Cubaris sp. 'Piggy' Isopods

Build this enclosure for hiding, because hiding is what these animals do. Layer the cover: flat bark laid across the surface with overlaps to crawl under, a deep bed of leaf litter over the whole floor, and chunks of decaying hardwood part-buried so there is somewhere dark to sit at every level of the tub. Cubaris sp. 'Piggy' is a cryptic isopod. It spends the day under bark and down in the litter and it moves once the room is dark. Say it plainly: this is not an isopod you will see much of, and the way the tub is built decides whether you see it at all.

Substrate goes 5 to 8cm deep so they can dig into it rather than sit on top of it, and the litter layer wants to be deep enough to count, not a token scatter. Magnolia leaves earn their place because they hold their shape for months instead of collapsing into mush, so the cover keeps working while it is slowly being eaten. Decaying wood goes through the substrate and on top of it, and between the wood and the litter most of the diet is already there. The rest is a soft vegetable occasionally and a little protein. Calcium is permanent kit here, never an occasional top-up. Crushed limestone or a piece of cuttlebone stays put, because a shortfall shows at the next moult.

Pink, round and small

The colouring is soft pink shading into pastel, warm in tone, sitting on a rounded, compact, chunky little body. That combination is what the name refers to, so anyone expecting the white or metallic look of the premium cave Cubaris has the wrong animal in mind. Adults reach around 10 to 12mm, which is small even for the genus. Like the rest of its relatives it conglobates, folding into a tight ball at any disturbance, and a pink one doing that is about as much display as this species is willing to offer.

Past that I would rather be careful about what I claim. Documentation on this form is thin and runs back to a single source, so there is no origin story, no genetics and no naming history here that I am willing to stand behind. What is reasonably established is that it is South East Asian and that the exact locality has never been recorded, which is normal enough for hobby Cubaris and better said than papered over. Ours are captive-bred.

Humid, but moving

Conditions are warm and damp without being wet. Aim for 22 to 26°C, holding humidity in the 70 to 80 per cent band. The distinction that matters is between humid and stagnant. Substrate should be damp the whole way through and never sodden, and the enclosure needs real airflow and not a sealed lid, because a tub with no air movement goes sour and sour substrate is what takes colonies out. Keep one end wetter, mist that end, leave the far end drier, and let the animals decide where they want to be.

Difficulty is moderate and breeding is steady rather than explosive, so numbers build over months instead of weeks and a colony rewards being left alone. That makes it a sensible step for someone who has run a humid tub before, though not a first isopod. Among the gentler-toned Cubaris, Caramel Cream works in warm creams and browns, Rose Quartz is the other pink one we keep and the closest comparison, and Panda King is the usual way into the genus for anyone who has not kept one yet. Our Cubaris guide sets out how they compare, and there is more in the wider Cubaris range.

Colonies leave Monday to Thursday, never at the tail of the week, so no parcel of ours waits through a Saturday and Sunday in the system. Each one sits on damp sphagnum inside a vented deli pot, boxed in double-walled card, and goes out on a tracked Royal Mail next-day service, before 1pm. We put spares in above the count ordered, and we guarantee live arrival.