{"title":"All Products","description":"\u003ch1\u003eAll Products\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery product PostPods sells, on one page: captive-bred isopods, springtails, millipedes, beetles, cockroaches and other invertebrates, plus the substrates, foods, leaf litter and enclosures that keep them well. Sort the list or filter it by price and availability, or start from the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtails\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/millipedes-for-sale\"\u003emillipedes\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/accessories\"\u003ekeeping supplies\u003c\/a\u003e collections. Livestock is captive-bred, nearly all of it here in the UK, and every order is posted Monday to Thursday within Great Britain.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"jupiters","title":"Jupiter Isopods (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere is no mistaking a Jupiter for anything else in the tub. A dark, near-black body is outlined segment by segment in bright yellow, so the whole animal reads like a scaled-down photograph of the planet it is named after. It is one of the most photogenic isopods in the hobby, and, refreshingly for something this striking, one of the more forgiving Cubaris you can keep. Every Jupiter we send is captive-bred here in the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. 'Jupiter', also sold as the \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/jupiter-isopod-care-guide\"\u003eJupiter Isopod\u003c\/a\u003e or simply Cubaris Jupiter, from the limestone karst and tropical forest of Thailand. Like the rest of the genus it takes its cues from a humid, calcium-rich cave environment, but it sits at the accessible end of the Cubaris scale: hardier and less temperamental than the premium cave species, which makes it a sensible first step up for a keeper coming from \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003ethe wider genus\u003c\/a\u003e or from hardy Armadillidium. You will also see a higher-contrast 'Jupiter HC' line about, with bolder yellow against deeper black.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdults run around 15 to 20 mm, with a flatter, more conventional isopod profile than the rounded cave species. The signature is the pattern rather than the shape: yellow borders picked out along each segment against a brown-to-black base, brightest on the head and tail. Colour firms up over successive moults, so young stock looks muted next to a settled adult. Like all Cubaris they conglobate, rolling into a tight ball when startled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCare\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJupiters want warmth and humidity but not stagnant air, so aim for 18 to 26°C and a genuine moisture gradient rather than a single sealed climate. Keep roughly a third of the enclosure damp, with sphagnum, damp leaf litter and soaked rotting wood, and let the rest run drier so the colony can choose. Cross-ventilation, with vents on opposing sides, gives real airflow and heads off the enclosure-wide stagnation that breeds mould. Build the substrate on flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil rather than coco coir, which holds water but feeds nothing to an animal that eats its floor, and scatter limestone through it: this is a karst species, and constant calcium feeds straight into clean moults. Our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003esubstrate guide\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-calcium-guide\"\u003ecalcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e cover the detail.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eDiet\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter and decaying white hardwood do most of the feeding and should be kept topped up. On top of that, offer small amounts of vegetable, a little fruit and the occasional pinch of protein such as fish flake or dried shrimp, and they are keen on mushroom in any form. Carotenoid-rich veg like carrot and pumpkin is worth including, as it may deepen the yellow. Lift anything uneaten within a day or two so leftovers do not turn in the humid corner. A \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e alongside handles the microscopic cleanup and belongs in any Cubaris setup.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJupiters breed at a slow but steady pace: not the explosion of a Dairy Cow colony, but reliable once settled, and year-round under stable warmth and humidity. Expect the first mancae within three to six months of a starter group finding its feet, and resist digging after them while they establish. That patient rate is normal for the genus and nothing to worry about. For the fuller picture our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/complete-cubaris-isopod-care-guide\"\u003ecomplete Cubaris care guide\u003c\/a\u003e walks through it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Jupiter suits the keeper who wants a bold, camera-ready Cubaris without the cost or the fuss of the rarities, and it makes a strong first cave species before moving up to the demanding morphs like the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e or the reliably-breeding \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/panda-king\"\u003ePanda King\u003c\/a\u003e. It is calm, reasonably visible for a Cubaris, and does useful cleanup work in a bioactive tank on top of earning its place on looks alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll stock is captive-bred here in the UK and travels under our live arrival guarantee, packed into a ventilated deli tub with damp sphagnum inside a double-walled box. We post Monday to Thursday by Royal Mail next day before 1pm, with a 20% overcount in every order.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":45905591402790,"sku":"JUP5","price":50.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":45039647621414,"sku":"JUP10","price":95.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45039647654182,"sku":"JUP20","price":180.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/jupiter-isopods-cubaris-sp-7773668.jpg?v=1767040455"},{"product_id":"dairy-cow-isopods","title":"Dairy Cow Isopods for Sale UK (Porcellio laevis)","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf you want an isopod that actually works for a living, this is the one. Dairy Cows are big, fast, permanently hungry \u003cem\u003ePorcellio laevis\u003c\/em\u003e, marked in bold black-and-white patches that look like a Friesian herd viewed from a great height. They break down waste faster than almost anything else in the hobby, they breed prolifically, and they are about as forgiving as isopods get. There is one thing you need to know before they go anywhere near another animal, and I have put it below rather than burying it at the bottom.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAbout the Dairy Cow isopod\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDairy Cow, sometimes written Dairy Cow Isopod or simply Cow, is a black-and-white morph of \u003cem\u003ePorcellio laevis\u003c\/em\u003e, a species native to southern Europe, the Mediterranean basin and North Africa that has since spread across much of the world alongside human activity. The species name \u003cem\u003elaevis\u003c\/em\u003e means smooth, which describes the shell nicely: no bumps or ridges, just a clean glossy surface, quite unlike the pebbled texture of a \u003cem\u003escaber\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey are among the larger isopods you can keep, with adults reaching roughly 2cm and good specimens a little over. They are also quick. \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e do not conglobate, so when something startles them they do not roll into a ball; they flatten and sprint, which is why the species has been known as the swift woodlouse for a lot longer than it has been called a Dairy Cow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe protein requirement, and why it matters\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePorcellio laevis\u003c\/em\u003e has an unusually high protein demand compared with most isopods, and this is the detail that gets left out of a lot of listings. A well-fed colony is no trouble at all. An underfed one will start looking for protein wherever it can find it, which can mean soft-bodied tankmates, or in a vivarium the skin of a sleeping reptile.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe fix is simple and cheap: keep a protein source permanently available rather than offering it occasionally. Dried \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dried-silkworm-pupae-100g\"\u003esilkworm pupae\u003c\/a\u003e, fish flake or a dried invertebrate food all work. If you are adding these to an enclosure with other animals in it, treat protein as part of the setup rather than an extra. Do that and they are excellent, hard-working vivarium residents. Skip it and they will make their own arrangements.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare and housing\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUndemanding, which is why they are one of the best first isopods. A clip-lock tub with good cross-ventilation suits them, and bigger is better given how large they get and how quickly they multiply. Give them plenty of surface cover: cork bark, bark chips, and a thick layer of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/leaf-litter-1l\"\u003eleaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e they can work through.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSubstrate should be a nutritious base of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, well-rotted hardwood and untreated organic topsoil, deep enough for the females to dig their brooding hollows. Coco coir is not the right base for them; it holds water but feeds nothing that eats the substrate itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn moisture, this is a species people commonly get wrong by overdoing it. They want moderate humidity with a clear gradient, not a uniformly wet tub. Keep one end damp and let the other run dry and airy, and they will use both. They like warmth and will breed faster for it: a heated room carries them for most of the year; through the heating season an English home averages around 19°C, just under the 20 to 26°C band, so a small heat mat on a thermostat at one end keeps a colony breeding. Calcium should be constantly available, either as cuttlebone or crushed limestone, because animals this size put a lot into every moult.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eDiet\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter and rotting wood underpin everything and should never run out. On top of that they take vegetables enthusiastically, particularly courgette, carrot, squash and sweet potato, and they will clear a slice faster than you expect. Protein sits alongside all of this permanently rather than as a treat, for the reasons above.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is one of the fastest-breeding isopods in the hobby and it needs almost no help from you. Females carry their brood in a pouch beneath the body and release live young; in warm conditions with food constantly available, a starter group turns into a working colony within months. If anything the usual problem is the opposite one, and keepers end up with more than they planned for. That is part of why they are so widely used as a feeder species: a mature colony produces a surplus you can harvest indefinitely without denting it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho is this isopod for?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeginners, bioactive keepers and anyone who wants an isopod that visibly does something. They are hardy enough to survive the mistakes everyone makes early on, striking enough to be worth watching in their own right, and productive enough to feed other animals from. The one group I would steer away is anyone housing them with small, soft-bodied or delicate tankmates, where the protein issue makes them a poor neighbour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you like the animal but want a different look, the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/giant-orange-isopods\"\u003eGiant Orange\u003c\/a\u003e is the same species in a bold orange, with identical care, and the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/porcellio-laevis-milk-back-isopods\"\u003eMilk Back\u003c\/a\u003e is another \u003cem\u003elaevis\u003c\/em\u003e line worth a look. Do not confuse Dairy Cows with the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/oreo-crumble-isopods\"\u003eOreo Crumble\u003c\/a\u003e, which wears a similar black-and-white pattern but is a \u003cem\u003ePorcellionides pruinosus\u003c\/em\u003e morph, noticeably smaller and faster. The full range is in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/porcellio-isopods\"\u003ePorcellio collection\u003c\/a\u003e, and there is more husbandry detail in our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/dairy-cow-isopod-care\"\u003eDairy Cow isopod care guide\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese come from our own captive-bred colonies, and we count 20% over your order into every tub as standard. They travel in a ventilated deli pot with damp sphagnum inside a double-walled box, sent Monday to Thursday only on Royal Mail's tracked next-day service, and backed by our live arrival guarantee.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45085284860198,"sku":"DC10","price":2.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":45085284892966,"sku":"DC50","price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100","offer_id":45085292265766,"sku":"DC100","price":17.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"200","offer_id":47333748605222,"sku":"","price":32.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/dairy-cow-isopods-porcellio-laevis-for-sale-uk-9411121.jpg?v=1779468259"},{"product_id":"panda-king","title":"Panda King Isopods (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn five years of keeping isopods - and more than two decades keeping reptiles and other exotics before that - the Panda King is the Cubaris I most often hand to someone taking their first step into the genus. The name does it justice: bold black-and-white banding that genuinely evokes a giant panda, on an isopod you can recognise across a room. But what really sets it apart from the rest of the Cubaris world is that it actually breeds - reliably, and in good numbers - where so many premium cave species stall. Every Panda King we send is captive-bred here in the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Panda King is \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. \"Panda King\", one of the most recognisable and popular Cubaris in the hobby. It comes from the limestone caves and karst formations of central and northern Vietnam - dark, humid, calcium-rich environments that shape everything about how you keep it. It has become the gateway species into Cubaris for good reason: the striking looks and the reasonable care of the rarer cave species, without their steep cost or demanding husbandry. It also comes in some superb morphs, from the fiery \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/red-panda-king-isopods\"\u003eRed Panda King\u003c\/a\u003e to the soft \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/pink-panda-king\"\u003ePink Panda King\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePanda Kings reach around 1-1.5 cm, with a rounded, calm body carrying the two solid white bands and black patterning that give them their name. The contrast against dark substrate and leaf litter is unmistakable, and they are one of the few isopods you can identify on sight from across a room. Like all Cubaris they conglobate, rolling into a tight ball when disturbed - the classic pillbug defence - and they are unhurried, deliberate animals that spend much of their time burrowing through the substrate and grazing beneath cover.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere is where Panda King care differs most from the hardy European isopods, and it is worth getting right. As a cave species they want warmth and high humidity - around 21-27°C and 70-80% - but crucially they want \u003cstrong\u003eless airflow\u003c\/strong\u003e than the strong cross-breeze Mediterranean species need. A plastic tub with a clip-lock lid and a few small vents holds humidity far better than a breezy glass terrarium. Low is not none, though. Seal a tub completely and the air stops turning over, so aim for low to moderate ventilation rather than none at all. Give them a deep substrate to burrow into, built around a nutritious base of flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil rather than coco coir, which holds moisture but offers no nutrition to an animal that eats its substrate. And because they come from calcium-rich limestone caves, a permanent calcium source is not optional: cuttlebone or crushed limestone directly affects their moulting, breeding and overall health. Our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003esubstrate guide\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-calcium-guide\"\u003ecalcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/complete-cubaris-isopod-care-guide\"\u003ecomplete Cubaris care guide\u003c\/a\u003e cover the detail.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eDiet\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePanda Kings are detritivores, so the foundation of the diet is leaf litter and decaying wood, kept topped up as it is eaten. Add small amounts of vegetables and the occasional protein such as fish flake or dried shrimp, and clear away anything uneaten within a day or two - overfeeding fresh food is the quickest route to mould and pests in a humid, poorly ventilated enclosure. A thriving \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail\u003c\/a\u003e culture alongside them handles microbial cleanup before it becomes a problem, and is well worth adding to any Cubaris setup.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the Panda King's real party trick. Many premium Cubaris are notoriously slow or difficult to breed, with colonies that stagnate for months despite perfect husbandry - Panda Kings simply get on with it. Give a starter group of 10-20 stable, warm, humid conditions and you will typically see the first mancae within three to six months, and a thriving colony inside a year. That reliability makes them far better value than the slow-breeders at similar prices. Our guide to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/breeding-rubber-duckys-and-panda-kings\"\u003ebreeding Rubber Duckys and Panda Kings\u003c\/a\u003e walks through it. As with any cave Cubaris, patience early pays off, so let a new group settle without digging around after them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Panda King suits almost anyone drawn to Cubaris - a keeper wanting their first cave species without the cost and difficulty of the rare ones, or an experienced hobbyist after a dependable, good-looking, productive colony. It is a step up in care from the hardy beginner isopods, mainly in its need for warmth, humidity and carefully judged airflow, but it is one of the most forgiving and rewarding Cubaris you can keep. Explore the rest of the genus in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnd for the whole family in one place, our new \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/panda-king-isopod-care-guide\"\u003ePanda King care guide\u003c\/a\u003e walks the group's husbandry from the Vietnamese cave brief through airflow and calcium to breeding timelines, morphs included.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery colony is captive-bred from established UK stock and ships under our live arrival guarantee, sent in a double-walled box with sphagnum moss in a ventilated deli tub. We dispatch Monday to Thursday so nothing sits in the postal system over a weekend.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45085293412646,"sku":"PK10","price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45085293445414,"sku":"PK20","price":17.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":45085298852134,"sku":"PK50","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100","offer_id":47111597556006,"sku":"","price":75.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/panda_king_isopod-183352.jpg?v=1723670769"},{"product_id":"lemon-blue","title":"Lemon Blue Isopods (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eSteel-blue bodies edged in bright lemon yellow, and a back that flashes distinctly blue when light catches it at the right angle. There are perhaps three or four isopods in the hobby that stop people mid-conversation and the Lemon Blue is one of them. It is also, and this needs saying plainly on a page that is trying to sell them, one of the more demanding animals we stock.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you want the short version: they are slow, they are fussy about consistency, and they will punish a swinging enclosure. What they will not do is die on you for no reason. Everything about keeping them successfully comes down to setting the conditions once and then not letting them drift.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eNames and origins\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSold as \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. 'Lemon Blue', and also as the \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/care-for-lemon-blue-isopods\"\u003eLemon Blue Isopod\u003c\/a\u003e or Cubaris Lemon Blue. Like most of the genus in the hobby, the species has never been formally described, so the trade name is all there is; the family is Armadillidae and the origin is Thailand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAdults reach around 20 mm, which makes them a substantial animal rather than the dwarf species the name sometimes implies. The colour deepens as they mature, so an established colony looks considerably better than a group of juveniles will when they first arrive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe setup, and why consistency matters more than numbers\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWarm and humid, with a moisture gradient rather than a uniformly wet tub. Keep roughly a third of the enclosure damp and let the rest run drier, and maintain ventilation throughout, because stagnant air is what turns a humid Cubaris enclosure into a mould problem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLay 7 to 10 cm of a nutritious forest-floor base such as our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/substrate-for-invertebrates\"\u003einvertebrate substrate\u003c\/a\u003e, deep enough that they can burrow to moult undisturbed. Work in plenty of decaying hardwood, add forest moss, and cover the surface generously with leaf litter; \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e last well and give them cover to feed under. Cork bark and a piece of limestone finish the job.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe part that actually separates success from failure is stability. This species reacts badly to parameters moving about, so a tub that swings between soaked and dry, or sits by a radiator that comes on and off, will stall the colony even if the average conditions look correct on paper. Pick a spot, set it up, and leave it alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eFeeding, and the colour question\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDecaying hardwood and leaf litter form the base. Protein matters here more than with hardier species, so offer dried shrimp or fish flake a couple of times a week rather than occasionally, and keep \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e in permanently, since Cubaris are heavily calcified animals from limestone country and will graze it steadily.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow the thing this species is known for. Lemon Blues have a reputation for their yellow fading over generations in captivity, and the widely used remedy among keepers is a diet richer in carotenoids and astaxanthin, delivered through carrot, pumpkin, squash, sweet pepper, or the colour-enhancing foods sold for ornamental fish. I would be honest about the status of this: it is well-established practice with a lot of keeper experience behind it and a plausible mechanism, not something that has been formally tested. Feeding that way costs nothing and does no harm, and enough people report a difference that it is worth doing. Genetics and line quality almost certainly play a part too.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding, and patience\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSlow. Expect three to four months before a group settles into anything resembling a stable colony, and four to six months before you see the first small broods. Broods stay modest after that, and the population builds over a year rather than a season.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThat is the honest picture, and it is exactly why they cost what they do. It also means the most common way to lose a Lemon Blue colony is impatience: digging through the substrate to check for young, moving the tub, adjusting things. Resist all of it. They are mostly nocturnal and naturally retiring, so seeing very little of them for the first couple of months is normal rather than a warning sign.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho they suit\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExperienced keepers, and I would rather say so than sell one to somebody who will be disappointed. If you have kept Cubaris before and understand what a stable humid enclosure feels like, this is one of the most rewarding animals in the genus. If you are stepping up from hardy beginner species, the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/amber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eAmber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e teaches the same disciplines at a fraction of the cost and with far more forgiveness built in, and it is genuinely the better first move.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAgainst the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e, the other premium name in the genus, both are slow and both demand consistency; the Ducky trades on shape and fame, the Lemon Blue on colour. See the full \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris collection\u003c\/a\u003e to compare, or the wider \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopod range\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSpringtails from day one\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNot optional with this species. The warm, humid, protein-fed conditions Lemon Blues need are also ideal for mould, and mould on uneaten food is a genuine risk to a slow colony that cannot outbreed a setback. Seed the enclosure with a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e before the isopods go in and the problem never starts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eArriving with you\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCaptive-bred in the UK from established colonies. Dispatch is Monday to Thursday only by Royal Mail next day by 1pm, keeping transit as short as possible, with the animals travelling in ventilated deli tubs on damp sphagnum moss inside a double-walled box. A 20% overcount and our live arrival guarantee apply as standard. Have the enclosure built, damp and settled before they arrive, and then give them several weeks of being left completely alone.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":55264384319870,"sku":null,"price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":45085300523302,"sku":"LB10","price":160.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45085300588838,"sku":"LB20","price":300.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/lemon_blue_isopods.jpg?v=1781367200"},{"product_id":"zebra-isopods","title":"Zebra Isopods (Armadillidium Maculatum)","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor a great many keepers, the Zebra is the isopod that started it all. Bold black-and-white banding running the length of the body, a calm and watchable temperament, and care so forgiving that a first purchase quietly turns into a lasting hobby - it is little wonder \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium maculatum\u003c\/em\u003e is one of the most popular isopods in the world, and the species most people buy first.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Zebra is \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium maculatum\u003c\/em\u003e, a striped member of the same genus as the common pill bug, native to the temperate south of France. Its clean monochrome pattern made it stand out to hobbyists early on, and it has since become a cornerstone of the hobby: hardy, affordable and endlessly available. Selective breeding has drawn several handsome morphs from it, including the golden \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/yellow-zebra-isopods\"\u003eYellow Zebra\u003c\/a\u003e and the dark-based \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/chocolate-zebra-isopods\"\u003eChocolate Zebra\u003c\/a\u003e, though the original stripes remain the classic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdults reach around 14 to 18 mm, dressed in the crisp black-and-white striping that gives them their name and makes them a genuine display animal despite their modest size. They are true pill bugs: disturb one and it tucks itself into a tidy, armoured sphere, unrolling again once it feels safe. Slow and deliberate movers, they are easy and rather satisfying to watch going about their business.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere is the one thing to get right, because it catches people out: Zebras like it on the drier side. As a Mediterranean species they want good ventilation and a moderate, never soggy, enclosure - closer to what a Magic Potion enjoys than the humid, still air a cave Cubaris needs. Set up a gentle moisture gradient, one damper end with the rest kept drier and airy, and mist sparingly. Normal UK room temperature suits them across most of the year. Give them a deep substrate to burrow through, built on a nutritious base of flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil; skip coco coir, which is cheap and popular but inert, since a Zebra's substrate ought to feed it rather than merely hold water. Keep cuttlebone or crushed limestone on hand for healthy moulting. Our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/care-for-zebra-isopods\"\u003eZebra care guide\u003c\/a\u003e covers the species in depth, and our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003esubstrate guide\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-calcium-guide\"\u003ecalcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e lay out the setup.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eDiet\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eZebras are detritivores that live on leaf litter and decaying wood, topped up as it breaks down, with the odd vegetable and a little protein such as fish flake or dried shrimp to round things out. One honest caveat for the planted-vivarium crowd: Zebras will nibble living moss and softer plants, so they suit a leaf-litter setup or a robustly planted one far better than a delicate, mossy showpiece. Our guide to what isopods eat covers the full diet, and the care guide above has the calcium detail.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFew isopods are easier to breed. Give a healthy group a stable, well-fed enclosure and they simply get on with it, building a self-sustaining colony with no real intervention from you - a large part of why they make such a rewarding first species. Start with ten or more for a good mix of animals, and let the numbers climb.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you have never kept isopods, start here: the Zebra is forgiving, striking and inexpensive, and it teaches you the fundamentals with a wide margin for error. Experienced keepers value it too, as a reliable display colony and a hardy cleaner for drier bioactive setups. About the only place it disappoints is a moss-heavy planted tank it might graze. Browse the rest of the genus in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium collection\u003c\/a\u003e, and if this is your first colony our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/the-beginner-s-guide-to-keeping-isopods-in-the-uk\"\u003ebeginner's guide\u003c\/a\u003e walks through the whole setup. Its stablemate the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dairy-cow-isopods\"\u003eDairy Cow\u003c\/a\u003e is another bombproof starter worth a look.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYour Zebras arrive as captive-bred UK stock, packed with sphagnum moss in a ventilated deli tub inside a double-walled box and covered by our live arrival guarantee. We post Monday to Thursday only, so no animals are left sitting in the system over a weekend.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45085307273510,"sku":"ZEB10","price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":48811944706342,"sku":"","price":19.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":45085307306278,"sku":"ZEB50","price":42.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/zebra-isopods-armadillidium-maculatum-8018652.jpg?v=1764976515"},{"product_id":"gestroi-isopods","title":"Armadillidium Gestroi - Yellow Spotted Isopods","description":"\u003cp\u003eAcid yellow on deep purple-grey is not a colour combination that occurs often in nature, and it is not one you see anywhere else among woodlice. Scattered spots run across the back of a body dark enough to look almost aubergine in poor light, and the contrast is sharp enough that a gestroi colony reads clearly from across a room rather than needing you to crouch at the glass. Some animals come through neon, others closer to pumpkin orange, and the pattern sharpens as they mature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSize helps. At around 20 mm they are among the largest \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/em\u003e in the hobby, noticeably bigger than the Zebras most people meet first, and the extra bulk turns a display tub into something that actually holds a visitor's attention.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eNames and origins\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eArmadillidium gestroi\u003c\/em\u003e is sold under a fistful of names: the Yellow Spotted Isopod, High Yellow Gestroi, High Yellow Spotted Giant, or just Gestroi. They are the same animal, and the \"high yellow\" tag refers to selection for stronger spotting rather than a separate species.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the wild they live along the Mediterranean coast of southern France and northern Italy, on rocky cliffs and limestone outcrops. That habitat is the whole care sheet in one sentence: dry, bright, mineral-rich, and thoroughly ventilated. They are not forest-floor animals and they do not want to be kept like one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTheir colouration is generally read as an aposematic warning signal, in the same way the spotting on the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/clown-isopods\"\u003eClown Isopod\u003c\/a\u003e is, though as with the Clown this is a well-supported inference rather than a demonstrated fact. Both species come from the same corner of the Mediterranean and both went in a similar direction, which is at least suggestive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe setup that actually works\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe single most common reason a gestroi colony stalls is being kept too wet. They are a drier species and they need real airflow, so build the enclosure with generous ventilation and let most of the substrate run on the dry side, keeping one damp corner they can use when they choose. Mist that corner, not the whole tub.