Porcellio baeticensis 'Violet' Isopods

In the right light a cool violet sheen lifts across the back, unexpected in a genus of greys and browns. Be honest with yourself, though: this is a subtle purple, not a neon one. What you are looking at is Porcellio baeticensis 'Violet', sold here and there as Violet Baeticensis or Purple Porcellio, and occasionally listed under the older name Porcellio incanus. It is a medium-to-large Spanish species, running roughly 15 to 20mm as an adult, native to the Baetic mountains of southern Spain, and it carries all the presence you would expect from a chunky mountain Porcellio.

Set your expectations around that colour and you will not be disappointed. The violet is a real purple tinge rather than a trick of the eye, but it is understated, and it shows best under natural daylight or a bright lamp. It also deepens once the animals have settled in and are eating well, so a fresh group often looks quieter than an established one. In dim conditions they read more grey-brown, and the intensity shifts from one individual to the next, some carrying a clear wash of violet and others barely hinting at it. That variation is part of the character, not a fault.

Beyond the colour, this is a rewarding Porcellio to keep. Like every member of the genus it does not conglobate, so it relies on speed and cover rather than rolling into a ball, and it is noted in the hobby for unusually attentive mothers, with females reported to stay close to their young for longer than most isopods manage. A settled colony is a pleasure to watch for that reason alone. It sits a sensible step above bombproof beginners without asking much more of you, making it a natural next move if you have cut your teeth on a Porcellio scaber mix and fancy something with more size and interest. If you enjoy it, the flatter Mediterranean Porcellio werneri and the giant Spanish Porcellio expansus 'Orange' make good stablemates, and you can compare the rest of the genus across the full Porcellio collection.

Care is straightforward for anyone with a little experience. Keep them at warm room temperature, somewhere around 18 to 24°C, and give them moderate humidity with a clear gradient: dampen one end and let the other stay dry, rather than soaking the whole enclosure as you would for a tropical species. Good ventilation matters, since these are dry mountain animals that resent stagnant, sodden air. Give them a reasonably deep substrate they can burrow into, with cork bark for hides and a generous layer of leaf litter to graze on; a scoop of flake soil enriches the base, and magnolia leaves hold up well as long-lasting food and cover. Keep calcium available at all times for clean moulting, offer a little protein on a regular basis, and add a springtail culture to keep mould in check.

Once that routine is established, breeding follows steadily rather than in a rush. Well-fed females produce broods through the warmer months, and it is here that the maternal behaviour becomes the draw, with mothers lingering by their young rather than scattering and moving on. Keep the calcium topped up, avoid disturbing brooding females, and let numbers build at their own pace; a stable, well-structured enclosure does most of the work. If you want to place this species within the wider genus, our guide to the different types of Porcellio isopods is a good place to read on.

Your isopods are captive-bred here and travel in a ventilated tub of damp sphagnum, cushioned inside a double-walled box. We post Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail, aiming for delivery by 1pm, and every order carries our live-arrival guarantee along with a 20% overcount for good measure.