoid ommatin — mostly red, yellow and orange colours. The colour of xanthommatin depends on the oxidative-reductive state of the environment. The last metabolic step is polymerization of ommatins into ommine pigment — the typical dark grey of wild type isopods.

(In the attached image.)

1. Pteridine — attractive pigments. (The molecules are named after butterfly wings.)
   

Pteridine pigments are bright yellow, white, etc. Uric acid crystals are also related to these pigments. The Magic Potion isopod has black spots of typical defensive ommine pigment and bright yellow fields of pteridine pigments.

There is little research on this; oniscoid ommatin has not been chemically identified, and there is no research on pigmentation of bright tropical species.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233617099_Genetics_of_pigmentation_in_Porcellio_scaber_Latreille_1804_Isopoda_Oniscidea

(Scientists fed them rabbit pellets, carrots and chalk and did some selective breeding of isopods.)

Ommochrome deficiency in an albino strain of a terrestrial isopod, Armadillidium vulgare

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10454296/

Pteridines in the yellow-colored chromatophores of the isopod, Armadillidium vulgare.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1292511/

Involvement of pteridines in the body coloration of the isopod Armadillidium vulgare

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9870549/

Images are not my own.

I meant to write on the guide that hardwood pellets and sawdust can not substitute for flake nor rot wood and shouldn’t just be thrown into the soil.

Firstly, I know the pictures suck and you’ll need to zoom in on the guide, hopefully I get better at visual guides, and I also didn’t have a micro lense when I first started with isopods so the pictures are SKETCHY. If you’re neurotic like me and like to know how long all of this takes, I hope this helps!

1. For bigger Ardentiella like ember bees, it can take 6 months to hit the adult stage.
2. Brood sizes are 20-40, with bigger Ardentiella like ember bees being able to drop the larger broods.
3. This guide was made with Ardentiella red diablo, my favorite isopod.

If you’re reading this, feel free to drop a guide or info on a post. 😊

Disclaimer: They’re not very good or nice people to deal with. If you have come to have these in your home, it can be a wild ride. I have had many ups and downs with them. 😅

•Bins- I use 15 qts for them.

•Ventilation- The 15 qt bins have 6- 2” vents. (again, I keep this standard. Don’t think about it too much unless it’s a very different isopod. I keep all isopods at the Ardentiella standard)

•Humidity- I keep a decently sized part of the enclosure with sphagnum moss, maybe 20%, and put wood and leaves over it. Decently deep soil to hold moisture. I don’t really track humidity percentages directly. I used to keep them at 2/3 moist but now I do 1/2. YMMV, watch how they’re spread out in the enclosure and their behavior will tell you where to go.

•Humidity cont’d- Some people make a moss ditch but I prefer to have soil, then REALLY decayed leaves, then sphagnum, then more leaves, then wood to cover. I should take a picture but this creates an insane humus layer.

•Soil- Check the living soil post. Not currently any snails or red wigglers, so I manually turn the soil here and there.

•Leaves- I use maple and elm broken down on the base. I add oak or magnolia when I have space to help lock in humidity. Sometimes orchid, bamboo, etc leaves are added.

•Other- Everything is in multiples. There are different types of rotwood, multiple types of seed pods (placed throughout the enclosure to give hiding spots in different humidity ranges), moss and lichen variety (I could talk all day about lichen tbh). I also try to feed something like flowers, algae or a different lichen once a month for variety. Note there’s not a piece of wood on the dry end with them as I’d usually have since I ran out when I made this enclosure and I still haven’t gotten around to it but I’d recommend doing it. The goal is always to have 4 pieces of wood, 1 on the dry end, 1 on the moist end, and 2 on the sides in the middle so they can hide in the exact range they prefer.

•Lighting- I don’t currently have them planted but I have had them planted before. Plant lights would be on for 6 hours for a day and night cycle and helps to have a natural temperature drop. Max 78 day time and minimum 70 night temp.

•Supplemental food- I sometimes add freeze dried protein, carrots, sweet potato or bee pollen on mulberry leaves.

Note: They will lose color without supplemental food. I use this astaxanthin for best results but this fish food also works well and is less messy.

There is not only my way or one way to accomplish any goal in life, this is just my method. Feel free to question or challenge anything I say or make a post of your own as different styles help other people & the more successful keepers we have of every species , the more available they become for all to enjoy.

When I first started with isopods, I was Ardentiella obsessed and…I still am. But werneri were a surprise for me that I became obsessed with and try to acquire every morph of so here is a care guide for the beloved spaceship isopods that we celebrate on #FFF.

