Cubaris sp. 'Crazy Horse' Isopods

The first thing anyone notices about the Crazy Horse is the coat. Cubaris sp. 'Crazy Horse' takes its name from the bold, irregular black-and-white splashes scattered across its back, the same piebald patchwork you see on a pinto horse, and that is exactly where the trade name comes from. The dark and light patches fall differently on every animal, so no two in a tub look quite the same.

Underneath that striking pattern sits a classic Cubaris. This is a premium limestone-cave species from Southeast Asia, rounded and heavy-bodied, with the familiar 'duck face' head profile the genus is loved for. When something disturbs them they roll into a tight, sealed ball rather than bolt, and a settled colony shows the full spread of piebald expression side by side, from heavily marked individuals to paler ones. At 12 to 15 mm they are a good size to appreciate that detail. The pattern is there from birth and often sharpens as the youngsters moult, which makes them an interesting animal to breed for as well as to keep.

'Crazy Horse' is a step up from the hardy Mediterranean woodlice, though not a difficult animal once you understand what a cave-adapted Cubaris wants. The main thing is warmth. These are Thai animals and they like it around 21 to 26C, which is warmer than a typical UK room for much of the year, so a heated room or a low-wattage heat mat on a thermostat, set to one side, keeps them in their comfortable range.

Alongside that warmth they want steady humidity with a gradient rather than a uniformly wet box. I keep one end damp, roughly 75 to 85 per cent, under sphagnum moss, and let the far end sit drier so the animals can choose. Good cross-ventilation matters just as much, holes on opposite sides so air stays fresh rather than stagnant. Moist, not wet, is the phrase to hold onto: substrate like a wrung-out sponge, never waterlogged. Get the balance of damp, air and warmth right and they are an undemanding animal to live with.

Give them a deep substrate, six to ten centimetres, so they can burrow and the microclimate stays stable. Because these are limestone-cave animals, work plenty of calcium through it, crushed limestone or oyster shell, along with some flake soil for structure and nutrition and a good layer of white rotten hardwood. On top I add a thick covering of leaf litter, and the magnolia leaf litter is a favourite here and lasts well. A springtail culture tucked in from the start keeps mould in check while the colony finds its feet. Most of their diet comes from that decaying wood and leaf litter, with the odd piece of vegetable, a little fish flake or dried shrimp for protein, and cuttlebone always to hand for the calcium a breeding colony gets through.

Breeding is steady rather than explosive. Cubaris settle at their own pace, and a Crazy Horse colony rewards patience more than fuss, so leave them largely undisturbed, keep the calcium and warmth constant, and let numbers build over months. If you are putting together a premium Cubaris shelf, they sit beautifully next to our Rubber Ducky, Panda King and Lemon Blue, offering clean black-and-white contrast where those bring colour and character of their own.

Every 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 small overcount as standard.