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLay 5 to 7 cm of a nutritious base such as our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/substrate-for-invertebrates\"\u003einvertebrate substrate\u003c\/a\u003e, enough for burrowing when they moult, and cover it generously with dry hardwood leaf litter. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003eMagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e are worth the extra over ordinary litter here because gestroi work through leaf matter steadily and magnolia lasts. Add cork bark, bark slabs or stacked slate, since animals from limestone outcrops instinctively want crevices to wedge into.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA heated UK room suits them year-round without additional equipment. Keep them off a windowsill and away from direct heat and they need very little intervention. Full details on building the substrate are in my \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003eisopod substrate\u003c\/a\u003e guide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCalcium is the other half\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn animal that evolved on limestone and grew to 20 mm has a serious calcium requirement, and gestroi will use as much as you make available. Keep \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e in permanently rather than adding it now and then. Shortage shows up first as poor moults and dull colour long before anything more obvious goes wrong.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe rest of the diet is leaf litter and decaying hardwood, with protein once a week or so and a little vegetable occasionally. Take out anything uneaten within a day; in a deliberately dry enclosure, wet food left sitting is the quickest way to create the damp patch you were trying to avoid.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSteady rather than quick. Gestroi grow slowly and breed at a measured pace, producing modest broods rather than the population explosions you get from a vulgare morph, and a colony takes months to build rather than weeks. That is the honest trade-off for the size and the colour, and it is also why established colonies hold their value.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey are unusually confident animals and forage during the day as well as at night, so unlike many species you will get to watch them behave rather than inferring what they have been up to from the state of the leaf litter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho they suit\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA strong choice for a keeper with a season or two behind them. They are hardy and forgiving of most things, but the drier, better-ventilated setup is a different discipline from the humid tub most people start with, and that is what catches people out rather than any fragility in the animal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey sit naturally alongside other Mediterranean species: the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/zebra-isopods\"\u003eZebra\u003c\/a\u003e wants the same treatment and makes a good contrast in a collection, being smaller and boldly striped where gestroi is large and spotted. The rest of the genus is in the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium collection\u003c\/a\u003e, and the wider range in the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods for sale\u003c\/a\u003e section.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eArriving with you\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese are captive-bred here in the UK. Dispatch runs Monday to Thursday only, by Royal Mail next day by 1pm, so nothing sits in the network over a weekend. Animals travel in ventilated deli tubs on damp sphagnum moss inside a double-walled box, with a 20% overcount and our live arrival guarantee on every order. Have the enclosure set up and ventilating before they arrive, and give them a week to find their feet before expecting much surface activity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45085313302822,"sku":"AHY10","price":15.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45085313335590,"sku":"AHY20","price":27.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":45173008335142,"sku":"AHY50","price":60.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100","offer_id":45173008302374,"sku":"AHY100","price":110.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/high-yellow-spotted-giant-isopods-armadillidium-gestroi-103055.jpg?v=1750256682"},{"product_id":"magic-potion-isopods","title":"Magic Potion Isopods (Armadillidium vulgare)","description":"\u003cp\u003eFew isopods pull off the trick the Magic Potion manages: it looks like a designer morph and behaves like a garden weed. The pale, almost milky body is scattered with soft yellow patches and crisp black flecks, and no two animals wear quite the same pattern, so build a colony and you end up with a tub of individuals rather than a set of clones. Underneath that showy coat, though, is \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium vulgare\u003c\/em\u003e, the common pill bug most of us met as children, which is exactly why this is one of the most forgiving good-looking isopods you can keep.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAbout the Magic Potion Isopod\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMagic Potion, also sold as the Magic Potion Vulgare, is a selectively bred colour form of \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium vulgare\u003c\/em\u003e, the roly-poly or pill woodlouse that is native right across Europe including here in the UK. It is a true pill bug, so when it feels threatened it rolls into a tight, sealed ball with no gaps, a habit that never really stops being satisfying to watch. Because the base animal is so widespread and hardy, the morph carries all of that resilience with it, which is unusual for something this eye-catching.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe look comes from a dalmatian-type trait that breaks up the dark pigment into scattered speckles while leaving the species' natural yellow markings intact, giving you that milky-white background dusted with yellow and black. The trait behaves as a recessive one and breeds true when Magic Potions are kept together, so a settled colony stays on-morph. You may see it offered as an American line or a Japanese line; in practice both give you the same animal, with only minor differences in size and how quickly they build up. Freshly arrived juveniles often look a little washed out, and the bold adult contrast fills in over a couple of months of good feeding, so try not to judge a young colony too early.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare and Housing\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMagic Potions are genuinely beginner-friendly, and one of the few isopods I am happy to hand to someone just starting out. A 6 to 10 litre tub with a clip-lock lid suits a starter group, with plenty of cross-ventilation drilled into the sides. Unlike the tropical cave species, these tolerate drier, airier conditions well, and that ventilation heads off most mould problems before they begin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor substrate I use a nutritious base of flake soil, well-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil, at least 5cm deep so they can burrow. I would steer you away from a coco-coir base here: it holds moisture but gives a substrate-eater nothing to actually eat. Top it with a generous layer of leaf litter, with \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e and oak both ideal, and add a few pieces of cork bark for cover. A layer of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e mixed through the base keeps it living and productive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe one rule that applies to any \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/a\u003e is a moisture gradient rather than uniform damp. Keep one end lightly moist with a patch of sphagnum and damp leaf litter, and let the other end run drier; the colony will move between the two as it needs to. Normal heated UK room temperature suits them the year round, and a piece of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e left in for constant calcium keeps moulting healthy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eDiet\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe staple is leaf litter and rotting wood, always available, and they are not remotely fussy beyond that. Offer soft vegetables such as courgette, cucumber, squash and sweet potato, and lift out anything uneaten within a day. Once or twice a week give a little protein, such as \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dried-daphnia-100g\"\u003edried daphnia\u003c\/a\u003e, which supports moulting and keeps a breeding colony productive. Do bear in mind that, like most Armadillidium, they will graze on soft live plants and moss in a bioactive setup, so plant with the tougher species if you want the greenery to survive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is one of the easiest premium-looking morphs to breed, which is a large part of why it stays affordable and widely available. Females carry their developing young in a brood pouch on the underside and release live, miniature isopods once they hatch. A starter group kept warm, fed well and given steady calcium will usually show tiny mancae within a month or two, and inside a year you will have a thriving colony. Keep the colony morph-to-morph and the offspring come out as Magic Potions; cross them back to a plain wild-type vulgare and the morph goes hidden for a generation, which is worth knowing if you want to hold a pure line.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho Is This Isopod For?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you want serious visual impact without the demanding husbandry that usually comes with it, this is the isopod I point people towards first. It makes an ideal first step up from plain beginner species, a reliable bioactive clean-up crew, and a rewarding display colony in its own right; pair it with a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e to keep mould in check and you have a low-effort, self-sustaining setup. If you are weighing up other hardy, good-looking options, the striped \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/zebra-isopods\"\u003eZebra isopod\u003c\/a\u003e sits in much the same easy-care bracket. For a fuller walk-through of housing and husbandry, our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/care-for-magic-potion-isopods\"\u003eMagic Potion care guide\u003c\/a\u003e goes into more detail.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery order is captive-bred here in the UK and travels in a double-walled box, tucked into a ventilated tub with damp sphagnum moss to keep everyone comfortable in transit. We post Monday to Thursday by Royal Mail Tracked, with a live arrival guarantee on every parcel.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45085316940070,"sku":"MP10","price":15.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45085316972838,"sku":"MP20","price":27.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":55721440117118,"sku":"MP10","price":60.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/magic_potion_isopod-249604.jpg?v=1723670768"},{"product_id":"clown-isopods","title":"Montenegro Clown Isopods (Armadillidium klugii)","description":"\u003cp\u003eLook at a Clown from above and the pattern should ring a faint alarm bell. Dark body, three rows of pale spots running front to back, and a bright orange-red skirt around the edge. That is very close to the livery of the Mediterranean black widow, \u003cem\u003eLatrodectus tredecimguttatus\u003c\/em\u003e, which shares the same stretch of Adriatic coastline. The resemblance is widely read as mimicry, a harmless woodlouse borrowing the warning colours of something that can genuinely hurt a predator. It is a reasonable inference rather than a proven case, so I would enjoy it as a good story rather than state it as settled fact, but it is hard to look at the two side by side and not see it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhatever the reason for the pattern, the result is one of the best-looking woodlice you can keep, and one of the few that behaves like a display animal rather than something you catch glimpses of when you lift a piece of bark.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eNames and identity\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe species is \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium klugii\u003c\/em\u003e, described by Brandt in 1833. You will see it sold as the Clown Isopod, the Montenegro Clown, the Klugii Clown, or just Klugii. Our stock is the Montenegro form, the most widely kept of several regional variants alongside Dubrovnik, Croatia and Bosnia, which differ mainly in how much red they carry and whether the middle row of spots runs white or yellow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWild \u003cem\u003eA. klugii\u003c\/em\u003e live along the Adriatic coast from Croatia down to Montenegro, with most records clustered in Dalmatia and a scattering further south into Albania and western Greece. They shelter under stones and in limestone crevices, which tells you almost everything you need to know about how to keep them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat they look like\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe base colour is a deep greyish-brown that reads as near-black in most lighting, broken by three neat rows of spots down the back. The outer rows stay white; the central row often warms to yellow as an animal matures, which is why a mixed-age group looks more varied than photographs of single adults suggest. Running round the edge of the body is the orange-red skirt that gives the morph its character.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey are a decent size for an \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/em\u003e, a settled adult running 14 to 18mm, which makes them slightly larger than the common pill bug most people meet in the garden. You will see 21mm quoted for the species all over the hobby. That is a real figure - it is the largest animal in Schmalfuss's 2013 revision of the group - but it is one exceptional specimen rather than what turns up in a tub. Like every member of the genus they conglobate, rolling into a sealed ball with no gaps when they feel threatened. Clowns are bolder than most, and mine will sit out in the open under a light rather than bolting for cover, which is a large part of why they work so well in a display setup.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSetting them up\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is where most Clown colonies go wrong. They are a Mediterranean species from dry limestone country, not a tropical one, and they suffer in the humid tub that suits a Cubaris. Aim for a well-ventilated enclosure that runs mostly on the dry side, with one damp corner they can visit when they need to. Mist that corner rather than the whole enclosure, and let the rest breathe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLay a base of a nutritious forest-floor mix such as our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/substrate-for-invertebrates\"\u003eready-made invertebrate substrate\u003c\/a\u003e at around 5 to 7 cm, deep enough for them to burrow when moulting. There is more on building the right mix in my write-up on \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003eisopod substrate\u003c\/a\u003e if you would rather blend your own. Cover the surface generously with dry hardwood leaf litter, and give them cork bark, bark chunks or stacked slate for the crevices they instinctively want. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003eMagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e are the standout here because they hold their shape for months and Clowns work through them steadily.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey do best at 22 to 26°C, warmer than a typical UK home. A heated room keeps them going year-round, though they increase slowly in it, and gentle warmth from a heat mat on a thermostat, fixed to the side of the enclosure, is the most reliable way to turn a slow colony into a productive one. Keep them out of direct sun and away from a radiator, and they will settle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eFeeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter and decaying hardwood do most of the work, supplemented with the occasional slice of vegetable and a protein source such as fish flake or dried shrimp every week or two. Do not overdo the wet food, and lift anything they have not finished within a day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCalcium matters more with this species than with most. They evolved on limestone karst and they will use it. Keep \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e in the enclosure permanently rather than adding it occasionally, and you will see it in the quality of their moults and the strength of the colour in the skirt.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eClowns are steady rather than explosive. They will not swamp a tub the way a vulgare morph does, and broods tend to be modest, so a colony builds over months rather than weeks. That patience is the trade-off for the appearance, and it also means a mature colony holds its value.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTwo things speed them up: warmth in the low-to-mid twenties, and getting the ventilation and moisture gradient right. Colonies kept too damp stall, and colonies kept uniformly bone dry stall too. Get the gradient right, add that warmth, and they need very little intervention. You will often catch pairs mate-guarding on the surface, which is a good sign the conditions are working.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho they suit\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eClowns are a strong second or third species rather than an absolute first, mainly because the drier setup is a different discipline from the humid tub most people start with. If you have kept anything before and fancy something that looks remarkable and behaves boldly, they are among the most rewarding animals in the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium range\u003c\/a\u003e. If you are already running Mediterranean species, they will slot straight in beside \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/zebra-isopods\"\u003eZebra isopods\u003c\/a\u003e or the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/pineapple-isopods\"\u003eCrystal Pineapple\u003c\/a\u003e, since all three want the same drier, better-ventilated treatment, though Clowns want it warmer than either.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor everything else in the range, browse the full \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopod collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eArriving with you\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese are captive-bred here in the UK. Orders go out Monday to Thursday only so nothing sits in a depot over a weekend, travelling by Royal Mail next day by 1pm in a double-walled box, packed into ventilated deli tubs with damp sphagnum moss to hold humidity in transit. Every order includes a 20% overcount and our live arrival guarantee. Open the box somewhere enclosed, since a well-travelled Clown can be surprisingly quick once the lid comes off.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45085319856422,"sku":"AC10","price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45085319889190,"sku":"AC20","price":19.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":45172984545574,"sku":"AC50","price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/clown-montenegro-isopods-armadillidium-klugii-8846121.jpg?v=1775250915"},{"product_id":"amber-ducky-isopods","title":"Amber Ducky Isopods (Cubaris sp.) - UK Bred","description":"\u003cp\u003eEvery genus has one species that quietly does everything the famous ones do, without the price tag or the hand-wringing. In Cubaris, that is the Amber Ducky. It carries the family looks and the family behaviour, it breeds more willingly than most of its relatives, and it forgives the sort of small husbandry slip that would set a premium morph back six months. If you have been circling Cubaris keeping and hesitating, this is the sensible way in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe colour is what people remember. Most isopods live in cool tones, all the greys and browns and blacks of things that live under bark. Amber Duckies run warm instead: honey, gold and orange through the front of the body, deepening to darker segments towards the rear. Under a light they glow in a way photographs consistently fail to capture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eNames and background\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSold as \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. 'Amber Ducky', and also as the Amber Ducky Isopod or simply Cubaris Amber Ducky. Like most of the genus in the hobby it is a trade name attached to an undescribed species rather than a formal scientific one, which is normal for Cubaris and worth knowing if you go looking for literature and find none.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey share the Ducky name and the general Cubaris build with the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e, but they are a different animal rather than a colour form of it. The Rubber Ducky has the iconic yellow face markings and the reputation; the Amber Ducky has the warmer overall tone, a better breeding rate, and a considerably gentler learning curve.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSetting them up\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCubaris are tropical animals from warm, humid, limestone country, and the setup follows from that. Aim for a consistently warm enclosure and humidity on the high side, with a gradient rather than a uniformly soaked tub. The distinction matters: they need damp air and damp substrate, but stagnant wet conditions cause more Cubaris losses than any other single mistake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGive them depth. Lay 7 to 10 cm of a nutritious forest-floor base such as our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/substrate-for-invertebrates\"\u003einvertebrate substrate\u003c\/a\u003e, because Cubaris burrow to moult and a shallow layer leaves them exposed at their most vulnerable. Cover the surface with hardwood leaf litter; \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e hold up well and give them cover to feed under. Add cork bark and, if you have it, a piece of limestone, which they will graze at directly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eVentilation should be present but modest. Too much and the humidity you are working to maintain simply leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCalcium and feeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCalcium is not an optional extra for this genus. Cubaris come from limestone habitat and their shells are heavily calcified, so the supply needs to be permanent rather than occasional. Keep \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e in the enclosure at all times and expect to see it visibly grazed down.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeyond that, decaying hardwood and leaf litter form the bulk of the diet, with protein offered weekly in small amounts as dried shrimp or fish flake, and occasional vegetable. They are slow, deliberate feeders rather than scavengers that swarm a food dish, so put small amounts in and remove what is left.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSpringtails are not optional\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA humid Cubaris enclosure is close to ideal conditions for mould, and mould will take hold on uneaten protein and soft vegetable within a day or two. Seeding the enclosure with a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e from day one deals with this before it becomes a problem. They coexist without any friction and do the housekeeping you would otherwise be doing by hand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding and behaviour\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAmber Duckies breed more readily than most of the genus, but \"more readily\" is relative and they are still Cubaris. Expect several months of establishment before you see young, and expect broods to be modest rather than overwhelming. The colony builds steadily from there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat sets them apart day to day is that they are bolder than their relatives. A lot of Cubaris keeping involves knowing your animals are in there somewhere and rarely seeing them; Amber Duckies spend real time on the surface. They conglobate into a tight sealed ball when disturbed, which is a large part of the appeal of the family, and they do it readily enough that you will see it often.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho they suit\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe natural next step for someone who has kept hardy beginner species and wants to move into the collector end of the hobby. They teach the Cubaris disciplines of warmth, humidity balance and constant calcium without demanding the precision that a premium morph does, so a mistake costs you time rather than the colony.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSet against the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/panda-king\"\u003ePanda King\u003c\/a\u003e, the other common gateway into the genus, it comes down to taste: black and white patterning against warm gold. Both are forgiving by Cubaris standards. See the full \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris collection\u003c\/a\u003e for the rest of the genus, or the wider \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopod range\u003c\/a\u003e if you are still deciding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBefore your colony arrives, our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/care-for-cubaris-amber-isopods\"\u003eAmber Ducky care guide\u003c\/a\u003e covers the full setup, feeding, breeding and the common mistakes to avoid.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eArriving with you\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCaptive-bred in the UK from established colonies. We post Monday to Thursday only so nothing spends a weekend in transit, sending by Royal Mail next day by 1pm in a double-walled box with the animals in ventilated deli tubs on damp sphagnum moss. A 20% overcount and our live arrival guarantee come as standard. Give them a fortnight in a dark, warm, undisturbed enclosure before you go looking for them; Cubaris settle at their own pace and digging about to check on progress is the fastest way to slow it down.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":45871719678246,"sku":"AMB5","price":50.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":45085322412326,"sku":"AMB10","price":90.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45085322445094,"sku":"AMB20","price":165.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/amber-ducky-isopods-cubaris-sp-2802683.jpg?v=1772822240"},{"product_id":"white-shark","title":"White Shark Isopods (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe name oversells the menace. The White Shark is a dwarf Cubaris barely 8 mm long, one of the smallest in the UK hobby, and about as fierce as a grain of rice. What earns the name is the markings: a bright orange front, a pale midsection and a dark blue-black rear, arranged so that a curled animal reads like the silhouette of a shark mid-turn. It is a lot of colour on a very small package, and unusually for a Cubaris it breeds like it means it. Every colony we send is captive-bred here in the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. 'White Shark', a true dwarf from the lime-rich tropical habitats of Thailand, also sold as the White Shark Dwarf Isopod. It sits at the forgiving end of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003ethe genus\u003c\/a\u003e: it shrugs off the sort of minor husbandry slips that would set back a premium species, and because it multiplies quickly a colony recovers from a wobble rather than stalling. That combination of tiny size, real colour and reliable breeding makes it one of the smartest first steps into Cubaris.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFully grown at around 8 mm, this is genuinely a look-closely animal, but the tricolour banding stands out clearly against dark substrate and there are simply more of them moving about than you get with a larger, pricier species. Curled up they look like miniature striped marbles. Colour deepens with age and good feeding, so newly arrived juveniles read paler than the settled adults.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCare\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhite Sharks like it warm, 24 to 28°C, with the upper end favouring breeding, and a humidity gradient around 60 to 80% rather than a uniformly soaked tub. They are enthusiastic burrowers, so give them depth, 7 to 10 cm, built on flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil with crushed limestone worked all the way through. Skip coco coir and peat as the foundation: the first feeds nothing, and it is the limestone that matters here, mirroring the calcium-rich Thai soils and feeding clean moults. Keep one side damp and one drier, damp like a wrung-out cloth and never with standing water at the base, which is the quickest way to lose a dwarf colony. Our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003esubstrate guide\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-calcium-guide\"\u003ecalcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e have the specifics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eDiet\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter and rotting white wood are the constant base. On top, offer vegetable once or twice a week, a slice of carrot is the classic way to draw the whole colony up where you can count them, plus regular protein, as these little ones are notably protein-hungry for their size. Keep a constant calcium source, and set fresh food on the drier side so it does not spoil in the warmth. A \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e keeps mould in check at a scale even a dwarf isopod cannot.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the White Shark's real selling point. Where many Cubaris breed slowly and unpredictably, an established colony of these grows fast: give a starter group a month to settle, then warmth, depth and constant calcium, and numbers climb steadily from there. Females carry their young in a brood pouch and the mancae rear happily alongside the adults, so be ready to split or upsize as the colony fills out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe White Shark suits the keeper with a nano or planted tank where a larger species would overwhelm the space, and anyone after a self-sustaining cleanup crew or dart-frog feeder that keeps its own numbers up. It is a strong first Cubaris and a poor choice only if you want a big animal you can admire from across the room, or you cannot hold steady warmth and humidity. Compare it with the bolder \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/panda-king\"\u003ePanda King\u003c\/a\u003e or the larger \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/jupiters\"\u003eJupiter\u003c\/a\u003e if you want more size on show.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll stock is captive-bred here in the UK and ships under our live arrival guarantee, in a ventilated deli tub with damp sphagnum inside a double-walled box, with mixed sizes for a balanced colony. We post Monday to Thursday by Royal Mail next day before 1pm, with a 20% overcount included. Setup components are in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories range\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45151523930406,"sku":"WSH10","price":12.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45151537201446,"sku":"WSH20","price":22.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":45151523995942,"sku":"WSH50","price":52.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/products\/whitesharkisopods-277168.jpg?v=1710323101"},{"product_id":"rubber-ducky-isopods","title":"Rubber Ducky Isopods for Sale UK (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Rubber Ducky is the isopod almost everyone wants first, and the one I would usually suggest you buy third. That is not me talking you out of it. It is the single most requested animal we stock and it deserves the attention it gets: a dark, rounded little Cubaris with pale markings on the head that, viewed straight on, read unmistakably as a duck's face. What it is not is a forgiving species, and the difference between a colony that thrives and one that quietly dwindles comes down to whether you had the setup right before they arrived.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe isopod that started it all\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSold as \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. 'Rubber Ducky', and known simply as the Ducky, this animal has never been formally described, so there is no species name to give you; the trade name is all there is. It came into the hobby from the limestone karst country of Thailand in the second half of the 2010s, and it changed what people thought isopods were for. Before it, isopods were mostly a clean-up crew you added to a vivarium and forgot about. After it, keepers were building displays around single species and the phrase \"designer isopod\" entered the language. Everything in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris collection\u003c\/a\u003e exists in the shadow of this one animal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdults are small, roughly 1.5 to 2cm, so this is a dwarf-type Cubaris rather than one of the chunky Mediterranean species. The body is dark and smoothly domed, and the head carries the pale cream-to-yellow patterning the animal is named for. The effect only really works from the front, which is part of the charm: from above they are a handsome dark isopod, and then one turns to face you and the duck appears. Like the rest of the genus they conglobate, rolling into a sealed ball when startled, and they are shy and mostly nocturnal, so a torch after dark shows you far more than daytime watching ever will.