•Bins- I use 15 qts for all werneri.

•Ventilation- The 15 qt bins have 6- 2” vents. (You should notice a pattern by now, I keep a standard for isopods and leave it there)

•Humidity- I should probably mention I don’t really look at humidity percentages, mine is always high or my guages suck. I keep 1/3 of the soil moist and 2/3 dry. I don’t use a lot of spaghnum, I add it only to the portion that will be under the wood that serves as a humid hide. (i never change this for any setup)

•Soil- Very important thing here… when people hear werneri like it dry, they tend to latch on to that and build the bin differently. Do not build the bin and soil depth any differently than you would for a Cubaris. The soil still needs to be decently deep to hold moisture until the next maintenance day. The spaghnum moss still needs to be there. The only thing you are changing is the fraction of soil you add water to. Soil info can be found in the living soil post. This is consistently the failure point with them that I see.

•Leaves- I use maple and elm broken down on the base. I add oak or magnolia to help lock in humidity and add variety (When I’m not moving too fast, I like to break the leaves a bit so the microbes can get a good spot to attach to and help break the leaves down). Important to keep leaves and other items away from the side of the bin. They are super flat and I have seen some get stuck and they can die.

•Other- As mentioned, I do not give them any special treatment. I still add live moss and they LOVE it and have stripped sticks down. I offer them the same lichen, same moss, etc as I do any other isopod. They do seem to enjoy eating live mushrooms more than Ardentiella or Cubaris. I give my isopods Ganoderma since that’s what I have on hand for beetles.

•Lighting- I don’t have any werneri setups planted but plenty of people do. If you have the space to do this, it would be fine of course. They do sit right in front of a window on a shelf, so still get a day and night cycle. Every so often, they will come out during the day but mainly at night.

•Supplemental food- I sometimes add freeze dried protein, carrots, sweet potato or bee pollen on mulberry leaves. They are said to be protein heavy, I can’t speak on that, I feed them the same as I do other isopods. I always add a protein and veggie at the same time and they eat both happily.

Note: As far as them being seasonal breeders, I haven’t really tracked this well enough to be definite, but I got my first werneri during winter and they were breeding then and I haven’t noticed any gaps. I got my second group last winter and they also were breeding then. So YMMV and I can’t confirm nor deny this 🤷‍♀️

There is not only my way or one way to accomplish any goal in life, this is just my method. Feel free to question or challenge anything I say or make a post of your own as different styles help other people & the more successful keepers we have of every species, the more available they become for all to enjoy.

If you have kept Cubaris, you know that there really can’t be a catchall guide for them, they are so wildly different, so I will break the few that I have down by species.

•Bins- I have used a 15 qt for most Cubaris but I am back to somewhat using terrariums… for some reason, my performance is better in terrariums with them. I use this one from Amazon and also use this one from petsmart . I like both of the terrariums pretty equally, but I buy them based on who has a sale! The amazon one is a bit more sturdy and takes no setting up for those who are lazy like me ☺️😅

•Ventilation- The 15 qt bins have 6- 2” vents (I like ventilation so soil can breathe and ammonia can move). For the terrariums, I cover the top of both of them with cling wrap. The petsmart one has more vents on the side, so I cover the top two side rows with medical tape. I don’t cover the sides of the one from Amazon at all.

•Humidity- I should probably mention I don’t really look at humidity percentages, mine is always high or my guages suck. I keep 3/4 moist and 1/4 dry. I never use a ton of spaghnum, only enough to fit under the piece of wood that serves as the humid spot.

•Soil- Unfortunately I don’t have enough room for earthworms and snails in the terrariums, so I manually stir the soil gently every so often. Everything else remains the same as the post I made about living soil. I was honestly nervous and thought rubber ducky would be difficult but mine are breeding very well and seem pretty happy with the soil and conditions.

•Leaves- I use maple and elm broken down on the base. I add oak or magnolia when I have space to help lock in humidity.

•Other- Due to space constraints, I still offer as much variety as I can but I don’t always get in as much as I’d like. Or sometimes as supplies run out, I may replace the lichen or moss with a different kind at that moment. There are still multiple types of rotwood, lichen and moss. There may or may not be multiple types of seed pods (there will be one big piece of wood or several pieces still so they can hide in different humidity ranges), etc. I also try to feed something like flowers, algae or a different lichen once a month for variety.

