The Dream is an undescribed woodlouse sold as Spherillo sp. 'Dream' and traded as Vietnamese, and you will also find it as Dryadillo sp. 'Dream', Cubaris sp. 'Dream' or 'Shrub'. In the photographs on our listing it runs from a glossy, silvery blue-grey to bronze-brown, with two rows of small yellow spots, a pale rim and, on the paler animals, orange at the front. Keep it at the 22 to 26°C on our listing's care panel and 55 to 70 per cent humidity across the tub, with one damp end and air moving through, on a living substrate with leaf litter, white-rotted wood and calcium.
What a Dream Isopod Is
A trade name for an animal with no formal description that we could find. We list it as Spherillo sp. 'Dream', the name one European seller's species list now gives as the accepted one, but it is also sold as Dryadillo sp. 'Dream', as Cubaris sp. 'Dream', as Isopoda sp. 'Dream', which names only the order every woodlouse belongs to, and, in older listings, as Merulanella sp. 'Dream'. 'Shrub' is another trade name sellers use for it. None of the sellers gives a reason for the genus they use. One keeper wrote in 2023 that they had seen it labelled under almost every genus in the hobby, and that an isopod taxonomy enthusiast had judged Dryadillo the most accurate identification at the time. One hobbyist's list of corrected names calls the Spherillo identification temporary and says the animals are not true Spherillo. The genera it has been sold under all belong to the family Armadillidae, the tropical pill woodlice, which is as far as the labels agree.
Cubaris has become the hobby's catch-all for undescribed rolling species, as our guide to Cubaris explains, so that label tells you little. Merulanella now holds just three species from New Caledonia, none of them in the hobby, and the Vietnamese trade animals the hobby still often calls Merulanella now sit in Ardentiella as undescribed species, covered in our guide to Ardentiella. The Dream was sold as a Merulanella too, but we found no seller or reference that files it under Ardentiella, and its care panel is warmer than theirs, so do not borrow that guide's no-heat-mat advice for the Dream.
Do not confuse it with the Starsky, a separate trade animal that we sell as Dryadillo sp.
Where It Comes From
Every seller we read that gives an origin says Vietnam, and none names a locality, so the care panel on our listing reads "Vietnam (trade report, undescribed)". The earliest dated record we found is a photograph of one taken in September 2021, and by February 2022 it was on a hobby forum's list of Cubaris forms.
Spherillo itself is a large genus of pill woodlice in the family Armadillidae, named by Dana in the early 1850s, with around 70 described species across the Indo-Pacific, among them species from China, Japan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. We found nothing linking any of them to the Dream. The genus has crossed paths with Merulanella before: the species now called Ardentiella bicolorata has been placed in both in its time.
What It Looks Like and How Big It Gets
In the photographs on our listing the Dream runs from a glossy, silvery blue-grey to a darker bronze-brown, with two rows of small yellow spots down the back, a pale, slightly translucent rim to the side plates and, on the paler animals, orange at the head and front segments. Sellers describe a wider range, from almost white or almost yellow through light brown and grey-green to dark brown, and one says every animal seems to wear its spots a little differently. Another says the trade name comes from that spotting.
The 12 to 15 mm on our care panel is our own figure. One European seller gives adults up to 15 mm and a hobby reference site 14 mm, while three other sellers give up to 20 mm. We found no published measurement, which is what you would expect for an animal without a description. Either way it is a mid-sized isopod, not a dwarf.
How It Behaves
Sellers describe it as mostly active at night, and one calls it reclusive and shy, so expect a new group to keep out of sight at first. One seller says they roll up for a moment when startled and are soon on the move again.
Warmth
Our care panel gives 22 to 26°C, the range one American seller gives. A UK seller gives 18 to 26°C, two others 24 to 28°C, and one keeper kept them at about 22 to 24°C, so the sources agree on the low to mid twenties but not on either end. Aim for steady warmth inside the band rather than the top of it. An English home averages about 19°C through the heating season, below the bottom of the panel, so plan on a heat mat or heat cable on a thermostat, fixed to the side of the tub, never underneath, through the colder months at least.