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare and housing\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThree things matter more than everything else combined: humidity, calcium and patience. Get those right and the rest is undemanding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeep them warm and stable, in the low to mid twenties Celsius. A heated UK home carries them through much of the year, but this is a species where a thermostatically controlled mat on the side of the tub earns its keep over winter, because cool animals simply stop breeding. Humidity should run high, but high with a gradient rather than uniformly wet: keep one end damp with sphagnum and leaf litter, let the other end breathe, and give the enclosure real cross-ventilation. Stagnant humid air is the thing that kills Cubaris colonies, not dryness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSubstrate needs depth, at least 5 to 8cm, so they can burrow and moult out of sight. I build on \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e with white-rotted hardwood and untreated organic topsoil, then cover it generously with \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/leaf-litter-1l\"\u003eleaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e. Coco coir is worth avoiding as the base here; it handles moisture nicely but offers nothing to an animal that eats the ground it lives in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCalcium is not a supplement for this species so much as a requirement. They come from limestone caves and they are adapted to an environment saturated with it. I keep pieces of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/malawi-light-limestone-for-inverts\"\u003eMalawi light limestone\u003c\/a\u003e in with mine permanently, which doubles as hide structure and as a mineral source they can graze whenever they need it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eDiet\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter and decaying hardwood form the base and should never be allowed to run out. Beyond that they take soft vegetables such as courgette, cucumber and squash, and they benefit from regular protein, which matters more for Cubaris than for the hardier garden species. A little dried fish food, shrimp or daphnia once or twice a week keeps moult cycles clean and broods coming. Lift out uneaten fresh food within a day, because at these humidity levels mould moves fast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding, and why patience is the whole game\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRubber Duckies breed slowly. That is the honest headline, and it is the reason they have stayed expensive years after they stopped being new. Broods are small, females are unhurried about producing them, and a starter group can sit apparently doing nothing for months before you see your first mancae. The mistake I see most often is a keeper deciding something is wrong and intervening, when the colony was doing exactly what it is supposed to do.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeave them alone. Keep the conditions steady, resist digging around to check, and let the tub settle. A colony that has been undisturbed for six months looks completely different from one that has been inspected weekly. Our guide to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/breeding-rubber-duckys-and-panda-kings\"\u003ebreeding Rubber Duckys and Panda Kings\u003c\/a\u003e goes through the detail of getting a slow Cubaris colony productive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho is this isopod for?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you have kept isopods for a season or two, have a stable warm spot for a tub, and are content to buy an animal you will not see much of at first, this is a superb species and worth every bit of its reputation. If it would be your first isopod, I would gently point you at the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/amber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eAmber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e instead. It is a genuinely different animal rather than a colour form of this one, it is bolder, it breeds noticeably faster and it forgives more, and it will teach you Cubaris husbandry without the slow start.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor keepers who already have this species settled, the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/helios-rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eHelios Rubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e offers the same shape and face pattern in a brighter golden tone, and the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/panda-king\"\u003ePanda King\u003c\/a\u003e is the natural next step into premium cave Cubaris.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery Rubber Ducky we send is captive-bred, and every order goes out with 20% over the count you paid for. They travel in a ventilated deli tub bedded with damp sphagnum inside a double-walled box, posted Monday to Thursday on Royal Mail's next-day service, and covered by our live arrival guarantee.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":46548393230630,"sku":"","price":47.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":45151568068902,"sku":"RD10","price":90.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45151568101670,"sku":"RD20","price":170.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/products\/Rubber_Ducky_Isopod_3.jpg?v=1744060755"},{"product_id":"dwarf-white-isopods","title":"Dwarf White Isopods (Trichorhina tomentosa)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere is no such thing as a male dwarf white. Every animal in the culture is female, every one of them produces young without ever meeting a mate, and the practical upshot is that you cannot get the sex ratio wrong, cannot buy a group of the wrong sex, and cannot fail to breed them for any reason other than neglect. It is the closest thing the hobby has to a self-running culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese are \u003cem\u003eTrichorhina tomentosa\u003c\/em\u003e, sold as Dwarf White Isopods or Tropical White Isopods, and they are the workhorse of the bioactive world rather than a display animal. They come from tropical Central and South America, they are tiny at 3 to 5 mm, effectively blind, and they spend nearly all their time down in the substrate where you will scarcely see them. What they lack in presence they make up for in usefulness: almost every serious bioactive setup has a colony of these ticking away underneath it, and almost every dart frog keeper uses them as food.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSmall, pale and downy, and a little bigger than most listings claim. The only measured series in print is Steve Gregory's survey of the Eden Project, which put breeding females at 3 to 3.5 mm; he gives 5 mm as the ceiling for British material elsewhere, though that one is his own observation rather than a measured set, and it is what the recording group's account repeats. So 3 to 5 mm, with the top end resting on one person. The 2 to 4 mm this page used to carry was a millimetre short at the top and had nothing behind the bottom. The body is a plain white to off-white with a fine felted surface texture, which is where the species name comes from, \u003cem\u003etomentosa\u003c\/em\u003e meaning downy. Worth clearing up a persistent confusion at this point: dwarf whites are white, not blue. The Powder Blue isopod is a different species entirely, \u003cem\u003ePorcellionides pruinosus\u003c\/em\u003e, and the two get mixed up constantly in listings and care sheets. If yours look blue-grey, you have Powder Blues.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWarm, damp and left alone. They want tropical conditions, which for most UK homes means a little gentle heat for part of the year, and a consistently moist substrate that never dries out, since drying is the one thing that reliably kills a culture. Ventilation still matters, so damp rather than waterlogged, with airflow enough to keep mould honest. They need very little space: a small tub with a few mesh-covered holes does the job, and the mesh needs to be fine, because the young are far smaller again and will find any gap. Underneath, give them a nutritious base of flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil topped with leaf litter, since they eat their substrate as it breaks down. Skip both coco coir and peat as the foundation, the first because it feeds nothing and the second because it is too acidic. Our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e and the botanicals in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories range\u003c\/a\u003e cover the mix, and our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003esubstrate guide\u003c\/a\u003e has the full recipe. A little cuttlebone helps moulting, though as a small, lightly armoured species they are far less calcium-hungry than the big \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eDiet\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter and decaying hardwood do nearly all of it, and they will graze the harmless surface mould that appears on damp organic matter, which is a large part of why they clean so well. A pinch of fish flake or a scrap of vegetable now and then keeps a growing colony fed, removed after a day or two. That is the whole of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEffortless, by design. Parthenogenesis means every individual is a breeding female that clones herself, so numbers climb steeply given nothing more than warmth, moisture and food. There is no pairing to arrange, no ratio to balance and no waiting for a colony to sex out. A healthy culture will outgrow its tub, which is exactly what you want from something you intend to crop from.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThree people, mainly. The dart frog, mourning gecko or small amphibian keeper who wants a live feeder that renews itself indefinitely and is the right size for froglets. The bioactive keeper who needs a micro cleanup crew for a small or heavily planted enclosure where a larger isopod would be clumsy, and who will get the best of it by running them alongside \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtails\u003c\/a\u003e, the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/orange-springtails\"\u003eorange\u003c\/a\u003e ones especially. And the complete beginner who wants a first culture that is genuinely hard to kill. The one keeper they will disappoint is anyone after something to look at, since you will rarely see them. If you want visible cleanup, the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dairy-cow-isopods\"\u003eDairy Cow\u003c\/a\u003e does the same job in plain sight. Everything else is in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopod range\u003c\/a\u003e, and there is more detail in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/trichorhina-tomentosa-isopods\"\u003edwarf white care guide\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCultures go out captive-bred and well established, covered by our live arrival guarantee and packed with moss and substrate in a double-walled box. Posting runs Monday to Thursday on Royal Mail next day before 1pm.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"25","offer_id":56747811275134,"sku":"DW50","price":6.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":45151583338790,"sku":"DW50","price":9.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100","offer_id":45151583371558,"sku":"DW100","price":17.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/dwarf-white-isopods-trichorhina-tomentosa-1105081.jpg?v=1779299595"},{"product_id":"a-klugii-dubrovnik","title":"Dubrovnik Isopods (Armadillidium Klugii)","description":"\u003cp\u003eOf the five \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium klugii\u003c\/em\u003e lines we keep, this is the one with the best paperwork. Dubrovnik and its Lapad peninsula are the localities that come up most often in the 2013 revision Schmalfuss wrote of this group, so a listing that says Dubrovnik is pointing at somewhere the scientific literature actually records. In a genus where most morph names turn out to be marketing, that counts for something.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eThe animal\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDeep black ground, three rows of pale dots down the back, red or orange edging along the flanks in most individuals. It is among the boldest patterns on any European isopod and it reads from across a room. Adults sit at 14 to 18mm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat Dubrovnik gives you over the broader Montenegro label is consistency. Because the source population is a defined place rather than a country, the animals in a group tend to look like one another, which matters if you are photographing them or selecting from them. It does not make them larger, redder or rarer, and anyone telling you otherwise is guessing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA word on that 2013 revision, since it explains some confusion you will meet. Schmalfuss folded three previously separate names into \u003cem\u003eklugii\u003c\/em\u003e, so older European stock still circulates under labels that no longer describe anything distinct. If you are offered something with an unfamiliar Balkan epithet, that is very often what has happened.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eConditions, and why the habitat explains them\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThink about where this animal actually lives: wedged under stones and into rock crevices on a limestone coastline that bakes in summer. That is not a rainforest floor, and treating it like one is the usual mistake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo build a dry box with a wet corner rather than a damp box with a dry patch. Fifty to seventy per cent is the working band, and the enclosure needs air moving right across it rather than seeping through a few holes in the lid. Warmth matters more than most people expect: they hold on in a heated British room but barely increase, and the most reliable single change that gets a stalled colony producing is lifting it into the mid-twenties.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eStack flat bark and stone so they have crevices to occupy, since a crevice animal given only open floor will spend its life underneath the food dish. Keep chalk available at all times, cuttlebone or crushed limestone, because sealing into a ball this tightly takes a heavily built shell and that shell is being maintained continuously. Our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-calcium-guide\"\u003ecalcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e runs through the options.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWho it suits\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA second or third species. Hard to kill, moderately fiddly to breed, and slow enough at the start that beginners assume something is broken when nothing is.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe full comparison of every \u003cem\u003eklugii\u003c\/em\u003e line, including which names survive checking and which do not, is in \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/armadillidium-klugii-care-guide\"\u003eour guide to the species\u003c\/a\u003e. Alongside this we keep \u003ca href=\"\/products\/clown-isopods\"\u003ethe standard Montenegro Clown\u003c\/a\u003e and the white-patched \u003ca href=\"\/products\/skeleton-nebula-isopods\"\u003eSkeleton and Nebula\u003c\/a\u003e line, with the drier Mediterranean species in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003ethe wider range\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne thing worth asking any seller, us included. Since 2020 people have deliberately crossed \u003cem\u003eklugii\u003c\/em\u003e with \u003cem\u003eA. versicolor\u003c\/em\u003e and sold the offspring as Twisted Clown, so unlabelled lines started after then carry a question. Ours is kept isolated and bred here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOrders leave on moistened sphagnum inside a vented pot, cushioned in a carton of doubled card. Dispatch is Mondays to Thursdays, nothing afterwards, so no parcel of ours meets a weekend. Tracked, next-day, before 1pm, with extras above your count and live arrival guaranteed.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45172210827558,"sku":"AD10","price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"20","offer_id":45172210893094,"sku":"AD20","price":18.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"100","offer_id":45172210860326,"sku":"AD100","price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/products\/Dubrovnik_Isopod_Armadillidium_Klugii.jpg?v=1744060595"},{"product_id":"pudding-isopods","title":"Armadillidium klugii 'Pudding' Isopods","description":"\u003cp\u003ePudding is the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/clown-isopods\"\u003eClown\u003c\/a\u003e with the red taken out of it. Everything else holds: the same species, \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium klugii\u003c\/em\u003e Brandt, 1833, the same chocolate to black body, the same three rows of yellow and white spots running down the back. What changes is the skirt along the lateral plates. On the Clown that skirt is red and it is the first thing anybody notices about the animal. On Pudding it is transparent white, and the swap is the single clean differentiator between the two.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRed runs through the rest of the \u003cem\u003eklugii\u003c\/em\u003e we keep to one degree or another, from the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/a-klugii-dubrovnik\"\u003eDubrovnik\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/armadillidium-klugii-giant-omis\"\u003eOmiš\u003c\/a\u003e localities through to \u003ca href=\"\/products\/klugii-yellow-fellow-isopods\"\u003eYellow Fellow\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/skeleton-nebula-isopods\"\u003eSkeleton-Nebula\u003c\/a\u003e. Pudding carries none of it anywhere, which is unusual enough within the species to be the whole reason the line is kept separate. The species belongs to the Adriatic coast, clustered in Dalmatia and running from Croatia down into Montenegro, with records reaching southern Albania and western Greece. It is a big pillbug too, 14 to 18mm for a settled adult, with the 21mm species maximum coming from one exceptional animal in Schmalfuss's 2013 revision rather than from anything particular to this line, and it conglobates fully, shutting into a hard closed sphere with nothing left showing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat comes out when you push one\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo secretions come out of this animal, from two separate sets of glands. The uropod glands at the rear give a viscous, slightly opaque, odourless fluid that can be drawn out into threads, sticky where you might expect runny. The glands along the lateral plates give something else entirely, watery and pungent. Neither poses a problem to a keeper, but a colony being rummaged through can announce itself, and the sticky thread plus the smell is a more interesting bit of chemistry than the hobby usually credits it with.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAn intermediate isopod\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePudding is slow to establish, and that on its own rules it out as a first isopod. Losing a few adults across the opening weeks while the group settles is normal, not a warning sign, though it reads as failure to anyone who has only kept the forgiving species. Leave the colony be, resist the urge to dig through and count, and it comes right and turns moderately prolific. If you want \u003cem\u003eklugii\u003c\/em\u003e and this would be your first isopod, put a season of something easier behind you first.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBuild 5 to 7cm of nutritious base substrate for them to burrow into, then bury the surface under dried hardwood leaves and lay bark across the top of that for cover. The litter is both roof and standing meal, so it needs replacing as it disappears rather than topping up once a year. Calcium sits in the enclosure permanently, a cuttlebone or oyster shell, never as an occasional offering. Past that, a little dried protein each week and the odd piece of vegetable, both put down on the dry side where they will not turn before the colony finds them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWarmth is the straightforward part. 21 to 27°C covers the range, 23 to 26°C is the band they do best in, and a night fall to 16 to 18°C does no harm whatsoever. Moisture is what decides whether a colony works. Hold the enclosure low to moderate overall and put a strong gradient across it, one side damp and the other noticeably drier, with enough ventilation to keep that difference real instead of theoretical. They will walk to the water when they want it. Our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/care-for-armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium care guide\u003c\/a\u003e goes into the setup in more detail, and the wider \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium collection\u003c\/a\u003e is there for comparison.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery colony leaves here packed the same way. It sits in a ventilated deli tub on damp sphagnum, and the tub is then walled into an outer box of double-thickness card so that nothing can shift about on the journey. Sending runs Monday to Thursday and stops there, on a tracked Royal Mail next-day service due before 1pm. Each group ships with a few animals over the number ordered, under our live arrival guarantee.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45172224491814,"sku":"AP10","price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"20","offer_id":45172224557350,"sku":"AP20","price":18.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"100","offer_id":45172224524582,"sku":"AP100","price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/products\/Pudding_Isopod_Armadillidium_Klugii.jpg?v=1744060547"},{"product_id":"red-edge-blonde","title":"Red Edge Blonde Isopods (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eTwo of the shops that sell this animal describe it differently in the one respect that would settle what it is. A British breeder gives it a white body with peachy highlights and, critically, black eyes. A Dutch seller lists the same trade name as a synonym for 'Red Edge Albino' and gives it red eyes. Those are not two descriptions of one animal. Eye colour is how the trade separates these. It is a trade heuristic and no isopod paper supports it - isopod eyes are screened by ommochromes, not melanin, so the vocabulary borrowed from snake keeping does not transfer cleanly. Picking a side on the page that sells the animal would be convenient, so we will not. What we can tell you: ours are cream to white with a soft peach margin, they run about 15 to 18mm settled, and where our stock has been photographed the eyes are dark. Our older copy called them a leucistic or hypomelanistic variant, distinguished from true albinos by dark eyes instead of red. That is the same trade heuristic, dressed in vertebrate vocabulary that does not apply here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhere 'Blonde' comes from\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not a category. In the \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e trade 'Blonde' is a modifier meaning the pale version of something - there is a Blonde Ducky, a Rubber Ducky Blonde, an Ultra Blonde. It carries no information about relatedness, and it does not mean this animal is closely tied to any other Blonde on the market. The animal underneath the modifier is \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. 'Red Edge', which is genuinely well established in the trade even though no part of it has ever been formally described. The red lateral skirt is the one feature every seller agrees on. Body colour is not. One seller calls it blue-grey, another greyish-brown, a third purple, a fourth violet-black - all for what is supposedly a single animal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNone of these animals has been formally described. There is no type specimen, no scientific name beyond \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp., and no collection locality. \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e itself is an acknowledged dumping ground with over a hundred described species and a standing recommendation for revision, and a few hobby animals filed under it have eventually proved not to be \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne more thing worth your attention. A large American seller lists Red Edge, Red Edge Orange Phase and Red Edge White Phase as three separate products carrying byte-identical data - same country, same 18mm, same reproduction rate - separated by a colour word and a threefold difference in price. We are in no position to be superior about that, since we list four Red Edge products ourselves. The difference we try to hold to is saying which is a colour we selected and which is a described animal, and none of ours claims to be a species.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eConditions\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe hold ours at 22 to 26°C. Humidity is where the published guidance falls apart completely - across the sellers we checked it spans 55% to 85%, which tells you those are guesses rather than findings. We run a gradient: one end wet enough that the moss stays springy, the other dry enough to sit on, and we let the animals choose. Cross-ventilate through mesh set on opposing sides. Still, damp air is what we most often see kill a tub of these.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSubstrate 6 to 8cm with rotten hardwood mixed through it, deep leaf litter, cork bark laid flat, sphagnum in one corner. Permanent \u003ca href=\"\/products\/crushed-oyster-shell-100g\"\u003ecalcium\u003c\/a\u003e, and protein occasionally.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBroods are small. A starter group here will not have become a full tub by month six. Whether it counts as easy or intermediate depends who you ask, and the trade splits about evenly, so we will say it is undemanding day to day and unhurried about multiplying.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery order is covered for live arrival. Animals go out Tuesday to Thursday most weeks, occasionally Monday, using next-day post, bedded on moist moss in a punched pot and packed into doubled corrugated card. You get 20% over the number you paid for.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":56137731441022,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":45172236026150,"sku":"RE10","price":60.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45172236091686,"sku":"RE20","price":110.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/red-edge-blonde-isopods-cubaris-sp-317409.jpg?v=1750875235"},{"product_id":"powder-orange-isopods","title":"Powder Orange Isopods (Porcellionides pruinosus)","description":"\u003cp\u003eLift the bark in a Powder Orange tub and the colony does not politely trundle away. It scatters. These are the sprinters of the isopod world, quick enough to surprise anyone whose only reference point is a garden woodlouse, and that speed runs through everything about them: they grow fast, they breed fast, and they turn a bare enclosure into a working colony faster than almost anything else you can buy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe colour is a soft warm orange with a matte, dusty finish rather than a glossy one, and that finish is where the name comes from. The species carries a fine pale bloom across the cuticle, which is exactly what the scientific name records: \u003cem\u003epruinosus\u003c\/em\u003e means frosted, as in the bloom on a grape or a plum.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eNames and identity\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe species is \u003cem\u003ePorcellionides pruinosus\u003c\/em\u003e, and this is its orange colour form. You will see it listed as Powder Orange, Powder Orange Isopod, Orange Powder, or occasionally just \u003cem\u003ePorcellionides pruinosus\u003c\/em\u003e 'Orange'. It sits alongside the Powder Blue and the other powder morphs, all of them the same species wearing different colours and all sharing an identical care sheet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne correction worth making, because it appears on a lot of listings: these do not roll into a ball. Conglobation is an \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/em\u003e trick, and neither \u003cem\u003ePorcellionides\u003c\/em\u003e nor \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e can do it. Their defence is speed and getting under something, which is why they bolt rather than curl when you disturb them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSetting them up\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is about as forgiving as isopod keeping gets. They tolerate a wide range of conditions and want moderate humidity with genuinely good airflow, which is a slightly different ask from the high-humidity tropical species. Stagnant, uniformly wet enclosures are the one thing they dislike, and it is the only common way to fail with them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLay 5 cm or so of a nutritious base such as our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/substrate-for-invertebrates\"\u003einvertebrate substrate\u003c\/a\u003e, keep one end damper than the other, and cover the surface with hardwood leaf litter. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003eMagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e work well and last longer than most under a colony this active. Add plenty of cork bark, because Powder Oranges spend a lot of their time tucked underneath things and vertical surfaces increase the usable area of the tub considerably.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRoom temperature in a heated UK home is fine, and warmer conditions simply speed the colony up further.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eFeeding a fast colony\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter and decaying hardwood form the base of the diet, and a colony breeding at full tilt will get through it quickly, so check it more often than you would with a slower species. Protein matters here: they are prolific, and producing that many young takes resources. Offer dried shrimp, fish flake or a similar source weekly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKeep \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e available permanently. Fast-growing animals moult often, and every moult spends calcium. Mixing a little \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e through the top of the substrate is worth doing with this species in particular, since it raises the nutritional value of the layer they feed in and you will see it in the brood sizes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy keepers actually buy them\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThree reasons, and it is worth being clear about which one applies to you.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs a \u003cstrong\u003efeeder species\u003c\/strong\u003e they are close to ideal. They breed quickly enough to sustain harvesting, they are soft-bodied compared with the heavily armoured \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/em\u003e, and their speed keeps them from being picked off too easily in a vivarium, so a population persists rather than being eaten out in a fortnight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs a \u003cstrong\u003ecleanup crew\u003c\/strong\u003e they are among the most effective options for a bioactive setup, working through waste at a rate that matches their appetite. Pair them with a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e and the two cover different jobs: springtails handle mould and the microscopic film, the isopods deal with everything larger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs a \u003cstrong\u003edisplay or starter species\u003c\/strong\u003e they are genuinely underrated. The colour is warmer than photographs suggest, they are visible and busy rather than hidden, and a beginner gets to watch a colony establish over weeks instead of waiting half a year to find out whether it worked.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho they suit\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA sound first isopod, and equally a sound tenth. If you are starting out, the speed at which they establish gives you feedback and confidence early, which is worth a great deal when you are still learning what a healthy enclosure looks like. If you are running vivariums, they are a workhorse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe main alternative for the same jobs is the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dwarf-white-isopods\"\u003eDwarf White\u003c\/a\u003e, which is smaller and better suited to being eaten wholesale by dart frogs; Powder Oranges are larger, faster and far better to look at. The rest of the genus sits in the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/porcellionides-isopods\"\u003ePorcellionides collection\u003c\/a\u003e, and the full range in \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods for sale\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor the full detail on keeping, feeding and breeding the species, our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/powder-orange-blue-isopod-care-guide\"\u003ePowder Orange and Blue care guide\u003c\/a\u003e goes into far more depth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eArriving with you\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCaptive-bred here in the UK. Orders leave Monday to Thursday only, travelling Royal Mail next day by 1pm inside a double-walled box, with the animals in ventilated deli tubs on damp sphagnum moss. Every order carries a 20% overcount and our live arrival guarantee. A word of warning from experience: open the tub inside the enclosure rather than over the kitchen table, because these are quick and they do not wait to be invited.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45172246511910,"sku":"PO10","price":6.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":45172246577446,"sku":"PO20","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"100","offer_id":45172246544678,"sku":"PO100","price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/orange_isopod_for_sale_2.jpg?v=1733348353"},{"product_id":"murina-isopods","title":"Little Sea Isopods (Cubaris murina)","description":"\u003cp\u003eLook down the Cubaris on this site and nearly every one is a \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. - an animal the science has not formally named yet, sold under a hobby label someone coined. The Little Sea is the exception. It is \u003cem\u003eCubaris murina\u003c\/em\u003e, a formally described species, the animal the genus itself is built around, and the one that gave every rubber ducky and panda king its reputation for being worth the trouble.