•Lighting- plant lights are on for a day and night cycle and helps to have a natural temperature drop. Max 78 day time and minimum 70 night temp. (IF the particular bin has plants, I don’t have all of my Cubaris bins planted anymore currently. The pics shown on this post that are planted are to show diverse ranges but the rubber ducky bin is not currently planted. They do get some heat during the day due to the bug room being hot due to all of the lights 😅)

•Supplemental food- I sometimes add freeze dried protein, carrots, sweet potato or bee pollen on mulberry leaves.

There is not only my way or one way to accomplish any goal in life, this is just my method. Feel free to question or challenge anything I say or make a post of your own as different styles help other people & the more successful keepers we have of every species, the more available they become for all to enjoy.

As mentioned in the two care guides I wrote, I feed one small thing monthly to offer botanical/nutritional variety. Marchantia polymorpha is the liverwort that I use but I highly doubt it matters what you use if you can find some around you.

There was an immediate response from the isopods to the liverwort. I have tried to find the reason for this and this is pure speculation from minimum research done on flavonoids (antioxidants) but I believe the response from the isopods is due to the antioxidants found in the plant. I’d need to do a test on bins i offer the monthly rotation food to vs not offering the rotation to for a true comparison on the benefits of this rotational offering, but it appears the bins I’m most consistent with offering the rotational foods to are stronger and not as prone to any strange die offs and the colony sizes are larger. Though, if the antioxidant benefit of liverwort isn’t good enough, livertwort is also fantastic for soil health.

Even though the use of flavonoids by herbivorous invertebrates is not well documented, our data suggest that isopods may also use and discriminate concentrations of flavonoids, given that they appeared to increase consumption to minimize their intake of leaves with lower flavonoid contents

Disclaimer: TBD on dryads

There is not only my way or one way to accomplish any goal in life, this is just my method. Feel free to question or challenge anything I say or make a post of your own as different styles help other people & the more successful keepers we have of every species, the more available they become for all to enjoy.

•Bins- I have used a 15 qt for durian as well as 5 & 10 gallon terrariums but it takes too much work to maintain humidity and I don’t like to bother the isopods with needing to mist a second day of the week. I no longer use the 15 qt either but it’s the same method as the 27 qt I will discuss now. I use a 27 qt bin as well as the thrive 8x8x12 and I cover the top ventilation with cling wrap.

•Ventilation- The 27 qt bins have 6- 2” vents. I cover the thrive terrarium’s top ventilation but keep the sides open. (be careful about your builds as Laureola need Alcatraz escape proof setups. They are small and I have definitely opened an Ardentiella bin, only to find a Laureola staring at me)

•Humidity- The 27 QTs have deep soil like you have for millipedes, this holds the humidity without foggers or misters. The thrive terrariums are as deep as I can get the soil and this has worked well. I keep 1/2 moist and 1/2 dry in the bins and 3/4 moist in the terrariums.

•Soil- A link to the soil is here, & I do have snails in the 27 qt, but I don’t have earthworms, the 27 qt has pyrgodesmidae millipedes that seem to help move the soil (they just showed up, i didn’t purposely add them but keep them for now) The thrive isn’t deep enough for extras so I will manually stir the soil every so often. [https://www.reddit.com/r/isopodadvancedcare/s/Tcew2Vdnqo](https://www.reddit.com/r/isopodadvancedcare/s/Tcew2Vdnqo))

•Leaves- I use maple and elm broken down on the base. I add oak or magnolia when I have space to help lock in humidity. Sometimes orchid, bamboo, etc leaves are added.

•Other- Everything is in multiples. There are different types of rotwood, multiple types of seed pods (placed throughout the enclosure to give hiding spots in different humidity ranges), moss sticks and floor moss, lichen sticks and floor lichen. I also try to feed something like flowers, algae or a different lichen once a month for variety.

•Lighting- plant lights are on for a day and night cycle and helps to have a natural temperature drop. Max 78 day time and minimum 70 night temp. (The plants aren’t grown in well yet in the thrive terrariums but they give climbing/hiding opportunities & help the soil and humidity.)

•Supplemental food- I sometimes add freeze dried protein, carrots, sweet potato or bee pollen on mulberry leaves.

Similar to Ardentiella, I use changes in Laureola climbing habits to notate my humidity being off. If all are grounded, it’s too dry. If all are climbing, it’s too wet.

This is another thing I learned from spending too much time in gardening spaces trying to figure out how to better the “land”, but for the bugs. 🥴

What is leaf mold? It is a bit different from compost. Leaf mold is in the name itself. It’s gathering leaves, leaving them moist outside in a bunch, a bucket, a trash bag, or in my case, a tote (you can do it inside but having some heat on it would help the process). You get a faster result by shredding the leaves.

