Crazy Horse is a slate-grey and white Cubaris, no two quite alike, sold under a trade name and not scientifically described. Its first show with us was the Wigan invertebrate show in 2026, and it sits with the Rubber Ducky among the premium Cubaris we keep. What it needs most is steadiness: warmth held at 22 to 26°C and humidity held high, without the air going stale.
Where the Name Comes From
Probably not from the pattern. The one care sheet that explains the name, a Dutch seller's, says it is for the way the animals dash about, here and there, like crazy horses, and a Dutch sales advert repeats the line. A UK seller jokes instead that it is the markings, no two looking quite the same, that make them crazy. Nobody we found links the name to a place or to a horse's coat.
Looks and Size
Most of ours are dark slate-grey at the head and tail with white to cream across the middle of the back. How far the pale part spreads changes from one animal to the next: some are mostly grey with narrow pale edges, others mostly white with grey patches. The Dutch care sheet describes the animal as a three-colour mosaic of charcoal, cream and caramel-brown and not a simple two-tone piebald; the nearest we see to the warm tone is a grey-brown tinge on some animals.
The only adult size we found is 12 to 15 mm, from the same care sheet, and it is the figure in our care panel; we found no published measurement. That sheet also says they run fast, and a UK seller notes that they can roll into a defensive ball when disturbed.
Origin
The one seller we found that gives this animal an origin says Thailand. A German breeder's July list of captive-bred isopods was headed 'Thai', though it included an Iberian Porcellio, and his September list, Crazy Horse included, called them Asian. No seller we found names a locality, a collector or a year, and our care panel reads "Thailand (trade report)" for that reason. It also looks like a new name: we first listed it in September 2025, and the earliest dated listing we found anywhere else is from November that year. We found nothing more on it in the wild, the usual position for hobby Cubaris, as our article on where Cubaris live explains.
Crazy Horse or Cappuccino?
The Dutch sheet says Crazy Horse looks somewhat like Cappuccino but is a different species. On our two listings the difference is colour and size: our Cappuccino is a marbling of coffee-brown and cream, 15 to 20 mm on keepers' figures, while the Crazy Horse is slate-grey and white at 12 to 15 mm. Whatever the two turn out to be, keep them in separate tubs. Morphs of the same species interbreed freely, so for a breeding colony keep one species, and one morph, per enclosure.
Warmth, Humidity and Air
Our care panel's 22 to 26°C and 70 to 80 per cent humidity are the Dutch sheet's figures; a German seller's general Cubaris sheet runs a little wider, 21 to 27°C and 70 to 90 per cent. Read the humidity range across the tub, drier end to damp end, not as one level to hold everywhere, and keep it high and steady instead of letting it swing. The Dutch sheet says to keep a third to a half of the floor moist; we use sphagnum for the damp part.
On air, the German sheet makes the point that Cubaris generally need less ventilation than Porcellio or Ardentiella. We give them a few small vents on opposite sides: enough to keep the air fresh, and never a sealed box.
For warmth, an English home averages about 19°C through the heating season, below the bottom of the panel, so plan on a low-wattage heat mat or heat cable fixed to a side wall of the tub and wired through a thermostat, never under it.
Substrate, Hides and Calcium
Give them depth: 7 to 10 cm of flake soil, crumbled white-rotted hardwood and some organic topsoil, so they can dig down to where the substrate stays damp and stable. Lay a thick blanket of leaf litter over it and add hides; flat pieces of small cork bark suit an animal this size. For calcium, mix crushed oyster shell or limestone into the substrate and keep cuttlebone on top: woodlice build a calcium carbonate cuticle, and a breeding colony gets through a lot of it. Coir stays out of the mix, because it holds water and feeds nothing to an animal that eats its floor.
Feeding
Rotted hardwood and leaf litter make up most of the diet, so replace both as they disappear. Add a little vegetable now and then, and protein once or twice a week; dried shrimp and fish flakes both suit. Clear out fresh food that has sat uneaten for a day. At this humidity food moulds quickly, and our guide to mould in isopod enclosures sets out the fixes, starting with a drier end rather than a drier tub.
Breeding
The same sheet calls the Crazy Horse prolific, with slow to moderate growth, and a Japanese breeder selling home-bred young under the same name says it multiplies quickly. Even so, a new group of any Cubaris tends to go quiet while it settles, so give it the best part of a season, with the heat and the calcium held steady, before drawing conclusions. For a colony, start with 20 if you can and no fewer than 10.
We found nothing published on how the pattern is inherited, and no brood size, time to first young or account of what share of the young carry any particular look, so the markings in a colony are a mix rather than a prediction. Our guide to isopod genetics and colour morphs covers how colour forms are inherited, and how little of that has been worked out in isopods.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called Crazy Horse?
The only care sheet that explains it puts it down to how the animals dash about; a UK seller jokes that it is the variety of markings.
Is Crazy Horse the same as Cappuccino?
No, on the account of the one seller who compares them: somewhat similar in look, but a different species. On our listings they differ in colour and size, and they belong in separate tubs.
How big do Crazy Horse isopods get?
12 to 15 mm, the figure in our care panel and the only one we found, from a Dutch seller's care sheet.
Are Crazy Horse isopods hard to keep?
Our panel puts them at Medium. The one seller we found that grades them calls them easy, but they want the constant warmth and high, steady humidity of a premium Cubaris, so we would not make one a first isopod: start with a hardier species, or with a Panda King or Penguin if you want a Cubaris from the outset.
Do Crazy Horse isopods need extra heat?
Through a UK winter, almost always: a mat or heat cable on one side of the tub, controlled by a thermostat, holding 22 to 26°C.
Does the Crazy Horse pattern breed true?
We cannot say yet, and we found no seller who reports what share of the young carry it.
Buying Crazy Horse
The Crazy Horse listing has the packs currently in stock, all bred here in the UK.
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