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the wild-type of the genus, traded as the Little Sea, the Little Sea Isopod, the Sea Pillbug or simply \u003cem\u003eCubaris murina\u003c\/em\u003e, and the common name comes from the smooth, domed shell, which looks enough like a small marine creature to have fooled people for a long time. Unlike the cave specialists that dominate the premium end of the hobby, murina has spread across the warm regions of the world and turns up on several continents, and that adaptability is exactly what makes it the sensible first Cubaris. Its own colour morphs have gone on to become popular animals in their own right, among them the pink \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/marina-papaya\"\u003eMarina Papaya\u003c\/a\u003e and the all-white \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/murina-glacier\"\u003eMurina Glacier\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAround a centimetre long, smooth-shelled and neatly domed, in muted greys and browns that occasionally lean purple, with a small flush of pink or peach at the tail end that is the easiest way to recognise them. They will not compete across a room with a designer morph, and they are not trying to: the appeal is in the shape and the detail up close, that armoured, helmeted profile in miniature. Disturb one and it draws itself into a closed ball and waits you out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEasy, by Cubaris standards, and forgiving in a way the cave species are not. Keep the enclosure warm and humid with moderate ventilation, damp throughout rather than bone dry anywhere, and let one corner sit a little wetter as a retreat. They do best at 21 to 27°C, above the 19°C or so an English home averages through the heating season, so run a thermostat-controlled mat on the side of the tub through the colder months; a warm room can manage on its own in high summer. Give them depth to burrow into and a substrate that feeds them as it breaks down: flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil, with crushed limestone mixed right through, because calcium is the one thing a Cubaris cannot moult without. One change worth making if you are working from older advice: do not build the base around coconut coir. It holds water beautifully and feeds nothing, and a substrate that cannot be eaten is a wasted layer. Pack hardwood leaf litter over the top, add cork bark and a few hides, and leave them to it. Our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003esubstrate guide\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-calcium-guide\"\u003ecalcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e cover the specifics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eDiet\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter and decaying hardwood are the staples and should never run out. On top of that, vegetables such as carrot, courgette, squash or sweet potato once or twice a week, and protein - fish flake, dried daphnia, shrimp - at a similar rate, since a breeding colony leans on it. Lift whatever is left after a day or two. One honest warning for planted setups: Little Seas will have a go at soft live plants, ferns especially, so pick robust species or keep them in a litter-based enclosure. A \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail\u003c\/a\u003e culture underneath them deals with the mould that humid enclosures inevitably grow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReliable, which is the whole point of this species. Where a premium Cubaris can sit for the best part of a year doing nothing while you second-guess your husbandry, a Little Sea colony settles within a month or two and then produces steadily and year-round given stable warmth, humidity and calcium. Growth is consistent rather than explosive. If you can run a Little Sea colony well, you have the husbandry for anything else in the genus, which is precisely why so many keepers start here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnyone who wants into \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e without gambling a lot of money on a species that might sulk. It is the standard recommendation as a first Cubaris, it teaches you the genus from the ground up, and the skills carry straight over to the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/panda-king\"\u003ePanda King\u003c\/a\u003e or our best-selling \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e when you are ready. It is also a genuinely good tropical clean-up crew for dart frog and gecko bioactives. The one keeper it will not satisfy is the one who wants colour and drama, because this is a subtle animal that rewards a closer look. The rest of the genus sits in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOur new \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/cubaris-murina-care-guide\"\u003eCubaris murina care guide\u003c\/a\u003e covers the species and all five of its colour lines in one sheet, from substrate to breeding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLittle Seas ship as captive-bred UK stock under our live arrival guarantee, packed with sphagnum moss into a ventilated deli tub and boxed behind a double wall. We post Monday to Thursday, which keeps every order clear of the weekend backlog.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45172250116390,"sku":"LS10","price":8.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45172250181926,"sku":"LS20","price":14.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100","offer_id":45172250149158,"sku":"LS100","price":65.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/products\/c_murina_isopods_3.jpg?v=1766948283"},{"product_id":"giant-orange-isopods","title":"Giant Orange Isopods (Porcellio laevis)","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn five years of keeping isopods - and more than two decades keeping reptiles and other exotics before that - the Giant Orange has stayed near the top of my list of species to put in front of a new keeper. It is the bold, bright counterpart to the ever-popular Dairy Cow: the very same species, \u003cem\u003ePorcellio laevis\u003c\/em\u003e, with the same bulletproof genetics and prolific breeding, but in a single, uniform, vivid orange that stands out dramatically against any substrate. Every Giant Orange we send is captive-bred here in the UK, so you are starting with hardy, settled stock rather than wild-collected animals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Giant Orange goes by a few names in the hobby - you will see it sold as the Giant Orange Isopod, Orange Laevis or simply \u003cem\u003eP. laevis\u003c\/em\u003e \"Orange\" - but they all describe the same animal, the orange colour morph of \u003cem\u003ePorcellio laevis\u003c\/em\u003e. Laevis is one of the most established and reliable species in the entire hobby, and the Orange morph pairs that proven hardiness with eye-catching colour. What makes it such a smart choice is exactly that combination: designer-tier orange without the fuss or fragility of a delicate speciality morph, on a species that is famously hard to go wrong with. Its black-and-white sibling, the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dairy-cow-isopods\"\u003eDairy Cow\u003c\/a\u003e, is the same animal in different clothes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese are big, bright and fast. Adults reach up to around 20 mm, which makes them one of the larger isopods you can keep and easily enjoyed with the naked eye. The body is smooth and a true, vibrant orange - not the muted rust or peach tones many \"orange\" isopods settle for - often with subtle white highlights along the edges, and the intensity varies from one animal to the next, some almost glowing while others run softer. One thing worth knowing: like all \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e, Giant Oranges cannot roll into a ball. Unlike the pill-type isopods they rely on speed and cover rather than conglobating, so expect a busy, surface-active colony rather than one that curls up when disturbed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePorcellio laevis\u003c\/em\u003e is prized for being adaptable, and the Giant Orange is no exception - it tolerates a wide range of conditions, which is a large part of why it suits beginners. Give it a roomy, well-ventilated enclosure with a deep substrate to burrow into. Build that substrate around a nutritious base of flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil rather than coco coir, which holds moisture but offers nothing for an animal that feeds on its substrate. As a laevis they like it humid but never stagnant, so set up a moisture gradient - a damper end and a drier, well-aired end - and let them choose. A heated room carries them for most of the year; through the heating season an English home averages around 19°C, just under the 20 to 26°C band, so a small heat mat on a thermostat at one end keeps a colony breeding over winter. Everything you need to build a setup is in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories range\u003c\/a\u003e, and a calcium source such as cuttlebone or crushed limestone should be available at all times for healthy moulting - our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-calcium-guide\"\u003ecalcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e covers the options.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eDiet\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGiant Oranges are voracious detritivores, and the foundation of the diet is leaf litter and decaying wood, kept topped up as it is eaten. One thing sets laevis apart, though: they want more protein than the average isopod. Alongside the leaf litter and the occasional vegetable, offer regular protein - a little fish flake, dried shrimp or an insect-based food a couple of times a week - which keeps the colony productive and stops them nibbling at one another. Remove any uneaten fresh food promptly so it does not mould. Our guide to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/what-do-isopods-eat\"\u003ewhat isopods eat\u003c\/a\u003e covers the full diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is where the Giant Orange earns its keep as a workhorse. Like the Dairy Cow it breeds prolifically and fast: a modest starter group, kept warm and well fed with plenty of protein and calcium, builds into a productive colony in short order. Breeding is sexual, with females carrying their young in a brood pouch on the underside of the body before they emerge as tiny, fully-formed mancae that feed independently from the start. That productivity is exactly what makes them such a good feeder colony as well as a striking display one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Giant Orange is one of the most versatile isopods going. Beginners get an easy, forgiving, affordable first species with results that look far fancier than they are. Reptile and amphibian keepers get a productive feeder colony that doubles as a visible clean-up crew. And experienced hobbyists get a reliable workhorse for bioactive setups where a premium morph would be overkill. About the only keeper it does not suit is someone specifically after a pill-type isopod that rolls into a ball. If you are new to the hobby, our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/the-beginner-s-guide-to-keeping-isopods-in-the-uk\"\u003ebeginner's guide to keeping isopods\u003c\/a\u003e covers the fundamentals; you will find more of the genus in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/porcellio-isopods\"\u003ePorcellio collection\u003c\/a\u003e, and if you are building a broader collection our best-selling \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e is a natural step into the cave-type Cubaris.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnd because the Giant Orange is the same species as the Dairy Cow, our full \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/dairy-cow-isopod-care\"\u003eDairy Cow isopod care guide\u003c\/a\u003e applies here just as well, covering enclosure, substrate, diet and breeding right through to the common mistakes to avoid.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery colony is captive-bred from established UK stock and ships under our live arrival guarantee, sent in a double-walled box with sphagnum moss in a ventilated deli tub. We dispatch Monday to Thursday so nothing sits in the postal system over a weekend.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45172258406694,"sku":"O10","price":3.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45172258472230,"sku":"O20","price":6.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":47412476281126,"sku":"","price":13.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100","offer_id":45172258439462,"sku":"O100","price":21.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/giant-orange-isopods-porcellio-laevis-7842659.jpg?v=1779475998"},{"product_id":"moo-cow","title":"Moo Cow Isopods (Porcellio scaber)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Moo Cow is one of the modern hobby's home-grown success stories: a striking pied morph of the common Rough Woodlouse, \u003cem\u003ePorcellio scaber\u003c\/em\u003e, first developed here in the UK by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.isopodsonline.co.uk\/\"\u003eMark Titterton of Isopods Online\u003c\/a\u003e, who line-bred it from grey Tunisian stock until the cow-spot pattern bred true. The result is a white-bodied woodlouse splashed with bold black flecking, so every animal really does look like a Friesian seen from above, and no two wear the same markings. From those UK culture rooms it has spread across the domestic and international scene on its own merits, which is a rare thing for a British-bred isopod.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is worth being clear about what it is, because two different \"cow\" isopods do the rounds. The \u003ca href=\"\/products\/dairy-cow-isopods\"\u003eDairy Cow\u003c\/a\u003e is a black-and-white morph of the smooth, larger \u003cem\u003ePorcellio laevis\u003c\/em\u003e; the Moo Cow is the rougher, slightly smaller \u003cem\u003eP. scaber\u003c\/em\u003e, the very woodlouse you turn up under half the plant pots in Britain. Both are cow-patterned, but they are different species with a different shell texture, and the Moo Cow sits among the \u003cem\u003escaber\u003c\/em\u003e morphs like the mixed \u003ca href=\"\/products\/porcellio-scaber-mix-isopods\"\u003eScaber Mix\u003c\/a\u003e rather than with the laevis crowd.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat makes it such an easy recommendation is that the designer looks come attached to a bulletproof animal. \u003cem\u003eP. scaber\u003c\/em\u003e is about as hardy and forgiving as isopods get, so the Moo Cow is one of the best first colonies you can buy: striking enough to be satisfying, tough enough that almost anyone can succeed. Adults reach around 18 mm, they are active and often out day and night, and they breed prolifically once settled. Like all \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e they do not roll into a ball; startle them and they flatten and sprint for cover instead, relying on speed rather than armour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHousing is simple. A six to ten litre tub with a clip-lock lid and cross-ventilation on both sides suits a starter group, kept at a moderate humidity with a gradient, around 50 to 70%, rather than uniformly wet: one damp corner, the rest drier, with good airflow to keep mould down. Normal room temperature, roughly 18 to 26°C, works the year round with no heating. Give them a living base of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, rotted hardwood and organic topsoil at least five centimetres deep; a plain coco-coir base is best avoided, holding water while feeding nothing. Top it with \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia and oak leaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e, cork bark for cover, and a permanent calcium source such as cuttlebone or crushed eggshell for clean moults.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne feeding point matters more than any other with \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e: they are protein-hungry. Leaf litter and rotting wood are the base, but keep a protein source going, fish flake, dried shrimp or a proper isopod protein, a couple of times a week, alongside soft veg like courgette and squash. An underfed, fast-breeding colony can start on its own softer, freshly moulted members, so treat protein as part of the setup, not an afterthought. Do that and they are tireless, tidy workers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBreeding needs little encouragement: a settled group given warmth, food and calcium will carry young in the brood pouch and drop live miniatures in quick succession, the cow pattern coming through as they grow. For a deeper look at the group, our guide to the \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/different-types-of-porcellio-isopods\"\u003edifferent types of Porcellio\u003c\/a\u003e is worth a read, or browse the full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/porcellio-isopods\"\u003ePorcellio collection\u003c\/a\u003e. A \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e alongside keeps mould in check around the protein feedings. Every order is captive-bred here in the UK, sent in a double-walled box around a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum, posted Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail with a 20% overcount and a live-arrival guarantee.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45172948697382,"sku":"MC10","price":7.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":47864868765990,"sku":"","price":14.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"50","offer_id":45172948762918,"sku":"MC50","price":32.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"100","offer_id":45172948730150,"sku":"MC100","price":60.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/moo-cow-isopods-porcellio-scaber-1251610.jpg?v=1768686493"},{"product_id":"granulatum-isopods","title":"Armadillidium granulatum Isopods (Yellow Spanish)","description":"\u003cp\u003eEvery eye-catching granulatum morph in the hobby, the pearl-white, the citrus-washed, the vivid orange Naranjito, traces back to this animal: the standard \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium granulatum\u003c\/em\u003e, the Yellow Spanish Isopod. It is the foundation the selective work is built on, and it is a handsome, characterful woodlouse in its own right, so there is a good case for keeping the original rather than only its offshoots. The look is a dark grey-to-black body scattered with bright yellow spots, all of it carried on a distinctly granulated, faintly bumpy shell that gives the species both its name and its texture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is a Mediterranean animal, at home around the Costa Blanca but recorded well beyond Iberia, and like most dry-country Mediterranean isopods it takes UK room conditions in its stride. It is also one of the larger Armadillidium going. Typical adults run 12 to 15 mm and exceptional ones reach around 22 mm, which still gives a settled colony real presence. The yellow spotting varies a lot from one animal to the next, from sparse pale flecks to dense bright patterning, which is exactly the raw material keepers have selected into the various \u003ca href=\"\/products\/granulatum-orange\"\u003eOrange\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/granulatum-pearl-isopods\"\u003eWhite Pearl\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/armadillidium-granulatum-citrus-ghost\"\u003eCitrus Ghost\u003c\/a\u003e lines. Start with the standard and you have both a fine display colony and a base to breed from.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe care is straightforward and forgiving, which makes granulatum a sensible step up from the most basic beginner species. Being a dry-country animal it wants a moisture gradient rather than a wet box: aim for something around 50 to 70% across the tub, one lightly damp corner under sphagnum and leaf litter and the rest left to breathe and dry between mistings, with good cross-ventilation over the top. It does best between 18 and 22°C, a band a normal UK room holds the year round, and it will sit out anything from 15 to 26°C without complaint. Like every true pill woodlouse it conglobates, rolling into a tight sealed ball when startled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet a starter colony up in a five to ten litre tub with a clip-lock lid and cross-vented sides. For substrate I use a living base of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, well-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil, five centimetres or so deep for burrowing. A plain coco-coir base is best kept out of it, holding damp while feeding a substrate-grazer nothing as it breaks down. Cap it with a thick layer of hardwood leaf litter, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia\u003c\/a\u003e and oak both good, add cork bark for cover, and leave a calcium source such as cuttlebone or crushed eggshell in permanently for firm, clean moults.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFeeding is no trouble. Leaf litter and rotting wood are the always-available staple; on top of that offer soft veg like courgette, squash and sweet potato a couple of times a week, lift out anything uneaten within a day, and give a little protein such as fish flake or dried insects now and then to keep a breeding colony productive. As with all Armadillidium they will graze soft plants and moss in a planted setup, so choose tougher greenery if you want it to last.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/care-for-granulatum-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium granulatum care guide\u003c\/a\u003e goes into the enclosure, humidity gradient, feeding and breeding in more detail.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBreeding is reliable once the drier gradient is right, the female carrying young in a brood pouch and releasing live miniatures that pick up their spotting as they mature. A group given warmth, calcium and steady food builds into a self-sustaining colony over a season. Browse the wider \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium collection\u003c\/a\u003e to see where it sits, or compare it with the speckled \u003ca href=\"\/products\/magic-potion-isopods\"\u003eMagic Potion\u003c\/a\u003e. Every order is captive-bred, boxed double-walled around a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum, and posted Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail with a live-arrival guarantee and a 20% overcount as standard.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45172955349286,"sku":"AG10","price":5.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45172955414822,"sku":"AG20","price":9.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"50","offer_id":47527082524966,"sku":"","price":17.8,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"100","offer_id":45172955382054,"sku":"AG100","price":32.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/armadillidium-granulatum-isopods-7819217.jpg?v=1763810291"},{"product_id":"powder-blue-isopods","title":"Powder Blue Isopods (Porcellionides pruinosus)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere is little else in a typical isopod collection quite like the colour of a Powder Blue. Where most isopods sit in greys, browns or the familiar oranges, these wear a soft, dusty blue-grey that catches the light, and in the days before a moult it can flush to an almost metallic sheen. Add a fast, forgiving, hard-working temperament and it is easy to see why the Powder Blue is one of the most universally recommended isopods in the UK hobby.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Powder Blue is \u003cem\u003ePorcellionides pruinosus\u003c\/em\u003e \"Powder Blue\", a small, widely-kept woodlouse from the Mediterranean and beyond, and one of the original and best-loved of the Powder morphs. It belongs to a whole line of \u003cem\u003eP. pruinosus\u003c\/em\u003e colour forms that share its name and its easy nature, among them Powder Orange, Oreo Crumble and Orange Dalmatian. You will also see it listed as Blue Powder or simply \u003cem\u003eP. pruinosus\u003c\/em\u003e \"Blue\". Beneath the good looks it delivers the real appeal of the species: it is about as bulletproof, prolific and hard-working as isopods come.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePowder Blues are small, reaching a little over 1 cm, with a fine, powdery texture over a dusty blue-grey base that shifts towards silver or steel and takes on that metallic look before moulting. Unlike the pill-type isopods, \u003cem\u003ePorcellionides\u003c\/em\u003e do not roll into a ball; they are lean, quick and built to bolt for cover instead. That speed comes with a real bonus for a keeper: they are notably active by day, out and scurrying across the surface, so unlike most isopods you will genuinely see them going about their business rather than just knowing they are there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCare could hardly be simpler, which is a large part of why Powder Blues are so widely recommended to first-time keepers. They are remarkably adaptable and forgiving of a range of conditions. They tolerate a normally heated UK room but breed better with some additional heat from autumn to spring, and prefer a moderate rather than soaking enclosure with good ventilation, so there is none of the close, humid air a cave Cubaris wants. Keep one end of the floor damp and let the other run genuinely dry - give them the choice and they will settle where it suits them, and Powder Blues are forgiving enough that this is easy to get right. Give them a nutritious substrate built on flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil rather than inert coco coir, keep a layer of leaf litter and some bark on top for cover, and provide a calcium source such as cuttlebone for healthy moulting. Our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003esubstrate guide\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-calcium-guide\"\u003ecalcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e cover the essentials, though honestly, that is most of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eDiet\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs detritivores, Powder Blues do the bulk of their feeding on leaf litter and decaying wood, and being such active, hungry animals they work through it quickly, which is exactly what makes them so effective as a clean-up crew. Supplement with the odd vegetable and a little protein such as fish flake or dried shrimp, and clear away anything uneaten before it moulds. Adding \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtails\u003c\/a\u003e rounds out the micro clean-up team nicely, and our guide to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/what-do-isopods-eat\"\u003ewhat isopods eat\u003c\/a\u003e has the full diet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you want an isopod that multiplies, this is one of the best. Powder Blues breed quickly and readily: give a healthy group stable, well-fed conditions and a colony builds fast, with no special effort required. That prolific nature is what makes them such a dependable clean-up crew, and a handy soft-bodied feeder culture for small reptiles and amphibians into the bargain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is hard to think of a keeper the Powder Blue does not suit. Beginners get one of the most forgiving, fast-establishing and inexpensive introductions to the hobby, and our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/the-beginner-s-guide-to-keeping-isopods-in-the-uk\"\u003ebeginner's guide\u003c\/a\u003e covers the wider setup. Bioactive keepers get a tireless, quick-working clean-up crew for almost any moderate-humidity enclosure. And anyone tired of isopods that hide gets a genuinely surface-active, watchable species in a colour nothing else in the collection shares. Browse the rest of the Powder line in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/porcellionides-isopods\"\u003ePorcellionides collection\u003c\/a\u003e, or pair them with other easy classics like our best-selling \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e and the bombproof \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dairy-cow-isopods\"\u003eDairy Cow\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYour Powder Blues are bred here in the UK and travel under our live arrival guarantee, tucked into sphagnum moss in a ventilated deli tub inside a double-walled box. We send Monday to Thursday only, so nothing is left waiting in the post across a weekend.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45172956692774,"sku":"PB10","price":6.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45172956758310,"sku":"PB20","price":11.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":49107608305958,"sku":"","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100","offer_id":45172956725542,"sku":"PB100","price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/powder-blue-isopods-porcellionides-pruinosus-7626582.jpg?v=1764798920"},{"product_id":"snow-white","title":"Snow White Isopods (Porcellio laevis)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003ePorcellio laevis\u003c\/em\u003e story keeps adding chapters. It started for most people with the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/dairy-cow-isopods\"\u003eDairy Cow\u003c\/a\u003e, the black-and-cream workhorse, then came the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/giant-orange-isopods\"\u003eGiant Orange\u003c\/a\u003e, and the Snow White is the same tough species again with the pigment bred right out. What is left is a clean, near-pure white woodlouse that throws real contrast against dark substrate and leaf litter. Plenty of \"white\" isopods actually read grey or off-cream; a well-kept Snow White holds a clean, snow-like tone, which is exactly where the name comes from.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe appeal is the trade-off it does not ask you to make. You get a striking, almost designer-looking morph on a species that is close to bulletproof, breeds like it is going out of fashion and forgives the kind of husbandry slips that would sink something delicate. They are big for a common isopod, up to around 20 mm, fast, busy and often out in daylight, so they work as a display animal as much as a clean-up crew. For a first step into showy morphs without the demanding care that usually comes attached, this is one of the easiest recommendations I can make.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike all \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e, the Snow White cannot roll into a ball. Faced with trouble it backs into cover or simply outruns it, relying on speed rather than armour, and that restless, surface-active habit is part of what makes the colony fun to watch. It is a hungrier animal than the pill woodlice too, with a real appetite for protein, which shapes how you feed it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHousing is undemanding. A six to ten litre tub with a clip-lock lid and cross-ventilation on both sides suits a starter group. Keep a moisture gradient rather than a uniformly wet floor: roughly three-quarters of the tub lightly damp, a quarter left drier, with good airflow over the top. These are adaptable across normal room temperatures and do best at 20 to 26°C; a heated room carries them for most of the year, and a small heat mat on a thermostat at one end keeps them breeding through winter. Give them a living base of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, rotted hardwood and organic topsoil at least five centimetres deep; I would avoid a plain coco-coir base, which holds water but offers nothing to eat as it sits there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTop the substrate with a thick layer of leaf litter, cork bark for cover and a permanent calcium source such as cuttlebone or crushed eggshell, which matters doubly on a white animal because clean moults keep the colour crisp. On food, leaf litter and rotting wood are the always-available base, but the protein is where \u003cem\u003eP. laevis\u003c\/em\u003e parts company with the pill bugs: offer fish flake, dried shrimp or a dedicated isopod protein a couple of times a week, alongside soft veg like courgette, squash and sweet potato. Underfeed the protein and a fast, crowded colony can start nibbling its own softer, freshly moulted members, so keep it topped up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBreeding needs almost no encouragement. Give a settled group warmth, food and steady calcium and the females will carry young in the brood pouch and drop live miniatures in quick succession; a starter colony can build into a full population inside a few months. If you want the numbers, this is among the fastest breeders in the hobby, which is a large part of why it stays such good value.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePair them with a \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e to keep mould down around the protein feedings, read up on the wider group in our guide to the \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/different-types-of-porcellio-isopods\"\u003edifferent types of Porcellio\u003c\/a\u003e, or browse the full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/porcellio-isopods\"\u003ePorcellio collection\u003c\/a\u003e to see where the Snow White sits. Every order is captive-bred from established UK colonies, sent in a double-walled box around a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum, posted Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail with a 20% overcount and a live-arrival guarantee.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45172957282598,"sku":"SW10","price":2.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45172957348134,"sku":"SW20","price":4.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":55292510863742,"sku":null,"price":11.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100","offer_id":45172957315366,"sku":"SW100","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/products\/porcellio_snow_white_isopod.jpg?v=1786875862"},{"product_id":"powder-white-isopods","title":"Powder White Isopods (Porcellionides pruinosus)","description":"\u003cp\u003eCatch a Powder White in the light and you'll see where this whole line of isopods gets its name. The shell carries a fine bloom, a pale dusting that sits on the surface like frost on cold glass. The scientific name says it plainly: \u003cem\u003ePorcellionides pruinosus\u003c\/em\u003e, from the Latin for covered in hoarfrost. On most Powder isopods that bloom lies over a deeper base colour, but here it settles across a ghostly white-to-pale-grey animal, so the whole creature looks lightly dusted. The powder isn't only for show, either; that layer is water-repellent, which has been measured rather than assumed, and it is laid down fresh before each moult.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSometimes listed as White Out, the Powder White is the pale colour morph of the species most keepers simply call the Powder isopod. Juveniles tend to emerge close to solid white, then develop that soft, frosted sheen as they grow and moult. It's the same hardy animal behind the dusky \u003ca href=\"\/products\/powder-blue-isopods\"\u003ePowder Blue\u003c\/a\u003e and the warm \u003ca href=\"\/products\/powder-orange-isopods\"\u003ePowder Orange\u003c\/a\u003e, cooled right down to a chalky pale, and it holds lovely contrast against dark substrate and leaf litter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese are not the slow, trundling isopods some people expect. \u003cem\u003ePorcellionides pruinosus\u003c\/em\u003e stays small - the British Myriapod and Isopod Group gives 12mm of body length for British animals, and the 1.5cm this page used to claim is above that - and it is fast, restless and constantly busy. Unlike many isopods it's often out in the open by day rather than waiting for the lights to go off. It also doesn't conglobate, so it can't roll into a protective ball the way a pill woodlouse does. Instead it trusts its speed, which is worth remembering at feeding time, since a quick colony will slip through gaps a slower species would never find. A settled group scurrying across the surface is a good part of the charm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCare is plain and forgiving, which is why I point complete beginners towards this species as readily as old hands. The one real request is good ventilation paired with a moderate moisture gradient, not a wet box. I keep one corner damp with sphagnum and let the rest dry out, so the colony can choose its own comfort. Room temperature in a heated home keeps them going all year, and a small heat mat on a thermostat keeps a colony breeding through winter. A base of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e topped with \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia leaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e gives them cover, humidity and a steady food source in one go, and a little cuttlebone or crushed eggshell keeps their moults clean.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFeeding is much the same story. They graze constantly on decaying leaves and rotting wood, take vegetable scraps happily, and do noticeably better for a little protein now and then, a pinch of fish flake or dried shrimp every week or so. That appetite is what makes them such a superb bioactive clean-up crew, working through waste, mould and leftover food quickly. They also breed fast, with sub-adults often pairing up before they reach full size, so a small starter culture will build into a self-sustaining population with almost no help from you.