Humidity and Air
We found no scientific source for a humidity figure. Three sellers give 55 to 70 per cent, one gives 60 to 80, and others say medium-high or high. Our care panel gives 55 to 70 per cent and, like every humidity range on our panels, describes the whole tub: the drier end near 55, the damp end near 70. Keep one end damp, with sphagnum moss to hold the water there, and let the rest of the tub run drier; sellers and keepers keep anywhere from a third to two thirds of the floor damp. One seller warns that they suffer, and can even die, in extremely high humidity.
Every seller who mentions air wants it moving through the tub, and one rates the need as medium. Stagnant, humid air kills isopods that need airflow. Fit fine mesh in two opposite walls so air moves through the tub, keep the damp end damp and never seal the box. Our guide to enclosure ventilation and humidity covers the balance.
Tub, Substrate and Calcium
Our guide to how big a tub isopods need has the sizes, and depth matters more than floor space. Build at least 5 cm of flake soil, crumbled white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil, with crushed oyster shell or limestone mixed through, and lay a deep layer of hardwood leaf litter on top. Leave coir out of the mix: it holds water and feeds nothing to an animal that eats its floor. Woodlice build their shells from calcium carbonate, so keep a calcium source in the tub all the time.
Feeding
Leaf litter and white-rotted wood are the diet, so keep both topped up as the colony works through them. Sellers add vegetables and a little protein such as fish flake or dried shrimp. Give vegetables in small amounts and protein now and then, and clear fresh food that has sat for a day or two before it moulds.
Breeding
We found no published brood size or time to maturity for the Dream. Sellers call its breeding moderate, moderate to slow or slow, while two say it breeds readily once conditions suit it. Most woodlice need both sexes to breed, and we found nothing to suggest this one differs, so start with as many as you can. I start new colonies with 20 or more; if you cannot get 20, buy no fewer than 10.
The young leave the brood pouch live, pale and still short of their last pair of legs, so search the tub gently and as little as possible. Hold the warmth, the damp end and the calcium steady, and judge a new group after a season rather than a month.
Is It a Beginner Isopod?
Sellers rate it from moderate to challenging, though one calls it beginner-friendly, and our care panel says Medium. Nothing in its care is unusual, but it is rare, and most sellers call its breeding moderate or slow, so losses are hard to make good and it makes a better second or third species than a first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Dream isopod?
An undescribed woodlouse sold as Spherillo sp. 'Dream' and traded as Vietnamese, glossy grey to bronze-brown with two rows of small yellow spots.
What is the scientific name of the Dream isopod?
We found no formal description of it, so it has no scientific name that we know of. It is sold as Spherillo sp. 'Dream', and also as Dryadillo, Cubaris or Isopoda sp. 'Dream'.
Is Spherillo Dream the same as Cubaris Dream or Dryadillo Dream?
As far as the trade is concerned, yes: hobby name lists treat all of these, and 'Shrub', as one animal. The Starsky, which we sell as Dryadillo sp., is a separate trade animal.
Where do Dream isopods come from?
Every seller we read that gives an origin says Vietnam, but none names a locality, so our care panel reads "Vietnam (trade report, undescribed)".
How big do Dream isopods get?
Our care panel gives 12 to 15 mm. One seller gives up to 15 mm, a reference site 14 mm and three sellers up to 20 mm; we found no published measurement.
What temperature do Dream isopods need?
Our care panel gives 22 to 26°C. An English home averages about 19°C through the heating season, so use a heat mat or cable on a thermostat, fixed to the side of the tub, through the colder months at least.
What humidity do Dream isopods need?
Our care panel gives 55 to 70 per cent across the tub, the drier end near 55 and the damp end near 70, with air moving through.
Do Dream isopods roll up?
One seller says they roll up for a moment when startled and are soon on the move again.
How fast do Dream isopods breed?
Sellers' accounts run from slow to breeding readily once conditions suit them, and we found no published brood size. Start with 20 or more where you can, and no fewer than 10.
Are Dream isopods good for beginners?
They make a better second or third species than a first. Our care panel rates them Medium.
Where to Start
The Dreams we sell are captive-bred, and the Dream listing shows the packs in stock and carries the care panel this guide quotes.
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