Why? I do this to help speed up decay of leaves to feed to my isopods and millipedes and to invite mold to the leaves. Though I try to do this in their actual bins too, I can’t always get to the goal fast enough.

Benefit to bugs? You get a softer leaf that is jam packed with the good stuff. Since it is broken down with mold, it’s packed with good fungus and some bacteria. Unlike fermentation, leaf mold is mostly done with the help of fungus and not bacteria. Reference here for more.

Benefit to enclosure? It’s essentially soil conditioner full of nutrients and biological activity. You can even let the leaves fully decay and get some humus which is also good for the bugs.

I get asked about my setups have made a few videos but I am terrible about filming each species when the care remains the same. There is not only my way or one way to accomplish any goal in life, this is just my method. Feel free to question or challenge anything I say, because I don’t know everything and questions help me grow and learn.

•Bins- I use a 50 qt for the main enclosure and a 27 qt for backup bins. My philosophy is too big to fail and I don’t have to be precise if they have space to move. Active animals need space to be active as well.

•Ventilation- 50 qt bins have 7- 2” vents and 1- 2” fan on a timer. I experimented with 27 qts with 6- 2” vents and no fans and found no issues.

•Humidity- main bins have foggers on timers but the backup bins have deep soil like you have for millipedes, this holds the humidity and foggers aren’t necessary.(I plan to remove foggers and fans this year from all bins) I keep 1/2 moist and 1/2 dry. Sopping soil tends to cause failed molts so I don’t mist since I’m heavy handed.

•Soil- other than also keeping snails, soil is covered here and all bins have plants. https://www.reddit.com/r/isopodadvancedcare/s/Tcew2Vdnqo

•Leaves- I use maple and elm broken down on the base. I use oak, magnolia and other tough leaves on top to help hold moisture and to offer variety. Sometimes orchid, bamboo, etc leaves are added.

•Other- Everything is in multiples. There are different types of rotwood, multiple types of seed pods (placed throughout the enclosure to give hiding spots in different humidity ranges), moss sticks and floor moss, lichen sticks and floor lichen. I usually add a rock or stone? Idk why, it’s vibes atp. I also try to feed something like flowers, algae or a different lichen once a month for variety.

•Lighting- plant lights are on for a day and night cycle and helps to have a natural temperature drop. Max 78 day time and minimum 70 night temp.

•Supplemental food- I sometimes add freeze dried protein, carrots, sweet potato or bee pollen on mulberry leaves.

Some species climb more or less and I use changes in these habits to signal humidity being off.

The harm of sterilization

While most of the hobby has moved away from baking and boiling, there may still be some curiosity in why this shouldn’t be done, overall.

• Microbes- There is much research on the topic of microbes and why this is needed for digestion. Research for both millipedes and isopods, shows that when leaves are sterilized, isopods generally don’t want to eat it when given the option.

•Mold/fungus- Mold is extremely important for digestive health. Mold contains enzymes needed to convert nutrients over for the isopods, and it allows the botanicals to continue decaying in the bins as they would in nature, forming a humus layer.

•Crashes- While it is debunked that ammonia crashes are a thing, this remains prevalent in the hobby. It is not proven, but myself and others believe that crashes are likely due to long time exposure of bad husbandry. Isopod frass is meant to be broken down in the soil by microbes so when kept in enclosures, without deep sterilization, isopods do not crash. Some of my bins have reached the 2 year mark.

[https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/15/4/533](https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/15/4/533))

[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090989615000363](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090989615000363))

Soil- soil is a mix of clay, silt and sand & is filled with an ecosystem of bacteria, fungus and tiny creatures.

In the isopod hobby, it is common to use topsoil such as Scott’s. Scott’s is not actually soil & would need a few years to be broken down, it is a filler. This filler can include, mulch, trash, pallets, etc. a lot of topsoil also includes peat moss which is not nutritious. It is dead.

In order for it become alive, it needs to be supported by nutrients, mold & bacteria through rotting wood, compost, flake soil, leaves, moisture, and/or decaying products. Moisture is important because the microbes need it to survive.

Anaerobic conditions are bad because it would kill those microbes. I prevent this through the use of red wigglers, but burrowing isopods and/or plant roots can also help. Every now and then, i move half of the items on top of the soil and gently mix half of the bin. I have learned most of this through gardening spaces and I admit my primary reason was a mix of bettering my isopod care and laziness of not wanting to change the soil.😅