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you want a white clean-up crew that stays out of sight, the tiny \u003ca href=\"\/products\/dwarf-white-isopods\"\u003eDwarf White\u003c\/a\u003e is the usual pick, but the Powder White is a different proposition, larger, visible and well worth watching. Plenty of keepers run both, or collect all three Powder morphs together for a colony that drifts between pale, blue and orange as it grows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe species has a full write-up in our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/powder-orange-blue-isopod-care-guide\"\u003ePowder Orange and Blue care guide\u003c\/a\u003e, and everything in it applies to the Powder White as well.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery order is captive-bred, boxed double-walled around a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum, and posted Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail. Each one goes out with a live-arrival guarantee and a 20% overcount as standard.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45172958888230,"sku":"PW10","price":5.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":49241540886822,"sku":"PW10","price":9.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"50","offer_id":45172958953766,"sku":"PW50","price":22.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"100","offer_id":45172958920998,"sku":"PW100","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/powder-white-isopods-porcellionides-pruinosus-3612274.jpg?v=1779545722"},{"product_id":"penguin-isopods","title":"White Side \/ Penguin Isopods (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn five years of keeping isopods - and more than two decades keeping reptiles and other exotics before that - the White Side has stayed one of the small Cubaris I most enjoy watching. You will see this species sold under a few different names - most often White Side or Penguin, and sometimes labelled Cubaris White or simply \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. 'White Side' - but they are all the same animal. The names do the describing for you: a dark central body edged in clean white, so a group moving through leaf litter really does read like a little committee of penguins. They stay small, they cluster under cover, and once a colony settles they are one of the more rewarding of the accessible cave-type Cubaris. Every White Side we send is captive-bred, so you are starting with stock already used to life in a home enclosure rather than wild-collected animals that have to adjust to captivity first.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCubaris is the genus at the centre of the modern isopod hobby, and it covers a huge range - from eye-wateringly expensive Thai and Vietnamese cave species down to more attainable morphs like this one. The White Side sits at the accessible end: it has the genuine Cubaris look and behaviour, but it is more forgiving and quicker to get going than the premium cave species. If you have kept a hardier isopod and want your first proper Cubaris, this is a sensible place to begin. You can see how it fits alongside the rest of the genus in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris collection\u003c\/a\u003e, and if you have only kept the more familiar \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e before, the care here will feel very similar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhite Sides are one of the smaller Cubaris, compact and neat. The body is dark - charcoal through to near-black - with crisp white edging running along the sides, and that high-contrast border is what earns them both the White Side and Penguin names. Like all Cubaris they conglobate, rolling into a tight ball when disturbed, and they spend a good deal of time tucked under bark and in the substrate, so a settled colony rewards a bit of patience. Against a dark leaf-litter background the white margins really stand out, which makes them a satisfying display animal despite their size.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe single most important thing with any Cubaris is getting humidity and airflow right at the same time. They want things humid, but stagnant, waterlogged air is the usual killer of a Cubaris colony - so you are aiming for a moist enclosure with genuine cross-ventilation, not a sealed damp box. Mist to keep one end of the substrate damp and let the far end run genuinely dry, rather than soaking the lot - a tub that reads the same at both ends gives the colony nothing to choose between. On warmth, their band is 20 to 28°C, and a heated UK home sits just under it from autumn to spring, so they want a little extra warmth through the colder months.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGive them a deep, nutritious substrate to burrow into. A good base is flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil, topped with a generous layer of leaf litter and a few pieces of bark for cover. We do not recommend building the substrate around coco coir - it holds moisture but offers little the isopods can actually feed on, and with Cubaris the substrate is part of the diet. Deep substrate matters for a second reason too: like other cave species they appreciate the security of burrowing, and a shallow setup leaves them exposed and unsettled. Everything you need to put a setup together is in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories range\u003c\/a\u003e, and our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/complete-cubaris-isopod-care-guide\"\u003ecomplete Cubaris care guide\u003c\/a\u003e walks through enclosure, substrate and ventilation in full.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eDiet\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhite Sides are detritivores, and the bulk of their diet is the leaf litter and white-rotted hardwood they live in. On top of that they take small amounts of fresh vegetables - things like courgette, carrot and squash - and benefit from occasional protein such as a little fish flake or dried shrimp, particularly when breeding. Calcium is not optional for a cave Cubaris: keep cuttlebone or crushed limestone available at all times to support moulting and a healthy colony. Clear away any uneaten fresh food within a day or two before it moulds in the humid enclosure. Our guide to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/what-do-isopods-eat\"\u003ewhat isopods eat\u003c\/a\u003e covers the full picture if you want to build a proper feeding routine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike most cave-type Cubaris, White Sides are slow to start. A new colony spends its early months simply settling in and building numbers quietly, and it can be tempting to assume nothing is happening. Give them stable conditions - consistent warmth, reliable humidity with good airflow, deep substrate and steady calcium - leave them undisturbed, and once they are established they become a dependable, self-sustaining colony. Patience early on is repaid later. Adding springtails as a clean-up crew helps keep the enclosure healthy in the meantime; you will find those in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtails collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe White Side suits a keeper who has a little isopod experience and wants their first genuine Cubaris without the demanding care and cost of the premium cave species. If you can hold humidity steady while keeping the air moving, and you do not mind a species that takes its time to establish, this is a great choice - and a striking one on display. It is less suited to a complete beginner or to anyone after fast, hands-off results.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery colony is captive-bred and ships under our live arrival guarantee, sent in a double-walled box with sphagnum moss in a ventilated deli tub to travel safely. We dispatch Monday to Thursday to avoid animals sitting in the postal system over a weekend.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":45185689551142,"sku":"WSI10","price":12.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":45185689616678,"sku":"WSI20","price":22.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":45185689583910,"sku":"WSI50","price":50.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/penguin_isopod-424757.jpg?v=1744059956"},{"product_id":"red-panda-king-isopods","title":"Red Panda King Isopods (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eTake the familiar black-and-white Panda King, swap its grey banding for a glow of orange through to deep blood-red, and you have the Red Panda King - one of the most eye-catching accessible Cubaris in the UK hobby. It keeps the signature twin white bands near the head, so it still reads unmistakably as a Panda King, but the colour transforms a classic-looking isopod into something genuinely striking.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Red Panda King is \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. \"Red Panda King\", the red colour morph of the ever-popular Cubaris Panda King. It is the same Vietnamese cave species carrying a recessive mutation that trades the classic monochrome for warm reds and oranges, while keeping the signature twin white bands near the head. Colour runs the full range between individuals, from bright orange to deep red with peachy highlights, and the banding varies in strength too, so no two are quite alike. It also sits at the head of a small breeding lineage: the softer \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/pink-panda-king\"\u003ePink Panda King\u003c\/a\u003e was in turn developed from Red Panda King stock.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdults reach around 1-1.5 cm, the same compact, rounded build as the standard Panda King. The appeal is all in the colour and its authenticity: the red eyes and reduced pigment confirm a genuine morph, the two solid white bands anchor it unmistakably to the Panda King line, and the depth of red only grows richer as animals mature. Like every Cubaris, a startled Red Panda King rolls up into a flawless little sphere until it judges the danger has passed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere is the good news on husbandry: care is identical to the standard Panda King, and just as manageable. In short, that means cave-Cubaris conditions - warm and humid at around 21-27°C and 70-80%, with less airflow than drier isopods need but never a sealed box, since low is not none; a deep substrate built on flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil rather than the moisture-holding but inert coco coir; and a permanent calcium source to match their limestone-cave origins, which our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-calcium-guide\"\u003ecalcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e runs through. Our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/panda-king\"\u003ePanda King\u003c\/a\u003e listing and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/complete-cubaris-isopod-care-guide\"\u003ecomplete Cubaris care guide\u003c\/a\u003e set out the full detail, and a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail\u003c\/a\u003e culture is an essential partner in any humid Cubaris enclosure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne thing worth knowing specifically about this morph: newly arrived Red Panda Kings often take two to three months to settle before they begin breeding. That is entirely normal, so resist the urge to dig through the substrate hunting for them or to worry at a quiet start; hold conditions stable and let them establish. Once they do, they breed as reliably as any Panda King, which for a Cubaris of this colour is a genuine advantage. Our guide to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/breeding-rubber-duckys-and-panda-kings\"\u003ebreeding Rubber Duckys and Panda Kings\u003c\/a\u003e applies directly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Red Panda King suits a keeper ready to step from hardy beginner species into Cubaris, and especially the collector who wants that accessible Panda King reliability wrapped in a far more striking colour. It asks a little more than a \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e - warmth, humidity and carefully judged airflow - but it is one of the more forgiving cave Cubaris, and its red eyes and clean banding make it a genuinely rewarding centrepiece. Compare it with the rest of the line in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOur full \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/panda-king-isopod-care-guide\"\u003ePanda King care guide\u003c\/a\u003e now covers the whole family in one place, the Red included, from cave conditions to first mancae.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEach Red Panda King is bred in-house here in the UK and sent under our live arrival guarantee, nestled in sphagnum moss inside a ventilated deli tub and a double-walled outer box. We only post Monday to Thursday, so no colony sits waiting through a weekend.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":46331537096998,"sku":"","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":46331537031462,"sku":"","price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":46331537064230,"sku":"","price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/redpandakingisopod-427767.jpg?v=1723173600"},{"product_id":"cappuccino-isopods","title":"Cappuccino Isopods (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eSome isopods are named for a stretch; the Cappuccino is not. It really does look like a tub of tiny foam-topped coffees, a frothy mottle of creamy white and rich coffee-brown swirled across each animal, and because no two carry the same marbling, a colony reads like a tray of individually-poured lattes. It is one of the more characterful Cubaris in the hobby, a Thai species that grows a shade larger and bolder than many of its cave cousins and makes a fine display once you are past beginner isopods.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt sits in a nice middle ground. The Cappuccino is not as bombproof as a \u003ca href=\"\/products\/panda-king\"\u003ePanda King\u003c\/a\u003e or a standard \u003ca href=\"\/products\/murina-isopods\"\u003eCubaris murina\u003c\/a\u003e, but it is a good deal more forgiving than the fussiest premium morphs like the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e, with a notably calm, settled temperament. For a keeper ready to move up from the gateway Cubaris into something with more visual character, it is one of the easier steps to take, and it keeps good company with the yellow-outlined \u003ca href=\"\/products\/jupiters\"\u003eJupiter\u003c\/a\u003e. Because no two animals share the same coffee-and-cream marbling, a larger colony is worth building simply to see the range the morph throws.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCare is the familiar Cubaris routine. These are warmth-loving, cave-adapted Thai animals that want steady humidity with a gradient rather than a wet enclosure: a damp end and a drier end, misting to maintain rather than soak, and cross-ventilation to keep the air moving. Hold the temperature on the warm side of room conditions and keep the humidity up without letting things go stagnant, and the coffee colours stay rich. Somewhere around 21 to 26°C suits them, with the damp end held near 75 to 85 per cent and the far side left drier.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGive a starter colony a five to ten litre clip-lock tub with cross-vented sides, and a living substrate of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, well-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil deep enough for burrowing. Work plenty of calcium through it, crushed limestone, cuttlebone or oyster shell, as the limestone-cave Cubaris depend on it for clean moults, and leave a plain coco-coir base out of the mix since it holds damp while feeding nothing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCap the substrate with a thick layer of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia and oak leaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e plus cork bark and rotting wood for the dark, humid cover they favour. Feeding is simple: leaf litter and decaying wood as the base, soft veg such as courgette, squash and sweet potato a couple of times a week with leftovers lifted promptly, and an occasional pinch of protein to keep a breeding colony productive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/care-for-cappuccino-isopods\"\u003eCappuccino isopod care guide\u003c\/a\u003e covers the enclosure, warmth, humidity, feeding and breeding in more detail.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBreeding is steady rather than quick, which is typical of the premium Cubaris: females carry young in a brood pouch and release live miniatures a few at a time, and a colony given warmth, humidity and calcium builds up reliably. Their calmer temperament and slightly bolder habits make them more visible than many cave Cubaris, so a mature, well-marbled colony earns its place as a display animal in its own right rather than a hidden clean-up crew, and it is one of the few premium Cubaris relaxed enough to stay out where you can see it. A \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e alongside keeps mould in check around the damp corners. Every order is captive-bred, boxed double-walled around a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum and posted Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail with a live-arrival guarantee and a 20% overcount as standard.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":46331960820006,"sku":null,"price":55.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":46331960754470,"sku":null,"price":105.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":46331960787238,"sku":null,"price":200.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/cappuccino-isopods-cubaris-sp-1662051.jpg?v=1772295671"},{"product_id":"merulanella-sp-red-diablo","title":"Red Diablo Isopods (Ardentiella sp.) for Sale UK","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe word in this page's web address now points at the wrong side of the planet. Since the 2025 reassessment, \u003cem\u003eMerulanella\u003c\/em\u003e covers only three species, all of them in New Caledonia. This animal is Vietnamese, and the hobby has moved its morphs across to \u003cem\u003eArdentiella\u003c\/em\u003e. We have kept the old address because breaking a link nobody gains from is not worth it, but the name to use is \u003cem\u003eArdentiella\u003c\/em\u003e sp. 'Red Diablo'.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat is actually described, and what is not\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eArdentiella\u003c\/em\u003e contains exactly two described species, \u003cem\u003eA. bicolorata\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eA. caerulea\u003c\/em\u003e, and both are from Myanmar. Red Diablo is neither. Like every Vietnamese morph in this group it has no formal description, no type specimen and no published collection locality, and the 2025 paper that erected the genus did not examine the pet-trade animals at all. Moving them across is the hobby's own inference, and a reasonable one, but it is inference.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe same paper makes a point worth repeating: undescribed species endemic to Vietnam are being targeted by collectors. Buying captive-bred stock of an animal in that position is not a marketing line, it is the difference between a colony and a pressure on a wild population nobody has even named yet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eThe animal\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eVivid red, blotched through with yellow and black, and finished with a bold red skirting along the segment edges. Around 20mm. Flat-bodied compared with a \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e, because it is built to climb rather than to dig, and active in daylight as well as after dark, which makes it one of the few isopods in this price bracket you will actually see.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is capable of rolling into a ball, being an Armadillidae, but it rarely bothers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eThe two things that kill them\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEverything else about keeping this genus is in our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/care-for-merulanella-red-diablo-isopods\"\u003eRed Diablo care guide\u003c\/a\u003e and in the \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/ember-bee-isopod-care-guide\"\u003eEmber Bee guide\u003c\/a\u003e, which covers the genus in more depth than any listing should. Two points are worth putting here anyway, because they are the ones people get wrong.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHigh humidity and heavy ventilation together.\u003c\/strong\u003e Not one or the other. Set fine mesh into opposing walls so a current crosses the enclosure, and hold 60 to 75 per cent as a gradient. Warm, wet, still air is the usual way this group is lost. Nobody has published physiology for \u003cem\u003eArdentiella\u003c\/em\u003e, so that is our shelf experience and the hobby's rather than a measurement. The mechanism is not mysterious, though: seal a humid box and the moisture equalises within hours, so the colony loses the damp-to-dry choice it should be making, and the air stops turning over.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNo heat mat.\u003c\/strong\u003e 20 to 23°C is the band they do best in, with 19 to 26°C tolerated. In a heated room, heat is the risk with these animals, not cold. A mat dries the substrate and builds a hot spot that a non-burrowing species cannot get away from. We used to recommend one and we were wrong.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeyond that: they are semi-arboreal and do not dig, so build upwards with cork bark on edge and branching, and treat depth as leaf-litter volume, not burrowing room, four to six centimetres of it. They walk up sheer glass and smooth plastic, mancae included, so the lid carries the whole burden. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/malawi-light-limestone-for-inverts\"\u003eLimestone\u003c\/a\u003e permanently available, and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/orange-springtails\"\u003espringtails\u003c\/a\u003e going in on day one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNot a beginner isopod. If you have kept a \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e successfully, use more ventilation than that taught you, not less. Other members of the genus are in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/ardentiella-isopods\"\u003eArdentiella isopods\u003c\/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/phoenix-isopods\"\u003ePhoenix\u003c\/a\u003e is the nearest match we keep.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBred here, and dispatched at the start of the week only. Animals travel on a moss bed in a punched cup, boxed inside a second carton, with Royal Mail delivering the next working day ahead of one. We send more than you order, and live arrival is guaranteed.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":46462314250534,"sku":null,"price":70.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":46462314184998,"sku":null,"price":130.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":46462314217766,"sku":null,"price":250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/red-diablo-isopods-ardentiella-sp-for-sale-uk-4318071.jpg?v=1786623373"},{"product_id":"orange-springtails","title":"Orange Springtails (Yuukianura aphoruroides)","description":"\u003cp\u003eSpringtails are named for the little forked lever tucked under the abdomen that catapults them out of trouble. Orange springtails have largely given up on it. They crawl instead, slow and deliberate, in a colour somewhere between apricot and traffic cone, which makes them both far easier to work with than a culture that pings across the room every time you lift the lid, and the only springtail you can actually pick out by eye in a planted enclosure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese are \u003cem\u003eYuukianura aphoruroides\u003c\/em\u003e, a member of the Neanuridae, sold as Orange Springtails and sometimes as Asian Orange Springtails. They are larger and considerably chunkier than the standard white springtail, reaching around 4 mm, and unlike the white Collembola most keepers start with they are genuinely visible. One honest caveat on provenance: hobby sources disagree about where the cultures in circulation originated, with some listing them as Asian and others as Spanish, so rather than pick a side we would simply say the captive requirements are well understood and the origin label is not. They also get muddled with two other species in the trade, the red \u003cem\u003eBilobella braunerae\u003c\/em\u003e and the Florida orange springtail, both of which are different animals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat they do\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo jobs, and they are good at both. As cleanup crew they graze mould, decaying plant matter, animal waste and leftover food, which in practice means they keep a bioactive enclosure from turning fuzzy and stop your isopod bins souring around uneaten protein. Any of the tropical species in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopod range\u003c\/a\u003e benefits from a culture running underneath them, and the pairing with \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dwarf-white-isopods\"\u003edwarf whites\u003c\/a\u003e makes a complete micro cleanup team for smaller setups. They also serve as a supplemental live food for dart frogs, froglets, small geckos and other micro-insectivores, though they should be part of a varied diet rather than the whole of it, since a springtail cannot be dusted with supplements the way a larger feeder can.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAbout as low-maintenance as livestock gets. A small tub with a secure lid and a few ventilation holes is all the housing they need, with 2 to 3 cm of damp substrate in the bottom. This is the one place where coconut coir genuinely earns its keep: a springtail is not eating its way through the floor the way an isopod or millipede does, so coir, charcoal or a simple soil-based mix all work well, and coir holds moisture beautifully. Keep it damp at all times rather than letting it dry out, since drying is the usual way a culture is lost, and normal room temperature suits them across the year. A piece of bark or a few leaves on the surface gives them somewhere to congregate and makes harvesting easier.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eFeeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSmall amounts, often. They will take brewer's yeast, springtail food, a few grains of rice or a scrap of mushroom, and they graze whatever mould appears in the meantime. The single biggest mistake is generosity: overfeeding a culture fouls it and can crash the colony outright, so put in less than you think and add more once it has gone. Feed a little and they multiply steadily and quietly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHarvesting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBecause they do not jump, getting them out is far simpler than with white springtails. Lift the bark they have gathered on and tap them straight into the target enclosure, or flood a corner of the culture with a little water and pour the floaters off. Take a portion and leave the rest to rebuild, and a healthy culture will keep producing indefinitely.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnyone running a bioactive setup, and especially anyone who has been frustrated by white springtails scattering the moment the lid comes off. They suit dart frog and small reptile keepers wanting a live supplemental feeder, isopod keepers who want mould under control in their bins, and planted terrarium owners who would rather their cleanup crew was visible than invisible. About the only keeper they will not satisfy is someone after a fast, jumping species. For everything they pair with, browse our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail range\u003c\/a\u003e, our best-selling \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky isopods\u003c\/a\u003e, and the substrate and botanicals in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories range\u003c\/a\u003e, including \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOur \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/articles-not-isopod-related\/keeping-orange-springtails-a-guide-to-successful-care\"\u003eOrange Springtails care guide\u003c\/a\u003e covers the habitat, feeding and breeding side in more depth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCultures leave us established and productive rather than freshly split, travelling in their own substrate under our live arrival guarantee. Dispatch runs Monday to Thursday on Royal Mail next day before 1pm, keeping every culture out of the weekend post.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"25","offer_id":46478023033126,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":46478023098662,"sku":null,"price":17.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100","offer_id":47060068106534,"sku":"","price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/orange_springtails_for_sale.jpg?v=1729544706"},{"product_id":"thai-red-springtails","title":"Thai Red Springtails (Lobella sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eMost springtails are a functional off-white you never look at twice. The Thai Red is the opposite: a genuinely saturated, candy-red springtail, big and chunky enough to see with the naked eye, that happens to also do the cleanup job. It is one of the few pieces of microfauna you would keep for the look alone. Every culture we send is captive-bred here in the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is \u003cem\u003eLobella\u003c\/em\u003e sp. 'Thai Red', a tropical springtail that came out of Thailand in 2021 and quickly became one of the more sought-after \"designer\" microfauna in the hobby. Two things set it apart from an everyday springtail beyond the colour: it is noticeably larger, stout-bodied at up to around 5 mm, and it does not jump. It has no furcula, the spring most springtails use to ping across a room, so it walks calmly instead, which makes it far easier to watch and to contain than the usual popcorn-scatter culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat it needs\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThai Reds are seriously tropical and the one setup detail that catches people out is the substrate: they have a strong digging instinct and \u003cstrong\u003emust be kept on deep organic soil\u003c\/strong\u003e, not the charcoal or clay that some springtails tolerate. Give at least 3 to 5 cm of organic topsoil with coconut coir or forest humus, a little sphagnum and white-rotted wood, and leaf litter on top. Keep it warm, 24 to 28°C, and humid, 85 to 95%, consistently damp throughout but not flooded, and mist with dechlorinated water. In a cool UK room over winter they stall, so a side-mounted heat mat on a thermostat keeps them productive. Get the warmth, humidity and organic-soil depth right and the rest looks after itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eDiet\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike all springtails they graze the mould, fungi and decaying matter in the substrate, but Thai Reds are unusually protein-hungry and that is the key to a strong colony. Fish flakes are the reliable favourite, our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/ultra-tropical-fish-flakes-100g\"\u003eUltra Tropical flakes\u003c\/a\u003e sprinkled lightly every few days, with dried daphnia or a little mushroom alongside. Skimp on the protein and the colony crawls; keep it fed and it builds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eUsing them\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey earn their place two ways. As a cleanup crew they suit warm, humid bioactive setups perfectly, so they pair naturally with tropical \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris\u003c\/a\u003e displays where the red adds another layer of interest. And their size makes them a more substantial feeder than tiny white springtails for dart frogs and other small amphibians. One tip: keep them in their own culture rather than tipping them straight into a tank with an established, faster-breeding species like \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/orange-springtails\"\u003eOrange Springtails\u003c\/a\u003e, which can out-compete them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThai Reds suit the keeper who has kept springtails before and wants a premium, visible culture, the dart-frog keeper after a chunkier feeder, and the display builder who wants their cleanup crew to actually be worth looking at. They are not a first springtail, nor a budget option; if you just want cheap, invisible cleanup, start elsewhere. Our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/setting-up-selecting-your-first-isopods\"\u003esetup guide\u003c\/a\u003e covers the bioactive basics, and culture kit is in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories range\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery culture is captive-bred here in the UK and sent as an established starter portion under our live arrival guarantee, dispatched Monday to Thursday by Royal Mail next day before 1pm.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":46478103675174,"sku":null,"price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":46478103740710,"sku":null,"price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":46478103773478,"sku":null,"price":100.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/products\/thai_red_springtails.jpg?v=1744059789"},{"product_id":"porcellio-werneri","title":"Greek Shield Isopod (Porcellio werneri)","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn the dry limestone of the Aegean islands there is not much cover and even less water, and the animals that make a living there tend to be specialists. \u003cem\u003ePorcellio werneri\u003c\/em\u003e is one of them: an isopod adapted to rocky, calcareous, sun-baked ground, spending the day pressed into a crack in the stone and coming out at night to feed. Ecological surveys of those islands list it among the species restricted to dry habitats, and that single line of habitat description is worth more than any care sheet, because almost everything that goes wrong with this species in captivity comes from ignoring it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat that environment produced is the flattest woodlouse in the hobby. A wide grey disc with a pale serrated skirt running the full circumference, low enough to look pressed, and unlike anything else you will put in an enclosure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eNames\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSold as the Greek Shield Isopod, Werner's Woodlouse, or the Pancake Isopod, and listed scientifically as \u003cem\u003ePorcellio werneri\u003c\/em\u003e. Adults run around 20 to 25 mm across, which places them among the larger isopods available in the UK. Juveniles arrive brown and shift to the adult grey as they mature, so a mixed-age group will look less uniform than a photograph of adults suggests.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne thing to correct, since it turns up on a number of listings: this is not a Spanish species. That confusion comes from the several dry-climate \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e that do come from Iberia. Werneri is Greek, and while it wants a drier setup than most isopods, it is noticeably less extreme in that regard than its Spanish cousins.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eStandard or Silverback?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe stock two lines and it is worth knowing the difference before you choose. This page is the standard form: uniform grey across the back with the pale skirt. The \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/porcellio-werneri-silverback-isopods\"\u003eSilverback\u003c\/a\u003e comes from a separate wild population and carries a broad silvery-white band down the centre of the body.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCare is identical between the two, so the decision is purely about looks and cost. The standard grey is the more affordable way into the species and, to my eye, the cleaner shape; the Silverback is the collector's version. Both do the same thing in an enclosure and neither is harder to keep than the other.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy it is shaped like that\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMost people assume the flatness is decorative. It is defensive. A \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e cannot conglobate the way an \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/em\u003e can, so where a pill bug rolls into a sealed ball, werneri does the opposite and presses itself down. Threatened, it clamps flat against whatever it is standing on or reverses into a crevice, and at that point there is very little for a predator to get purchase on.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn an enclosure you will see the behaviour constantly against cork bark, where they flatten so completely they seem to be part of the surface. It is the single most entertaining thing about keeping them, and it is why the enclosure needs crevices rather than open floor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe setup\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRoughly a third damp, two thirds dry, and generous ventilation throughout. That ratio is the whole game with this species. A sealed humid tub will finish a colony, and it does so quickly enough that people usually assume the animals were unwell on arrival rather than recognising the cause.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLay 5 to 7 cm of a nutritious base such as our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/substrate-for-invertebrates\"\u003einvertebrate substrate\u003c\/a\u003e, moisten one end only, and cover the surface with dry hardwood leaf litter. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003eMagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e hold their structure well and give them something to work under. Stack flat bark, slate or stones, because an animal built for crevices needs crevices to use, and give them floor area rather than height, since adult males can be territorial and a cramped tub produces more conflict than a roomy one. There is more on getting the base right in my \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003eisopod substrate\u003c\/a\u003e guide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOrdinary UK room temperature suits them from the high teens to the mid twenties, with no heating required.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eProtein and calcium\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter and rotting hardwood form the base of the diet, but \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e as a genus is protein-hungry and werneri is no exception. Offer dried shrimp, fish flake or similar at least weekly. This is the same trait that makes the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/dairy-cow-isopods\"\u003eDairy Cow\u003c\/a\u003e a risk to soft-bodied tankmates when underfed, and while werneri is less notorious for it, the principle holds: a hungry \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e goes looking.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCalcium is the other requirement, and a large heavily armoured species gets through it. Keep \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e available permanently. In a deliberately dry enclosure, clear uneaten wet food within the day so it does not create the damp patch you have been careful to design out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBehaviour and breeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReliable rather than fast. With the gradient and airflow right they reproduce steadily; with either wrong the colony quietly stalls, without any obvious sign that something has gone amiss. Give a new group a couple of months before judging progress.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey are active at night and in the early morning and spend daylight hours under cover, so this is not a species that performs on demand. The pleasure is in lifting a slab and finding half a dozen of them fused to the underside.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho they suit\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn intermediate species. Not fragile, but the drier discipline runs directly counter to what most beginner guides teach, and that is what catches people out. Anyone who has kept a Mediterranean species already has the instincts for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSee the rest of the genus in the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/porcellio-isopods\"\u003ePorcellio collection\u003c\/a\u003e, or the full range in \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods for sale\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eArriving with you\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCaptive-bred in the UK. Orders leave Monday to Thursday only so nothing sits in the network over a weekend, travelling Royal Mail next day by 1pm in a double-walled box, with the animals in ventilated deli tubs on damp sphagnum moss. A 20% overcount and our live arrival guarantee come as standard. Build the enclosure before they arrive, and when you look at it and think it seems too dry, that is roughly correct.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47020993282342,"sku":"WERN5","price":17.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"10","offer_id":47020993315110,"sku":"WERN10","price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"20","offer_id":47020993347878,"sku":"WERN20","price":55.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/porcellio-werneri-greek-shield-isopod-4827805.jpg?v=1764798922"},{"product_id":"pak-chong","title":"Pak Chong Isopods (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is the sensible, lower-cost door into one of the hobby's most famous animals. Pak Chong is the same species as the Rubber Ducky, from the Pak Chong district of Thailand, without the Rubber Ducky price of entry. Sold as Pak Chong Isopods, or simply \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. \"Pak Chong\", these are a tricolour cave \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e collected from the limestone karst around Pak Chong in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern Thailand. They share their bloodline with the celebrated \u003ca href=\"\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e and stand as the parent stock behind the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/cubaris-cherry-blossom-isopods\"\u003eCherry Blossom\u003c\/a\u003e morph, so you are buying into serious pedigree at a fraction of the usual outlay.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt around 15mm, they wear one of the more handsome colour schemes in the genus. The central body runs a soft blue-grey, each segment is trimmed with a crisp white frill, and the rear glows a warm orange-to-red, with the occasional flash of the same colour across the face. The effect is often likened to the markings of a Bernese mountain dog: dark centre, white edging, rust accents, arranged in three clear zones. Like all \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e they conglobate, rolling into a tight ball at the first sign of disturbance, and colour intensity varies from one animal to the next, which gives keen keepers something to select for over the generations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis listing is the standard Pak Chong. If you want the same animal turned up a shade warmer and redder, the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/red-pak-chong-isopods-cubaris-sp\"\u003eRed Pak Chong\u003c\/a\u003e is a colour form of exactly the same species. Either way you are getting a slow but reliable \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e that earns its place in a display: striking to look at, calm to keep, and a gentle step up for anyone ready to move on from beginner species. They sit comfortably alongside the rest of the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris\u003c\/a\u003e range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeep them warm, in the 24 to 27°C band, at 70 to 80% humidity, with low to moderate ventilation - less than a Mediterranean species needs, but never a sealed box. Give them a deep living substrate they can burrow into and feed from: a base of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e blended with rotted hardwood and a little organic topsoil works well, and it is worth keeping a plain coco-coir base out of the mix, as it holds little of the nutrition a cave \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e wants. Calcium is permanent, not occasional, so leave cuttlebone or crushed limestone available at all times for healthy moults and shell growth. Layer the top with leaf litter and cork bark for cover and grazing, and keep gentle cross-ventilation running so the air never sits still. Feed them lightly and regularly on decaying leaves and wood as the staple, topped up with the occasional slice of vegetable and a modest pinch of protein.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBreeding is slow but dependable. Pak Chong will not swarm the way a hardy starter species does, but a settled group reproduces steadily, dropping small broods of mancae once the colony has found its feet, which usually takes a couple of months of stable conditions. Hold the temperature and humidity steady, keep calcium and leaf litter topped up, and let them get on with it undisturbed. A thriving \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail\u003c\/a\u003e culture makes a fine companion, quietly clearing mould and keeping the substrate sweet. For a wider look at the genus, our guide to the \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/types-of-cubaris-isopods\"\u003etypes of Cubaris\u003c\/a\u003e is a good place to read further.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery group is captive-bred and packed around a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum inside a double-walled box, then sent out Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail for delivery by 1pm. Live arrival is guaranteed, and we always tuck in a 20% overcount for good measure.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47021002228006,"sku":"PAK5","price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":47021002260774,"sku":"PAK10","price":60.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":47021002293542,"sku":"PAK20","price":105.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/pak_chong_isopod-502498-988421.jpg?v=1744059547"},{"product_id":"cubaris-sp-soil-isopods","title":"Soil Isopods (Cubaris \/ Troglodillo sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe name does them no favours. 'Soil Isopods' sounds like a plain clean-up crew, the sort of small grey workers you tuck into the corner of a vivarium and forget about. In person they are nothing of the sort. These are large, flat animals in deep purple-to-black, finished with bright white antennae, and that contrast is the first thing you notice when the lid comes off. They have been sold for years as \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp., though keepers now place them in \u003cem\u003eTroglodillo\u003c\/em\u003e, a genus Jackson erected in 1937 rather than any recent split from \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e, so you will see them listed either way, as \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e \/ \u003cem\u003eTroglodillo\u003c\/em\u003e sp.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome keepers call them Gothic Isopods, or The Black Evil, and the moody names suit the colour until you look closely and find the same soft, rounded rubber-duck face you get on our \u003ca href=\"\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e isopods. At 15 to 20 mm they sit among the larger Cubaris, big enough to watch from across a room rather than hunt for with a torch. Where a warm morph like our \u003ca href=\"\/products\/sunset-isopods\"\u003eSunset\u003c\/a\u003e or the patterned \u003ca href=\"\/products\/panda-king\"\u003ePanda King\u003c\/a\u003e draws the eye with colour and marking, Soil Isopods do it with sheer depth of shade, and they hold their own beside anything else you keep.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey come from shaded, humid tropical forest, and they are happiest kept warm, somewhere around 22 to 26°C. What matters most is a humidity gradient rather than a uniformly wet box. Keep one end damp, with a patch of sphagnum moss, and let the far end run drier, so the colony can settle at the moisture level that suits it through the day. The substrate should read as moist, never waterlogged, with no standing water pooling at the base.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGive them a deep, living substrate to burrow and moult in, at least 7 to 10 cm of it. A rich base like our \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e holds moisture well and feeds them slowly as it breaks down. Mix powdered limestone or another calcium source through the full depth, since steady calcium is what carries them through each moult. On top, pile on generous leaf litter and a few pieces of decaying wood. Large \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia leaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e lasts well and gives them both food and cover.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCross-ventilation keeps the air fresh without drying everything out. A few small holes on opposite sides move air far better than one wide vent, and they head off the mould that can take hold in a warm, damp tub. Add flat rocks or bark for them to sit on, keep the enclosure out of bright light, and expect them to surface more when humidity is high and tuck away during drier spells. None of that is cause for concern. It just mirrors the wet and dry seasons of the forest floor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor an animal with such a striking look, I find them refreshingly hardy and adaptable, forgiving of the small swings a normal home throws at them, and a steady breeder once settled. Like other Cubaris they roll into a tight armoured ball when startled, which, set against that dark shell, makes for a handsome little defensive display. Give a new group a couple of months to find their feet before you expect much, and resist digging about for young, since undisturbed colonies do far better.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/cubaris-soil-isopod-care\"\u003eSoil isopod care guide\u003c\/a\u003e explains how to keep and breed them in more detail.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery order is captive-bred here in the UK, boxed double-walled around a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum and posted Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail, with a live-arrival guarantee and a 20% overcount included as standard.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47333762531622,"sku":"","price":17.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":47333762597158,"sku":"","price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":47333762629926,"sku":"","price":55.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/soil_isopods.jpg?v=1733349656"},{"product_id":"red-edge-isopods","title":"Red Edge Isopods (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen someone in the hobby says \"Red Edge\", this is the one they mean: a dark Thai cave isopod outlined, segment by segment, in bright red. Listed here as Red Edge Isopods and catalogued by science as nothing more specific than \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp., it comes from the limestone cave systems of Thailand and sits among the most enduringly popular Cubaris anyone keeps. Newcomers and long-time collectors alike keep coming back to it, and once you have watched a colony pick its way across a leaf-strewn floor you understand the pull.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe appeal is all about contrast. The body runs dark blue-grey to near-black, and every segment is framed by a band of bright red skirting that traces the whole outline of the animal from head to tail. It is bold enough to read clearly from across a room, which is unusual among cave Cubaris, most of which lean towards the subtle and the muted. This is the standard Red Edge, the original stock from which the warmer \u003ca href=\"\/products\/red-edge-orange-isopods\"\u003eRed Edge Orange\u003c\/a\u003e and the pale \u003ca href=\"\/products\/red-edge-blonde\"\u003eRed Edge Blonde\u003c\/a\u003e colour phases were both drawn, so keeping it puts you at the root of the whole line.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a mid-range Cubaris it earns its keep by being rewarding without being fussy. It is more forgiving than headline species such as the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e, yet far more striking than a plain starter culture, which makes it a sensible step up once the basics feel familiar. If you are only now finding your feet with the genus, the hardy \u003ca href=\"\/products\/murina-isopods\"\u003eCubaris murina\u003c\/a\u003e is the gentler gateway, though plenty of keepers begin with Red Edge and never regret it. You can set it against the rest of the range in our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCare follows the familiar Thai cave template. Keep them warm at 22 to 26°C and humid, somewhere around 75 to 85%, with one damp end and a drier end so the colony can settle wherever it feels most comfortable along the gradient. Give them a deep, living substrate they can burrow down into: \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e blended with rotted hardwood and a little topsoil suits them well, and it is worth keeping a plain coco-coir base out of the mix, since it offers them little to feed on. Cross-ventilation counts for just as much, because you want air moving steadily through the tub without letting it dry out. Leave calcium within reach at all times as cuttlebone or crushed limestone for clean moulting, and lay down leaf litter with cork bark or a few pieces of limestone so there is always cover to retreat beneath.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBreeding is steady rather than explosive, which is the reliable Cubaris way and no drawback at all. Settle a group into a mature, stable enclosure, leave them largely undisturbed, and small broods of mancae arrive at a dependable pace, building the colony over months instead of overnight. A thriving \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e alongside them keeps mould in check and works the substrate, and if you want to see where this species sits among its relatives, our guide to the \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/types-of-cubaris-isopods\"\u003etypes of Cubaris isopods\u003c\/a\u003e is a good place to read on.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery group leaves us captive-bred and packed for the trip: a ventilated tub set over damp sphagnum moss, cushioned inside a double-walled box. We dispatch Monday to Thursday on tracked next-day Royal Mail, aimed to reach you by 1pm, and stand behind each parcel with a live-arrival guarantee. We tuck a 20% overcount into every order as well, so your colony arrives with a few in hand.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47333791727910,"sku":"","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":47333782716710,"sku":null,"price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":47333782782246,"sku":null,"price":82.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/products\/red_edge_isopod.jpg?v=1744059372"},{"product_id":"jelly-bean-isopods","title":"Jelly Bean Isopods (Armadillidium vulgare 'St Lucia')","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Jelly Bean is the humble pillbug gone technicolour. Underneath the colour it is the ordinary common pill woodlouse, Armadillidium vulgare, the same hardy animal you might turn up under a log in the garden. What sets this one apart is where it comes from: a locality on the Caribbean island of St Lucia that throws a whole bag of colours in a single colony. Line a few up and they really do look like a scattered handful of multicoloured jelly bean sweets, which is how the 'Jelly Bean' name stuck.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe thing to understand is that this is a colour-variable locality, not a fixed single morph. One colony will show deep oranges and burgundies, soft yellows, greys and whites, calico patchworks and most shades in between, and no two animals look quite the same. People have tried to pin the colours down by pairing like with like, but the broods keep throwing the full range regardless of what the parents looked like. You cannot isolate a clean single-colour line from them, and that unpredictability is the whole appeal. Every generation hands you a fresh mix.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you have kept other Armadillidium you will find these comfortably familiar. Where our \u003ca href=\"\/products\/magic-potion-isopods\"\u003eMagic Potion\u003c\/a\u003e is a selectively bred designer look and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/zebra-isopods\"\u003eZebra\u003c\/a\u003e gives you crisp black-and-white striping, the Jelly Bean is all about natural variety in one tub. They sit alongside hardy favourites like \u003ca href=\"\/products\/granulatum-isopods\"\u003egranulatum\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/gestroi-isopods\"\u003eGestroi\u003c\/a\u003e, and you can see how the whole group compares in our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium collection\u003c\/a\u003e. For a first pillbug, or a colourful addition to a shelf of them, they are hard to beat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCare is straightforward common-pillbug care, which is a big part of why I point beginners towards them. Like every true pill woodlouse they conglobate, rolling into a tight sealed ball when startled, and being a vulgare they want a moisture gradient rather than a wet box. I keep mine at roughly 50 to 70 percent, with one damp corner and the rest left drier, and give them medium ventilation so the air stays fresh without drying everything out. Ordinary room temperature suits them all year, and they are about as hardy and forgiving as isopods get.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the substrate I build a living base of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, rotted hardwood and organic topsoil rather than a plain coco-coir bottom, which gives the microfauna something to work with and the isopods plenty to graze on. A generous top layer of leaf litter earns its keep as both food and cover, and our \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia leaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e holds its shape for months. Keep calcium available throughout, as a cuttlebone or crushed shell, because a colony this prolific is always moulting and needs it to harden fresh shells.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey are unfussy detritivores that take rotting wood and leaf litter as the backbone of the diet, topped up with the odd vegetable and a regular pinch of protein. They are also bolder than most isopods, often out in daylight and quick to a feed rather than hiding it away, which makes them a real pleasure to watch. Given a little warmth, steady calcium and room to grow, a small starter group builds into a busy colony surprisingly fast, and every brood keeps the colours coming.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/jelly-bean-isopod-care\"\u003eJelly Bean isopod care guide\u003c\/a\u003e walks through the species-specific care in full, including why the colours never breed true.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery order is captive-bred, boxed double-walled around a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum and posted Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail, with a live-arrival guarantee and a 20% overcount as standard.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":47415883661606,"sku":null,"price":12.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":47415883694374,"sku":null,"price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":47415883727142,"sku":null,"price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/Jelly_bean_isopods.jpg?v=1744059166"},{"product_id":"lava-isopods-porcellio-scaber","title":"Lava Isopods (Porcellio scaber)","description":"\u003cp\u003eUnder the fiery colouring sits the toughest animal in the hobby. The Lava is a selectively bred morph of \u003cem\u003ePorcellio scaber\u003c\/em\u003e, the common rough woodlouse you would turn up under any garden plant pot, dressed in dramatic red, orange and black that genuinely reads like cooled volcanic rock. The looks are designer tier; the constitution is pure weed. That is the whole pitch, and it is why the Lava is one of the best-value striking morphs a new keeper can buy. Every colony we send is captive-bred here in the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOne quick note to avoid a common mix-up:\u003c\/strong\u003e this is the hardy European \u003cem\u003ePorcellio scaber\u003c\/em\u003e 'Lava'. It is not our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/lava-isopods-ardentiella-sp\"\u003eLava Ardentiella\u003c\/a\u003e, which shares the name but is a demanding tropical species with completely different care.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdults reach around 15 to 17 mm, with the bumpy, textured shell that gives \u003cem\u003escaber\u003c\/em\u003e its name, Latin for 'rough'. A dark base is broken by warm orange and red, and the distribution varies animal to animal, so a colony looks like a scatter of individual little lava flows rather than a set of identical copies. That variation gives serious keepers something to line-breed towards if they want to push the colour brighter. Note that, being a \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e, the Lava does not conglobate; startled, it relies on staying still and playing dead rather than rolling into a ball.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCare\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is where the Lava earns its beginner reputation. It handles a wide band of conditions, 17 to 26°C and humidity anywhere from 50 to 80%, so it does not need a heat mat: a heated British room sits inside that band, though it will tick over more slowly through the winter. Its ancestors are European, so it is built for our climate. Work to a moisture gradient rather than a single wet tub: keep about a third damp with sphagnum and leaf litter, let the rest run drier, and it will move between the two as it needs. Give at least 5 cm of organic topsoil and flake soil with plenty of leaf litter, rotting wood and cork bark over the top, and mix some limestone or crushed eggshell through for steady calcium.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eDiet\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLava are unfussy generalists that will take almost any organic matter: a constant base of hardwood leaf litter and decaying wood, vegetable once or twice a week, occasional fruit, and mushroom, which they are keen on. The one thing not to skimp on is protein. Like all \u003cem\u003eP. scaber\u003c\/em\u003e they are protein-hungry and will turn on each other if underfed, so offer fish flake, dried daphnia or similar a couple of times a week, on the dry side where it will not spoil, alongside a permanent calcium source. A \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e completes the cleanup crew.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLava breed reliably and at a manageable, steady pace rather than an overwhelming one, which is a virtue if you would rather observe a colony than fight a population boom. Sub-adults often start before they are fully grown, a starter group throws visible mancae within four to eight weeks, and you will have a substantial colony inside six months. Not every baby carries the lava pattern, and selectively breeding the brightest is a genuine project; our notes on \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-genetics-colours-and-morphs\"\u003eisopod genetics and morphs\u003c\/a\u003e go further.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Lava suits almost anyone: a first designer morph for a new keeper, a hardy cleanup crew, or a breeding project for someone chasing brighter colour. It sits happily beside the black-and-white Moo Cow and the rest of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/porcellio-isopods\"\u003ethe Porcellio range\u003c\/a\u003e, and our guide to the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/different-types-of-porcellio-isopods\"\u003edifferent types of Porcellio\u003c\/a\u003e helps you compare. About the only keeper it does not suit is one set on watching an isopod conglobate, which this one will never do.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll stock is captive-bred here in the UK and travels under our live arrival guarantee, in a ventilated deli tub with damp sphagnum inside a double-walled box. We post Monday to Thursday by Royal Mail next day before 1pm, with a 20% overcount in every order. Setup components are in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories range\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":47415890346278,"sku":null,"price":12.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":47415898865958,"sku":"","price":22.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":47415890411814,"sku":null,"price":50.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/lava-isopods-porcellio-scaber-2263710.jpg?v=1772295673"},{"product_id":"ornatus-high-yellow","title":"Porcellio ornatus 'High Yellow' Isopods","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor an isopod, the Ornatus has real front. Where most species bolt for cover the moment you lift the lid, this one carries on, ambling across the bark in plain sight, bright yellow markings stark against a dark grey body. Add a genuinely large size for a Porcellio and you have an isopod that actually does things worth watching. Every colony we send is captive-bred here in the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is \u003cem\u003ePorcellio ornatus\u003c\/em\u003e 'High Yellow', a large Spanish Porcellio from the warm, dry Mediterranean. The 'High Yellow' name marks out the individuals with the strongest yellow within the species' natural colour range; this is a naturally occurring form rather than a captive-bred designer line, which is part of its appeal to keepers who like wild-type stock. The species throws several other natural morphs too, the spotted Nord and the Chocolate among them, so it rewards a collector. It sits with the other Spanish giants in \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/porcellio-isopods\"\u003ethe genus\u003c\/a\u003e, near the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/haasi-high-yellow\"\u003eHaasi High Yellow\u003c\/a\u003e and the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/hoffmannseggii-isopods\"\u003eTitan\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA big Porcellio, reaching 20 to 25 mm, in dark grey with bold yellow markings; intensity varies from animal to animal, and the strongest-yellow individuals are what the name selects for. It is a slow, deliberate mover rather than a darter, which makes it easy to watch, and the colour firms up with age and good feeding. Like all \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e it does not conglobate, relying on speed and on flattening itself rather than rolling into a ball.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCare\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOrnatus is Mediterranean, so it wants the opposite of a humid Cubaris tub. Keep it on the drier side, 40 to 60% humidity, with genuinely high ventilation, and work a gradient: about a quarter of the enclosure damp in one corner and the rest noticeably drier, so the colony chooses its own exposure. Overwetting, not drought, is what harms them. Give a drier substrate of topsoil and flake soil with sand for drainage and plenty of depth to burrow, and be generous with calcium, several sources of cuttlebone, limestone and crushed shell, since a big, active isopod moulting often has a real demand for it. Our guide to the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/different-types-of-porcellio-isopods\"\u003edifferent types of Porcellio\u003c\/a\u003e sets the group in context.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eDiet\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn active isopod with an appetite to match: a constant base of hardwood leaf litter and decaying wood, vegetable once or twice a week, and protein twice a week, since Porcellio underfed on protein will turn on each other. Keep several calcium sources available at all times, and set fresh food on the dry side so it does not spoil. A \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e helps around the damp corner.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOrnatus breed at a steady, moderate pace rather than a boom, building reliably when the drier conditions and the feeding are right; sub-adults often start before they are fully grown. Give them warmth in range, the moisture gradient, constant calcium and regular protein, and keep the morphs apart if you want the High Yellow to breed true, since ornatus forms interbreed freely and the pattern washes out over generations otherwise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Ornatus suits the keeper with a little experience who wants a big, bold, genuinely watchable isopod, the collector of Spanish Porcellio and their natural morphs, and anyone running a drier Mediterranean-style bioactive setup. It is a step up from the beginner species and a poor fit for a humid tropical tank or a setup that cannot ventilate; if you are new to Porcellio, learn on the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/porcellio-werneri\"\u003eGreek Shield\u003c\/a\u003e or a hardy scaber first.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll stock is captive-bred here in the UK and ships under our live arrival guarantee, in a ventilated deli tub with a damp sphagnum corner inside a double-walled box. We post Monday to Thursday by Royal Mail next day before 1pm, with a 20% overcount included. Setup kit is in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories range\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":47465994748198,"sku":null,"price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"20","offer_id":47465996189990,"sku":"","price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/ornatus_high_yellow_9a1a3f31-0890-4fa9-a289-2b10a20c9813-373342.jpg?v=1722510743"},{"product_id":"hoffmannseggii-isopods","title":"Titan Isopods (Porcellio hoffmannseggii)","description":"\u003cp\u003eMost isopods reward a hand lens; the Titan you can watch from the sofa. \u003cem\u003ePorcellio hoffmannseggii\u003c\/em\u003e is one of the largest terrestrial isopods in the hobby, reaching up to around 4 cm, a Spanish cliff-dweller so substantial that its whole appeal is scale rather than colour. It wears a clean grey with crisp white skirting along each segment edge, an understated, almost dignified look that lets the sheer size do the talking. For a keeper who wants an isopod with real physical presence, few species deliver it as plainly as this one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt belongs to the giant Spanish \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e, the same bracket as the vivid orange \u003ca href=\"\/products\/porcellio-magnificus-isopods\"\u003ePorcellio magnificus\u003c\/a\u003e, the yellow-marked \u003ca href=\"\/products\/ornatus-high-yellow\"\u003eOrnatus\u003c\/a\u003e and the flat, flared \u003ca href=\"\/products\/expansus-orange-isopods\"\u003eExpansus\u003c\/a\u003e, but where magnificus brings colour, the Titan brings size and a calm, grey solidity. It is a rare species and a serious step up from beginner Porcellio, though not a difficult one: coming from dry Mediterranean cliffs, it actually prefers the drier, airier conditions most UK homes provide over the humid setups tropical isopods demand. One thing to plan for is the males, which are territorial and will chase off rivals, so give a colony space and cover to spread out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMoisture is the point to get right, and it runs opposite to the tropical instinct. The Titan wants a dry, well-ventilated enclosure with a single damp corner rather than an all-over humid box: keep the bulk of the tub on the drier side, mist one corner to give the colony somewhere moist to retreat, and run strong cross-ventilation. It takes the drier end of Spanish-Porcellio conditions without complaint. It does best at around 20 to 26°C: it tolerates a normally heated room but breeds better with some additional heat from autumn to spring. Like most big isopods it is slow-growing and long-lived, taking its time to reach that full 4 cm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGive them plenty of floor space in a well-ventilated tub, then a free-draining substrate: a base of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, rotted hardwood and topsoil with extra drainage worked in, kept mostly dry with that one moist corner. Leave a plain coco-coir base out, as it holds far too much water for a dry-habitat animal. Lay cork bark and rock or slate across the surface for the cover and territory the big Porcellio use, and make calcium freely available through cuttlebone, crushed limestone or oyster shell, because a large isopod moulting a large shell needs plenty of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFeeding leans towards protein more than the pill woodlice do. Leaf litter and rotting wood are the base, but keep a protein source going, fish flake, dried shrimp or a proper isopod protein, a couple of times a week, alongside soft veg such as squash, carrot and sweet potato. An underfed colony of big, fast Porcellio can turn on its own moulting members, so treat protein as part of the setup. There is more on the group in our guide to the \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/different-types-of-porcellio-isopods\"\u003edifferent types of Porcellio\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBreeding is measured rather than rapid, as with the giant Porcellio generally: a stable, correctly dry setup with good calcium and space will see females carry young and release live miniatures, building the colony gradually. Browse the wider \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/porcellio-isopods\"\u003ePorcellio collection\u003c\/a\u003e to see where the Titan sits among its relatives. Every order is captive-bred, packed with care in a double-walled box around a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum, posted Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail with a live-arrival guarantee.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47563713282342,"sku":"","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"10","offer_id":47552310444326,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"20","offer_id":47552310477094,"sku":null,"price":65.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/products\/hoffmannseggi-isopods-2-948686.jpg?v=1708534429"},{"product_id":"granulatum-orange","title":"Orange Granulatum 'Naranjito' Isopods (Armadillidium granulatum)","description":"\u003cp\u003eMost of the eye-catching colour in this hobby is the product of years of selective breeding, so the Orange Granulatum is a refreshing exception: this warm, spotted orange is how the animal turns up in the wild. Known in Spain as the \"Naranjito\", the little orange, it is a naturally occurring colour form of \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium granulatum\u003c\/em\u003e found in particular Iberian populations, especially around the Costa Blanca. No line-breeding and no isolated mutation, just a bright native woodlouse that happens to look like a premium morph. For keepers who like the idea of an authentic locality variant over a designer project, that origin is a large part of the appeal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe look is warm orange over a granulated, faintly pebbled back, dusted with brighter yellow spotting, and no two animals carry quite the same pattern. It rides on one of the larger and hardier Armadillidium going: adults are substantial, typically 12 to 15 mm with exceptional ones near 22 mm, and they are confident animals that spend a lot of time out in the open rather than hiding, so a settled colony is on show rather than a mystery. That pairing of a bold colour with straightforward, beginner-friendly care is unusual, and it is why the Naranjito has become such a well-liked Iberian colour form. It sits happily alongside the standard \u003ca href=\"\/products\/granulatum-isopods\"\u003eGranulatum\u003c\/a\u003e, the pearlescent \u003ca href=\"\/products\/magic-potion-isopods\"\u003eMagic Potion\u003c\/a\u003e and the two-tone \u003ca href=\"\/products\/jelly-bean-isopods\"\u003eJelly Bean\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeing a dry-country Spanish animal, it wants a moderate humidity with a proper gradient rather than a wet box. Aim for something around 50 to 70% across the tub: one lightly damp corner under sphagnum and leaf litter, the rest allowed to breathe and dry between mistings, with good cross-ventilation over the top. They do best between 18 and 22°C, which normal UK room temperature holds the year round, and they take seasonal ups and downs from 15 to 26°C without complaint. Like every true pill woodlouse they conglobate, rolling into a tight sealed ball when startled, which on a bright orange body is a fine thing to watch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet a starter colony up in a five to ten litre tub with a clip-lock lid and cross-vented sides. For substrate I use a living base of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, well-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil, five centimetres or so deep for burrowing. I would keep a plain coco-coir base out of it, since it holds damp but gives a substrate-grazer nothing to eat as it breaks down. Cap it with a thick layer of hardwood leaf litter, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia\u003c\/a\u003e and oak both good, add cork bark for cover, and leave a calcium source such as cuttlebone or crushed eggshell in permanently for firm, clean moults.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFeeding is no bother. Leaf litter and rotting wood are the always-available base; on top of that give soft veg like courgette, squash and sweet potato a couple of times a week, lift out anything uneaten within a day, and offer a little protein such as fish flake or dried insects now and then to keep a breeding colony productive. As with all Armadillidium they will nibble soft plants and moss in a planted setup, so choose tougher greenery if you want it to last.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/care-for-granulatum-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium granulatum care guide\u003c\/a\u003e covers the species in more detail, the Orange morph included.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBreeding looks after itself once the drier gradient is right. Females carry their young in a brood pouch and release live miniatures, and a group given warmth, calcium and steady food builds into a self-sustaining colony over a season, the orange colouring deepening as the youngsters mature. Pair them with a \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e to keep mould down in the damp corner, or browse the wider \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium collection\u003c\/a\u003e for more of the genus. Every order is captive-bred, boxed double-walled around a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum, and posted Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail with a live-arrival guarantee and a 20% overcount as standard.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47552318767398,"sku":"","price":9.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":47552317292838,"sku":null,"price":18.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":47552317358374,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/granulatum_orange_isopod-198288.jpg?v=1733441626"},{"product_id":"tri-colour-isopods","title":"Tri Colour Isopods (Ardentiella sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eMost isopods give you one colour, maybe two. This one runs all three at once: vivid red, bright yellow and deep black banded across every segment. The Tri Colour is a premium Vietnamese isopod in the genus \u003cem\u003eArdentiella\u003c\/em\u003e, the group reclassified from \u003cem\u003eMerulanella\u003c\/em\u003e in a 2025 revision, so the old Tricolour \u003cem\u003eMerulanella\u003c\/em\u003e tag still turns up across the trade. Same animal, same care, updated name.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe draw is that three-zone colour scheme. Each body segment carries a red, a yellow and a black band, stacked into a high-contrast pattern that few isopods come close to matching. It is a flat, fast, climbing species rather than a rounded roller, and it stays out and visible far more than most premium isopods, working the cork bark and leaf litter by day as much as by night. Intensity shifts from one animal to the next, some leaning harder into the red, others into the yellow, which makes a group worth watching rather than uniform. This is a showpiece, not a workhorse cleanup crew.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose good looks come with a warning. The \u003cem\u003eArdentiella\u003c\/em\u003e are a demanding group and not a beginner's isopod. They want high humidity and high ventilation at the same time, cooler temperatures than most tropicals, and clean conditions throughout, and they react badly to stale air and to sitting in their own waste. If you have kept genus-mates like \u003ca href=\"\/products\/batman-isopods-ardentiella-sp\"\u003eBatman\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/lava-isopods-ardentiella-sp\"\u003eLava\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/yellow-phoenix-isopods\"\u003eYellow Phoenix\u003c\/a\u003e or \u003ca href=\"\/products\/pastel-isopods-ardentiella-sp\"\u003ePastel\u003c\/a\u003e Ardentiella, the husbandry will feel familiar; if you have not, this is a steep first step. Rewarding, but earned.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeep the colony cool, ideally 20 to 23°C and never above 26°C, and steer clear of heat mats and hot spots, which stress them quickly. Build a deep, damp, living substrate that holds high humidity at one end and let the far end run genuinely dry, then pair it with strong airflow so the air above it never goes stale, that balance of moisture and ventilation is the whole game with this genus. Give them plenty of cork bark and a thick layer of leaf litter to climb and shelter in, keep calcium available for clean moults, and stay on top of hygiene: lift spoiling food promptly, because these are frass-sensitive animals that will not tolerate a dirty enclosure. Feed decaying leaf litter and rotting hardwood as the everyday base, with soft veg and a little protein on top. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003eMagnolia leaves\u003c\/a\u003e give long-lasting cover and grazing, and a \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e alongside them keeps mould in check in the humid, food-rich conditions this species needs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnce a group settles, the Tri Colour breeds willingly. Females carry their eggs in a brood pouch and release live young, and the tiny mancae climb from the first day, so a secure, escape-proof lid matters as much for the babies as the adults. Give the colony a couple of months of steady temperature, steady humidity and minimal disturbance before you expect much, and let the colour deepen over successive moults, young stock arrives paler than the mature adults it grows into. For a fuller walkthrough that carries straight across the genus, read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/care-for-merulanella-red-diablo-isopods\"\u003eMerulanella Red Diablo care\u003c\/a\u003e, then browse the wider \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/ardentiella-isopods\"\u003eArdentiella collection\u003c\/a\u003e to see how the Tri Colour sits alongside its relatives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery Tri Colour is captive-bred and packed with care, settled into a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum inside a double-walled box for the journey. We dispatch Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail, aiming for delivery by 1pm, and every order is covered by our live-arrival guarantee, with a 20% overcount added to each group as standard.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47652681974054,"sku":null,"price":110.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"10","offer_id":47652681908518,"sku":null,"price":200.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"20","offer_id":47652681941286,"sku":null,"price":390.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/Tri_colour_isopod.jpg?v=1744042963"},{"product_id":"isopod-mystery-box","title":"Isopod Mystery Box","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere is a particular pleasure in opening a box before you know what is inside. That is the idea behind the Isopod Mystery Box: a hand-picked mix of live isopods that you do not get to choose, put together from whatever is healthy and thriving in our cultures on the day it is packed. Isopods are terrestrial members of the suborder Oniscidea, the same land crustaceans most people know as woodlice, and the hobby around them reaches far beyond the grey ones under your garden slabs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRather than a fixed, pre-set assortment, each box is drawn from our current live stock, so the selection shifts with the seasons and with whichever colonies are doing well at the time. One box might lean towards hardy, fast-breeding workhorses that make a reliable cleanup crew; another might fold in something slower and showier. I put the combinations together by hand rather than scooping at random, so the animals tend to suit one another and give you a real spread of the hobby rather than three near-identical species.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThink of it as a lucky dip for building a collection. It is a relaxed, good-value way to try species you might never have picked off a list, and plenty of keepers find a new favourite this way. If you are starting out, it also answers the where-do-I-begin question: instead of agonising over your first two or three species, you get a curated handful to compare side by side and learn what you enjoy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBecause a mix can span beginner and more advanced species, I keep the care notes light here and let each animal's own page carry the detail. As a rule, most isopods are content at normal room temperature, roughly 18 to 24°C, in an enclosure with a damp end and a drier end so they can choose their comfort. Give them a base of leaf litter and a little decaying hardwood to graze on, some cuttlefish bone or another calcium source, and gentle ventilation that freshens the air without drying it out. A small culture of springtails alongside them earns its keep, clearing mould and the microscopic mess isopods leave behind. For anything more specific, \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003ethe full isopod range\u003c\/a\u003e lists individual care species by species.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe boxes are a surprise, though not a blind one. When you order, you are welcome to note your experience level, the species you already keep so I can avoid doubling up, the kind of setup you are stocking, and anything you would rather not receive. I cannot promise particular species, and would not want to, since that rather defeats the point, but I will work with what you tell me and choose to suit your situation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEverything travels as livestock: double-boxed and insulated with moisture control, a heat pack through the colder months, and a live-arrival guarantee behind every order. I post early in the week so your isopods arrive mid-week rather than sitting in a depot over the weekend.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCommon questions\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow many species will I get?\u003c\/strong\u003e It varies with the box and with current stock, so I will not pin a number to it. Every box is a mix rather than a single species, chosen to give you a real spread to work with.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCan I request specific species?\u003c\/strong\u003e You can leave preferences and exclusions and I will do my best within current stock, but the surprise is the whole point, so no one species is guaranteed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIs it a good choice for a beginner?\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes. It is one of the gentler ways to start, since you get several species to compare at once and can find your feet without committing to a large single-species order.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf a small surprise landing on your doorstep appeals, this is it. And if you would rather choose exactly what you keep, you can always pick individual species and pair them with a box for a bit of both.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"£30","offer_id":47661156794662,"sku":"","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"£70","offer_id":47661160726822,"sku":"","price":50.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"£120","offer_id":47661165707558,"sku":"","price":75.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"£180","offer_id":47661167247654,"sku":"","price":100.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"£400","offer_id":55843242934654,"sku":null,"price":200.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/isopod-mystery-box-graphic.jpg?v=1789295591"},{"product_id":"armadillidium-ruffoi","title":"Armadillidium ruffoi Isopods","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis one comes from a single small corner of the world: a scatter of caves and hills around Verona, and nowhere else. Rarity is written into its geography. \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium ruffoi\u003c\/em\u003e, or Ruffo's Pillbug, is a rare Italian pillbug endemic to the Province of Verona in northern Italy, where it lives in and around cool limestone caves and the rocky slopes above them. That tiny natural range is the whole appeal, and it is also why captive-bred stock is the responsible way to keep the species: there is no wild population to spare, so every animal you take on should trace back to a settled colony rather than a collecting trip.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is a medium \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/em\u003e, reaching somewhere around 16mm when fully grown, so it carries a little more presence than the smaller members of the genus without ever looking bulky. The body is dark grey, closer to slate than black, marked with paler marbling that breaks the shell into soft, irregular patches rather than crisp bands. Like every pillbug it conglobates, rolling into a tight, seamless ball when it feels exposed or when you lift a piece of cork to look for it, then unfurling a few seconds later and carrying on. That quiet, armoured character is a good part of why keepers want it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeyond the looks, it earns its place through temperament. This is a slow, steady breeder rather than an explosive one, and it is unusually long-lived for an isopod, averaging around two and a half years. Those two traits together give you a colony that stays manageable, never outgrows its tub in a season, and lets you follow individuals over a long stretch. If you already keep collectable Mediterranean species such as \u003ca href=\"\/products\/gestroi-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium gestroi\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/granulatum-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium granulatum\u003c\/a\u003e or the familiar \u003ca href=\"\/products\/zebra-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium maculatum\u003c\/a\u003e, Ruffo's Pillbug settles in comfortably beside them, and it makes a natural shelf-mate for another cave-country rarity, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/armadillidium-beieri\"\u003eArmadillidium beieri\u003c\/a\u003e. The full range sits in the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCare sits at a medium level, well within reach of anyone with a little \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/em\u003e experience behind them. Keep the tub at room temperature, since a normal heated home suits it the year round with no extra warmth. Aim for moderate humidity with a gradient across the enclosure, damp at one end and noticeably drier at the other, so the animals choose their own comfort rather than sitting in constant wet, and back that up with medium-to-high ventilation to keep the air fresh. Give them a deep substrate, using a rich base such as \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, and work in chunks of limestone and plenty of cork bark so the layout echoes the cave edges they come from. Leaf litter is the base of the diet, topped up often and left to soften down, with calcium on offer at all times through cuttlebone or crushed limestone mixed through the soil. A \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e makes a useful clean-up partner, holding mould in check in the damper corners.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBreeding rewards patience above all. Ruffo's Pillbug builds its numbers gradually, adding a few young at a time instead of flooding the tub, so the colony grows on a timescale of seasons rather than weeks. Give it stable warmth, steady moisture with that drier end kept intact, and a constant supply of calcium and leaf litter, then leave it largely undisturbed and let the population find its own pace. Start with a slightly larger group where you can, since a broader base of adults makes for a healthier, more resilient colony and a touch more genetic spread. If the way markings and colour pass down the generations draws you in, our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-genetics-colours-and-morphs\"\u003eisopod genetics, colours and morphs\u003c\/a\u003e is a good place to read on.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery order is captive-bred and packed for the journey, with a ventilated tub bedded on damp sphagnum and cushioned inside a double-walled box. We send them out Monday to Thursday on a tracked next-day Royal Mail service, delivered by 1pm, and every parcel is covered by our live-arrival guarantee. We always tuck in a 20% overcount too, so you receive a few more than the number on the label.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47697970200870,"sku":"","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":47697413275942,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":47697413341478,"sku":null,"price":60.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/products\/armadillidium-ruffoi-isopod-head-on.jpg?v=1789295700"},{"product_id":"pineapple-isopods","title":"Crystal Pineapple Isopods (Cristarmadillidium muricatum)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe name sounds like marketing until you look closely. The spines on a Crystal Pineapple are not surface texture but genuine ridged projections, ranked in rows across a small pale yellow body, and up close the resemblance to a miniature tropical fruit is uncanny. There is very little else like it in the UK hobby, and the genus it belongs to barely appears in British collections at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is \u003cem\u003eCristarmadillidium muricatum\u003c\/em\u003e, sold as the Crystal Pineapple, the Pineapple Isopod, the Spiky Pineapple and occasionally the European Spiny Isopod. It is worth pinning the names down because it turns up under all of them, and worth pinning the genus down too: \u003cem\u003eCristarmadillidium\u003c\/em\u003e is rarely represented in hobby catalogues, which is a large part of why collectors want it. Despite the tropical-fruit looks it is a Spanish animal, and that Mediterranean origin shapes everything about how you keep it. Its nearest relatives in care terms are the drier-running \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/a\u003e, not the humid cave species it often sits beside on a shelf.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSmall and intricate. Adults reach only around 6 to 8 mm, so be clear about what you are buying: this is an up-close animal, not one you admire from the sofa. What that close look gives you is unusual, though, with the spiny ridged shell in pale yellow through to washed peach-orange, and a texture nothing else in a typical collection shares. Being a member of the Armadillidiidae they roll up when startled, and a spiky little sphere is a particularly satisfying sight. They are not permanently on show either, spending much of their time under cork and tucked into leaf litter, and emerging more readily during damper spells.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCare\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe single thing to get right is moisture, and it runs against what people assume. You will find this species described as tropical in places, but it comes from Spain and it wants the drier, well-aired conditions a Mediterranean animal is built for, not the sealed humidity a cave Cubaris needs. Give it genuine ventilation and a moisture gradient, one damp corner to retreat into with the rest kept drier, and mist that corner rather than the whole enclosure. Normal UK room temperature is fine. Underneath, give them a nutritious substrate of flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil with plenty of leaf litter and bark over the top, and keep it free-draining rather than dense and wet. Coco coir makes a poor foundation for any substrate-eating isopod, holding water without offering anything worth eating. A permanent calcium source matters as much here as for any pill-type isopod. Our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-substrate\"\u003esubstrate guide\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/isopod-calcium-guide\"\u003ecalcium guide\u003c\/a\u003e cover the specifics, and our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories range\u003c\/a\u003e has the components.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eDiet\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter and decaying hardwood do most of the work and should be kept topped up. These are light feeders and slow to settle, so go carefully with fresh food: small amounts of vegetable now and then, the occasional pinch of protein, and anything uneaten lifted within a day or two, since a small quiet colony does not need the mould and mites that leftovers invite. There is more detail on feeding in our guide to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/what-do-isopods-eat\"\u003ewhat isopods eat\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSlow, and worth knowing before you buy. Crystal Pineapples take their time establishing and build numbers gradually rather than in bursts, so a new group can spend months looking like it is doing very little. Give them stable conditions, resist checking on them, and let the colony find its own pace. That slow rate is precisely why the species stays scarce and why an established colony is worth having.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe collector, mainly. This suits someone who already keeps isopods, can hold a moisture gradient steady, and values something genuinely unusual over something big and showy. It rewards close attention and patience in equal measure. It is not a first isopod, nor a fast-breeding clean-up crew, nor a feeder culture, since the spiny shell makes it a poor mouthful. If you want an easier Mediterranean species to start with, the hardy \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/magic-potion-isopods\"\u003eMagic Potion\u003c\/a\u003e runs on very similar care, and if you are building a collection of rarities our best-selling \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e sits at the other end of the same shelf. More of the genus is in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cristarmadillidium-isopods\"\u003eCristarmadillidium collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor a deeper treatment of everything above, our full \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/crystal-pineapple-isopod-care\"\u003eCrystal Pineapple isopod care guide\u003c\/a\u003e covers the species in detail, from the Mediterranean-not-tropical point through enclosure and substrate to their slow, patient breeding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll stock is captive-bred in the UK and sent with our live arrival guarantee, packed in a ventilated deli tub with sphagnum moss inside a double-walled box. Orders go out Monday to Thursday by Royal Mail next day before 1pm, with a 20% overcount included.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47792034840870,"sku":"","price":15.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":47792034873638,"sku":"","price":27.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":47792034906406,"sku":"","price":50.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/Crystal_pineapple_isopods-660905.jpg?v=1733441619"},{"product_id":"lilac-springtails","title":"Lilac Springtails (Ceratophysella sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eMost springtails are white, grey or the odd orange. A purple one is a rarity worth a second look. The Lilac Springtail, \u003cem\u003eCeratophysella\u003c\/em\u003e sp. of the family Hypogastruridae, also sold as Purple Podura or the Thai Lilac Springtail, is a tiny detritivore of around 2mm native to the warm, humid forests of Thailand. What sets it apart is the colour: a soft purple-lilac wash you rarely see in the hobby, where the workhorse species run to plain white and even the brighter ones stop at orange or red. Against a dark, damp substrate it reads as a gentle lilac that shifts a little with the light and the angle, and a busy surface of them is a quietly lovely thing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor all that colour, they behave much like their relatives. As with other \u003cem\u003eCeratophysella\u003c\/em\u003e, they are quick and restless, and they spring away the instant you disturb the culture, using the little forked tail that gives springtails their name. A firm-fitting lid and an unhurried hand help when you open the tub, since a startled culture can scatter. They also breed readily, which is the whole point of starting with a culture rather than a handful: begin with a small group and, given warmth and steady moisture, it builds within a few weeks into a self-sustaining colony that keeps producing far more than you started with.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eColour aside, springtails earn their keep as the quiet engine of a bioactive setup. They graze mould and mildew, break down waste, spent food and leaf litter, and keep the top layer of substrate turning over so the enclosure stays clean and balanced rather than sour. In an isopod tub or a planted vivarium they are the housekeeping crew that works where nothing else can reach. Seed a pinch into a new setup and they spread through the substrate on their own, mostly out of sight, with a few coming up onto the surface and the leaf litter where that lilac colour shows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey make an easy tropical culture and ask very little. Keep them warm and humid on a moisture-retentive base such as charcoal or a living soil like \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, topped with a little leaf litter or bark for them to graze and shelter under. The one thing to avoid is letting the substrate dry right out, as dry conditions will stall a colony faster than anything else, so keep it damp throughout without sitting water in the base. A closed tub holds humidity well and needs only a light mist now and then to stay right.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFeeding is simple and best kept sparing. A little yeast, a scrap of mushroom or a pinch of specialised springtail food is plenty, offered in small amounts and topped up as it goes; lift out any excess before it moulds over and sours the culture. They are comfortable at ordinary room temperature and simply slow down in the cool, breeding fastest when kept warm, so most homes need no heating at all. Left with damp substrate and the odd feed, a healthy culture largely looks after itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you like a bit of colour in your cleanup crew, the Lilac sits nicely alongside the warm tangerine of our \u003ca href=\"\/products\/orange-springtails\"\u003eOrange Springtails\u003c\/a\u003e and the vivid \u003ca href=\"\/products\/thai-red-springtails\"\u003eThai Red Springtails\u003c\/a\u003e, and you can weigh up the full range on the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtails collection\u003c\/a\u003e. Every culture is captive-bred here in the UK and posted out with a live-arrival guarantee, ready to settle in and start working from the day it lands.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"25","offer_id":47864858411302,"sku":null,"price":12.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":48442891665702,"sku":"","price":22.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"100","offer_id":48442891698470,"sku":"","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/lilac-springtails-ceratophysella-sp-1332469.jpg?v=1763217722"},{"product_id":"salmon-isopods","title":"Salmon Isopods (Caribodillo martinicensis)","description":"\u003cp\u003eVery few isopods in the hobby come from the Caribbean. Almost all of the pillbug-family species you will see for sale trace back to Southeast Asia, so an animal from the far side of that map is worth stopping for. Salmon Isopods, \u003cem\u003eCaribodillo martinicensis\u003c\/em\u003e, come from the island of Martinique in the French West Indies, and they arrive with two things that are hard to find together: an unusual origin, and a deep orange-pink colour that is rare among isopods.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat colour is the reason most people want them. Where nearly all Armadillidae isopods wear dark grey, brown or banded coats, these are a warm salmon-pink from head to tail, and the shell carries a soft sheen that catches the light. It is not a subtle accent, it is the whole animal. Better still, the colour deepens with age, so younger stock that arrives looking pale and orange matures into the richer, saturated tone over a few months. An established group only looks better with time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is a good story behind the name too. For years these circulated as \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. 'Salmon', but in late 2025 they were formally described and moved into a brand-new genus of their own, \u003cem\u003eCaribodillo\u003c\/em\u003e, endemic to Martinique and, for now, the only species in it. If you already keep collectable species such as \u003ca href=\"\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/panda-king\"\u003ePanda King\u003c\/a\u003e or \u003ca href=\"\/products\/cappuccino-isopods\"\u003eCappuccino\u003c\/a\u003e, this is something a little different to sit alongside them: not another Asian cave isopod, but a Caribbean one with its own branch of the family tree.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI keep them as a warm tropical isopod. Aim for roughly 22 to 26°C, with gentle warmth in winter if your room runs cold, and give them a humidity gradient rather than a uniformly wet box: keep one end damp and let the other stay drier, so the colony can choose where to settle. A little cross-ventilation, a few small holes on opposite sides, stops the air going stale without drying everything out. The rule I follow is moist, not wet; the substrate should look damp but never drip when squeezed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnderneath, give them a living substrate they can dig into, since they are keen burrowers, built on a base of topsoil and rotten hardwood with plenty of calcium worked through, cuttlebone or crushed shell, so their shells stay hard. I mix in \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e for structure and food, then cover the top with a deep layer of leaf litter; \u003ca href=\"\/products\/large-magnolia-leaves-for-isopods\"\u003emagnolia leaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e lasts especially well and gives them cover to graze under. They are unfussy eaters that take the usual leaf litter and rotten wood, topped up with a little veg and a regular pinch of protein, which this species seems to want slightly more of than most.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs breeders they are steady rather than explosive. Given stable warmth and humidity they produce moderate broods through the year, and a starter group grows into a full colony over months rather than weeks, which suits a collectable species you keep to watch and enjoy. Because the setup stays humid and a little protein-rich, I would run a \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e alongside them from the start; the springtails clear any mould before it takes hold and cause the isopods no trouble at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery order is captive-bred, boxed double-walled around a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum, and posted Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail, with a live-arrival guarantee and a 20% overcount included as standard.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47917182517542,"sku":null,"price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":47917182550310,"sku":null,"price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":47917182583078,"sku":null,"price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/salmon-isopods-cubaris-sp-9692346.jpg?v=1764798911"},{"product_id":"miyako-isopods","title":"Miyako Isopods \/ Japanese Red Edge (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThailand gets most of the attention for red-edged cave isopods, but this one comes from a Japanese island, and it holds its own. The Miyako is a locality variant of \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. (often written \u003cem\u003eCubaris iriomotensis\u003c\/em\u003e) that hails from Miyako Island in the southern reaches of Japan's Okinawa Prefecture. You will see it sold under a handful of names, which trips up a lot of buyers: Miyako Isopods on most lists, Japanese Red Edge on others, and sometimes Iriomotensis 'Miyako'. They all point to the same animal. \"Miyako\" is simply the island it comes from, and that locality tag is the most reliable way to know you are looking at the right isopod whatever heading a shop files it under.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe look is what draws people in first. The body runs dark, near enough to black, and it is skirted along every segment with a vivid band of red shading to orange, right down to the antennae. It is a high-contrast animal that catches the light beautifully, and the resemblance to the Thai \u003ca href=\"\/products\/red-edge-isopods\"\u003eRed Edge\u003c\/a\u003e is no accident of appearance, though the two come from different places and are different species. Think of the Miyako as the Japanese answer to that familiar orange-skirted morph, the same striking edge set over a darker, moodier base.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat really sets it apart in the enclosure is temperament. Most cave \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e are shy things that snap into a defensive ball at the faintest disturbance and vanish into the substrate, which makes for a handsome but rarely seen pet. The Miyako is comparatively fearless. Lift the lid or move a piece of cork and it tends to carry on in the open rather than rolling up on the spot, so you actually get to watch it going about its business. For a display setup, where the whole point is seeing the colour, that boldness counts for a great deal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCare follows the classic \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e template, and the Miyako is one of the more accessible members of the group to take it on. Keep it warm and stable, humid throughout with a damp end and a gentle gradient across to a slightly drier side. Give it a deep, living substrate to burrow into, a blend of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flake-soil\"\u003eflake soil\u003c\/a\u003e, rotted hardwood and topsoil rather than a plain coco-coir base, which offers a cave species little to work with. Add gentle cross-ventilation to keep the air fresh without drying things out, keep calcium available at all times as crushed limestone or cuttlebone, and lay down plenty of leaf litter with cork bark or limestone chunks for cover.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose hardier genetics beneath the premium looks are exactly why the Miyako earns its keep as a stepping stone. If you have a beginner species or two behind you and want to move into \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e without wrestling the most demanding Thai types straight away, this is a sensible place to start. A forgiving gateway like the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/murina-isopods\"\u003eLittle Sea\u003c\/a\u003e sits a rung below it, while the prized \u003ca href=\"\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e and boldly marked \u003ca href=\"\/products\/panda-king\"\u003ePanda King\u003c\/a\u003e give you somewhere to head next. It breeds steadily once settled rather than in sudden booms, so a starter group builds into a colony at a manageable pace. Run a thriving \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e alongside it to keep mould in check in the humid conditions these need. For the wider picture, our guide to the \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/types-of-cubaris-isopods\"\u003etypes of Cubaris isopods\u003c\/a\u003e and the full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003eCubaris collection\u003c\/a\u003e are both worth a browse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery Miyako we send out is captive-bred here in the UK. Your order travels in a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum moss, packed inside a double-walled box, and goes out Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail to land with you by 1pm. Each parcel is covered by our live-arrival guarantee, and we always tuck in a 20% overcount as a thank you.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47917227770150,"sku":null,"price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"10","offer_id":47917227802918,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"20","offer_id":47917227835686,"sku":null,"price":65.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/cubarismiyakoisopod.jpg?v=1711058876"},{"product_id":"haasi-high-yellow","title":"Porcellio Haasi 'High Yellow' Isopods","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere is nothing subtle about a mature Haasi High Yellow. This is a Spanish giant among the largest Porcellio kept in the hobby, and the High Yellow line pushes its colour to a vivid, bright yellow across most of the body, offset by darker shading on the sides and legs. Add the long, distinctive tail appendages the males carry and you have a genuine display animal, visible clear across a room. Every colony we send is captive-bred here in the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is \u003cem\u003ePorcellio haasi\u003c\/em\u003e 'High Yellow', a line selected over generations for intense yellow from a species native to the calcareous mountain rock of north-eastern Spain, around Aragón. Standard \u003cem\u003eP. haasi\u003c\/em\u003e show only subtle yellow; the High Yellow is the deliberately-bred bright form. It ranks with the largest Spanish giants alongside the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/hoffmannseggii-isopods\"\u003eTitan\u003c\/a\u003e, and stands apart on colour within \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/porcellio-isopods\"\u003ethe genus\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eAppearance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA large Porcellio: males reach around 20 mm in the body, with long uropods, the paired \"tails\" at the rear, adding another 10 mm or so on top. Those long tails are the easiest way to sex a colony, since males carry them far longer than females. The yellow is bold rather than an accent, with the darker sides giving it depth, and it firms up as animals mature. Like all \u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e it does not conglobate, relying on speed rather than rolling into a ball.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCare\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo things matter most. First, moisture: the old \"dry-loving Spanish species\" line is only half right. Their calcareous-rock home holds damp crevices, so they want a clear gradient, roughly a quarter damp and the rest drier, not a uniformly arid tub, which is slowly fatal, especially to the young. Pair that with genuinely high ventilation, since stagnant humid air is more dangerous than slightly low humidity. Second, space: males are territorial and will chase rivals, so give a starter group real room, 15 litres and up, with several separated hides so they can hold their own corners. Build a drier substrate of topsoil and flake soil with sand for drainage and plenty of limestone through it, because a calcareous-rock animal has a high calcium demand, and keep rotting white wood available, which is their preferred food. Our guide to the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/different-types-of-porcellio-isopods\"\u003edifferent types of Porcellio\u003c\/a\u003e puts it in context.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eDiet\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHaasi are protein-hungry giants: a constant base of dried hardwood leaf litter and rotting white wood, vegetable once or twice a week, and protein two or three times a week, since underfed Porcellio will turn on each other. Keep several calcium sources going at all times, and set fresh food on the dry side so it does not spoil. A \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e helps around the damp zone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eBreeding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHaasi are seasonal breeders, prolific through spring and summer and quieter in the cooler months, so colony growth comes in bursts rather than a steady trickle, mirroring their Spanish climate. Give them space to keep male aggression low, a proper moisture gradient, constant calcium and protein, and a gentle seasonal swing in temperature, and a settled colony produces substantial broods in its peak months. Patience through the quiet season is part of keeping them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Haasi High Yellow suits the keeper with a little Porcellio experience who wants something big and genuinely colourful, and the collector of Spanish giants, next to the Titan and the yellow-marked \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/ornatus-high-yellow\"\u003eP. ornatus\u003c\/a\u003e or the flat \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/porcellio-werneri\"\u003eGreek Shield\u003c\/a\u003e. It is not a beginner's isopod, nor one for a cramped or bone-dry setup; start on a hardier species like the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/porcellio-scaber-mix-isopods\"\u003eScaber Mix\u003c\/a\u003e if you are new to the genus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll stock is captive-bred here in the UK and ships under our live arrival guarantee, in a ventilated deli tub with a damp sphagnum corner inside a double-walled box. We post Monday to Thursday by Royal Mail next day before 1pm, with a 20% overcount included. Setup components are in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/accessories\"\u003eaccessories range\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47917245137190,"sku":null,"price":16.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"10","offer_id":47917245071654,"sku":null,"price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"20","offer_id":47917245104422,"sku":null,"price":55.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/porcellio-haasi-high-yellow-isopods-2582916.jpg?v=1778928377"},{"product_id":"jumbo-gestroi-isopods","title":"Armadillidium gestroi 'Jumbo' Isopods","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe have oversold this line in the past, so here is the honest version first. Jumbo gestroi get pitched against a 12 to 15mm baseline for a standard \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium gestroi\u003c\/em\u003e, and that baseline is invented. The species is large to begin with, reaching about 22mm, and our own \u003ca href=\"\/products\/gestroi-isopods\"\u003estandard gestroi\u003c\/a\u003e are described at around 20mm. So a Jumbo is not a different animal from our standard gestroi, and it is certainly not a giant version of a small one. It comes from a bloodline some specialist breeders have selected for size, it is grown on hard, and it sits at the top of a range the species already had, around 20mm. What you are buying is well-grown, large-bodied stock of an already large species.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhich is still worth buying, because size in a pillbug owes as much to feeding and conditions as to genetics, and stock already grown to the top of its range tends to get back there under decent care. The wild animal is a north-west Italian endemic, confined to a short run of the Ligurian coast in coastal shrubland over limestone, though French stock circulates in the hobby alongside it. Colour is dark grey to brown with rows of yellow spots, and one bit of housekeeping there: 'High Yellow Spotted' is the common name the species trades under, not a colour anyone bred for. It is what a \u003cem\u003egestroi\u003c\/em\u003e looks like. For patterns that genuinely were selected, the speckled \u003ca href=\"\/products\/milky-way-isopods\"\u003eMilky Way\u003c\/a\u003e and the pale \u003ca href=\"\/products\/white-gestroi-zinger\"\u003eWhite Zinger\u003c\/a\u003e are the other two lines we work with.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eToo wet is the usual mistake\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeing kept wet is the most common way a gestroi colony stalls, so settle this before the animals arrive. Sit the enclosure around 50 to 70 per cent, keep most of the substrate on the dry side, allow one damp corner they can visit when they want it, and be generous with ventilation instead of cautious. A stale, evenly humid tub grinds a colony to a halt while everything else looks fine on paper. Temperature is far more relaxed at 18 to 24°C, and most of the year an ordinary UK room sits inside that band unaided, with only a cold winter room asking for any help at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSubstrate needs to run 5 to 7cm deep and be nutritious with it, which sounds like a lot for a surface animal until you watch one dig itself under to moult. Over that goes a thick layer of dried hardwood leaves, plenty of them, with bark laid on for cover. Calcium is not an optional extra here. An animal off limestone ground that finishes at 20mm has moulted hard to get there and will keep returning to a calcium source for as long as one is present, so crushed shell or a cuttlebone belongs in the enclosure permanently. Litter and decaying hardwood carry most of the diet; add protein weekly and vegetables when you think of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHandled, they shut into a closed ball like the rest of the genus, and there is a real chemical defence behind that: push one about and the glands along its lateral plates put out a strong, thoroughly unpleasant smell you will only need to meet once. Sexing is unusually easy, since adult females develop a distinctive grey skirt that males never grow. Otherwise they ask very little of a keeper and breed well once a colony has found its feet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhere it sits\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/granulatum-isopods\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eA. granulatum\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e is the other big spotted Mediterranean worth setting beside it, and the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/zebra-isopods\"\u003eZebra\u003c\/a\u003e is the animal most keepers use as their yardstick for a substantial \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/em\u003e, which makes it the fairest thing to hold a grown Jumbo against. This one suits anyone who wants a large, obvious display animal and no complicated husbandry with it, so long as they run the enclosure drier and better ventilated than the usual damp box. Ours are captive bred here in the UK. There is more in our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/care-for-armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium care guide\u003c\/a\u003e, and the full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium range\u003c\/a\u003e is worth comparing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery order travels tracked on a Royal Mail next-day service timed for delivery before 1pm, so you can watch it move from the moment it leaves us. Dispatch is Monday through Thursday, never later in the week. The tub each colony rides in is ventilated, with damp sphagnum laid in for the trip, and it goes out inside a second box built from double-walled card. A 20% overcount goes in as standard, and the guarantee on live arrival covers them all.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47924178878758,"sku":"","price":12.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"10","offer_id":47924176453926,"sku":"AHY10","price":22.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"20","offer_id":47924176486694,"sku":"AHY20","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/jumbo_gestroi_isopod-737682.jpg?v=1729500845"},{"product_id":"thai-blue-angel","title":"Thai Blue Angel Isopods (Cubaris sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eShine a UV torch on most isopods and nothing happens. On a Thai Blue Angel, it lights up electric blue. This Thai \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e genuinely fluoresces under UV-365 light, an electric-blue glow that is one of the few chances most keepers will get to see biofluorescence in their own animals, and a party trick almost nothing else in the hobby offers. Even in ordinary light it is a handsome, smooth, blue-grey isopod; under UV it is something else. Every colony we send is captive-bred here in the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is \u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e sp. 'Thai Blue Angel', a Thai species with a smooth, rounded body and a naturally cool blue-grey-to-silvery colour. Despite the premium looks it sits in the accessible tier of the genus alongside the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/panda-king\"\u003ePanda King\u003c\/a\u003e: hardy, prolific and forgiving of the odd husbandry slip in a way the sensitive cave rarities are not. One honest point on the name, though: the \"Blue Angel\" is a tendency, not a guarantee. Individuals range from white through blue-grey and silver to cream and even faintly orange, and the blue comes through most in mature adults, so young stock can look pale before it settles. The good news is that the UV glow works on every individual regardless of its daytime colour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eAppearance and behaviour\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA medium-to-large Cubaris at 12 to 20 mm, smooth-shelled with a subtle sheen that catches the light. Unusually for the genus it is a bark-clinger rather than a deep burrower, spending its time on the undersides of cork and wood, which makes it more visible and active than most Cubaris; give it plenty of bark and it rewards you by being out where you can see it. Like the rest of the genus it rolls into a tight ball when disturbed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCare\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThai Blue Angels are warm-tropical and want 24 to 28°C, so winter heating is realistically needed in most UK homes, on a thermostat and mounted to the side. Keep humidity around 55 to 70% on a gradient, roughly a third damp and the rest drier, damp but never waterlogged. Because they cling to bark rather than dig, wood structure matters more here than for most Cubaris: stack cork and decaying white wood in various orientations, leaving gaps beneath for them to hold on to. Build the substrate on organic topsoil, flake soil and white-rotted hardwood rather than coco coir, with crushed limestone through it for constant calcium. Our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/complete-cubaris-isopod-care-guide\"\u003ecomplete Cubaris care guide\u003c\/a\u003e has the detail.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eDiet\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn unfussy detritivore: leaf litter and decaying white wood as the constant base, with kinshi particularly well received, plus small amounts of vegetable, the occasional bit of fruit and regular protein such as fish flake or dried shrimp. Keep a permanent calcium source going, feed lightly and often rather than in big drops, since excess food moulds fast in the warmth, and let a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003espringtail culture\u003c\/a\u003e keep it in check.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWho is this for?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Thai Blue Angel suits the keeper with a little experience stepping up into Cubaris, anyone drawn to the UV feature, and the display keeper who wants an elegant, visible, genuinely active Cubaris. It makes a sound stepping stone towards the demanding rarities like the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/rubber-ducky-isopods\"\u003eRubber Ducky\u003c\/a\u003e, and sits well beside the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/cappuccino-isopods\"\u003eCappuccino\u003c\/a\u003e and the tricolour \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/pak-chong\"\u003ePak Chong\u003c\/a\u003e. It is a poor fit for a cool, unheated room, or for anyone expecting every individual to be uniformly blue in daylight. The rest of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/cubaris-isopods\"\u003ethe genus\u003c\/a\u003e is there to compare.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll stock is captive-bred here in the UK and travels under our live arrival guarantee, in a ventilated deli tub with damp sphagnum inside a double-walled box. We post Monday to Thursday by Royal Mail next day before 1pm, with a 20% overcount in every order.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"5","offer_id":47924183171366,"sku":null,"price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"10","offer_id":47924183105830,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":47924183138598,"sku":null,"price":67.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/cubaris_thai_blue_isopod_2-415751.jpg?v=1726787002"},{"product_id":"peraccae-isopods","title":"Armadillidium Peraccae Isopods","description":"\u003cp\u003eThree countries, and the trade names none of them correctly. \u003cem\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/peraccae-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium peraccae\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is recorded from the south-eastern coast of Italy, from the northern Aegean islands of Thásos and Lésvos, and from the coast of the Sea of Marmara, which puts it in Turkey. Almost every listing you will find, ours until today included, calls it simply Greek, and two of those three countries never get a mention.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eThe name\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTua described it in 1900 and named it after Mario Giacinto Peracca, who was thirty-nine at the time and very much alive. Peracca was a herpetologist. He worked on lizards and frogs, published on the reptiles and amphibians of South America and Africa, and as far as anyone can tell never touched an isopod in his life. He lived from 1861 to 1923. The dedication was Tua's compliment to a colleague, not a record of work on woodlice, and you will see it written up the other way round in a few places.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eThe animal\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBroad, heavy-set and around 17 to 18mm, with a coarse tuberculate back that reads as trilobite more than woodlouse. The base colour is a bluish slate-grey, and on paler individuals the blue lifts and catches the light. It conglobates fully, it climbs well, and it spends the day clamped under bark in groups rather than dug in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe same year, 1900, Tua also described \u003ca href=\"\/products\/milky-way-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium gestroi\u003c\/a\u003e. The two animals want broadly similar treatment, which is unusual enough among \u003cem\u003eArmadillidium\u003c\/em\u003e to be worth knowing if you keep both.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eKeeping them\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMiddle of the road, and that is the appeal. \u003cstrong\u003eHold it around 60 to 75 per cent\u003c\/strong\u003e, built as a gradient rather than a single figure, damp at one end and drier at the other so the colony picks its own spot. It is neither one of the dry specialists nor a swamp animal, which makes it an easy addition to a shelf already running other Mediterranean species. Our full \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/isopods-useful-articles\/care-for-armadillidium-peraccae-isopods\"\u003eperaccae care guide\u003c\/a\u003e covers the gradient, diet and breeding in detail, so this listing will not repeat it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne thing worth repeating even though the guide covers it: give it bark. Flat cork, slabs of it, stacked with gaps, because that is where the colony will live and a tub without it just looks empty. On temperature it wants 18 to 24°C, and ordinary room temperature in most British houses sits inside that band for most of the year, so nothing needs plugging in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFeed the ordinary detritivore mix, with white-rotted \u003ca href=\"\/products\/shredded-rotten-wood\"\u003ehardwood\u003c\/a\u003e and hardwood \u003ca href=\"\/products\/leaf-litter-1l\"\u003eleaf litter\u003c\/a\u003e as the staple, protein a few times a week, and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/cuttlebone-100g\"\u003ecuttlebone\u003c\/a\u003e or limestone permanently available. It breeds readily once it has settled and a starter group builds into a working colony without much intervention from you.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA good choice if you want a large, structural-looking pill woodlouse that does not ask for special treatment, and a straightforward one to slot in alongside cultures you already run. Our other pill woodlice sit under \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/armadillidium-isopods\"\u003eArmadillidium isopods\u003c\/a\u003e. For a second species with a very narrow published range, look at \u003ca href=\"\/products\/armadillidium-corcyraeum-silver-isopods\"\u003ecorcyraeum\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll captive-bred here. We never post livestock on a Friday, so a weekend order leaves on the Monday. Animals travel bedded on moss in a vented cup inside a corrugated outer, and Royal Mail get them to you the next working day ahead of 1pm. There are always a few more in the tub than you paid for, and live arrival is guaranteed.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"10","offer_id":47927634460966,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"20","offer_id":47927634493734,"sku":null,"price":17.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50","offer_id":47927657267494,"sku":"","price":42.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/Armadillidium_peraccae_isopods.jpg?v=1744056158"},{"product_id":"snowflake-springtail","title":"Snowflake Springtails (Onychiuridae sp.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis springtail cannot jump. Onychiuridae have no working furcula, the sprung lever that other springtails fold under the body and release to fling themselves clear, and across the whole family it is reduced to a stub or absent altogether. The practical result: lift the lid and nothing pings out at you. They walk. If you have ever tried to seed an enclosure from a lively culture and lost half of it across the worktop, you will see the point of that straight away.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat they use instead is chemistry. Pseudocelli, pores set in rows along the body, release a fluid that predators find unpleasant, and it works well enough that ants tend to leave them alone. It is the defence of an animal built to sit tight, not one built to flee.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey are sold as Onychiuridae sp. 'Snowflake', and that is as far as the name honestly goes. There is no genus behind it that I can point to, so I will not invent one, and 'Snowflake' itself is a hobby trade name with no scientific standing. The animals are under 2mm, white to almost colourless, and eyeless, which tells you a good deal about where they live. The family is cosmopolitan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eYou will see less of them than you expect\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWorth being straight about this one. Snowflakes are a deep-soil species, not a surface one. They live down in the substrate and come up mainly when the medium is saturated, so a healthy culture can look empty. Read that as a feature of the animal, not a fault in the culture. A surface springtail works the top centimetre; these work the full depth of the substrate, which is where most of the decomposition in a bioactive setup actually happens. The reliable tell that a culture is running is the eggs, laid in large clusters that stand out clearly against the medium, so you get a reading on progress without needing to see the adults.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCulture conditions\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTemperature is where they differ most from the tropical species. They do best between 18 and 25°C, and they take anything from 10 to 26°C, an unusually wide and temperate-tolerant band, so a UK room carries them without heat and a cool cupboard does not stall them. Moisture needs to be high and constant. Ventilation runs against the usual advice: keep it minimal, hold the tub sealed or close to it, and open it roughly once a week to change the air and feed. Coco coir or a pesticide-free organic soil both work as a medium, kept thoroughly damp, with charcoal or leaf litter mixed through if you have it. Feed lightly on brewer's yeast, a few grains of rice or a pinch of fish flake, and lift out anything that moulds. Eggs hatch in seven to ten days and the young are breeding themselves in roughly two to three weeks, so numbers climb quickly once a culture settles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe job they do is decomposition. They graze mould, fungal growth, decaying plant matter and waste, which keeps a humid enclosure from going furry and stops a small spill turning into an outbreak. In an isopod or millipede tub they work alongside the animals instead of competing with them, and because they stay in the substrate they stay out of the display. \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003eThe wider springtail range\u003c\/a\u003e splits along two lines. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/yellow-springtails\"\u003eYellow springtails\u003c\/a\u003e spring off when disturbed and show far more on the surface; \u003ca href=\"\/products\/orange-springtails\"\u003eOrange springtails\u003c\/a\u003e walk like these do, but at around 4 mm and bright orange they are easy to spot. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/temperate-springtails-folsomia-candida\"\u003eTemperate springtails\u003c\/a\u003e are the standard workhorse for a cool room. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/thai-red-springtails\"\u003eThai Red\u003c\/a\u003e also walks, though it needs tropical warmth to keep a culture ticking over. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/springtail-mystery-box-for-sale\"\u003eThe springtail mystery box\u003c\/a\u003e tries several at once.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese are supplied as an established starter culture rather than a counted number of animals, so what arrives is a working medium with adults, juveniles and egg clusters already in it. Tip the whole thing into a larger tub of damp coir or organic soil, put it somewhere stable, and resist opening it more than once a week while it establishes. Give it two or three weeks before you start harvesting, and judge it on egg clusters, since the adults stay out of sight. Dispatch is Monday to Thursday and no later, tracked, next-day, so nothing of ours sits in the postal network across a weekend. This culture is guaranteed to get to you alive.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"25","offer_id":48340347650342,"sku":null,"price":12.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"50","offer_id":48340347683110,"sku":null,"price":22.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"100","offer_id":48442884161830,"sku":"","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/snowflake-springtails-onychiuridae-sp-6658158.jpg?v=1763217722"}],"url":"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/collections\/all.oembed","provider":"PostPods","version":"1.0","type":"link"}