Porcellio hoffmannseggii 'White Antenna' Isopods

One of the largest woodlice in the hobby, and the thing you notice first is a tiny detail: two bright white antennae flicking against a big grey body. This is Porcellio hoffmannseggii 'White Antenna', a colour morph of the giant Iberian Titan woodlouse, and it carries all the heft of the standard grey Titan (P. hoffmannseggii) with one bright signature added on top. Adults reach around 3 to 4cm, which puts them among the largest terrestrial isopods anyone keeps, so a mature colony has real presence in the enclosure.

The body itself follows the classic Titan pattern: a broad slate-grey back with a paler skirt running along the edges. What marks this form out is the pair of vivid white antennae that flick and sweep as the animal moves. It's worth being clear about where the pale sits, because the name trips people up. Here the white is in the antennae only, not the body, which separates it cleanly from the frost-white-bodied 'Yeti' and from the warm-toned 'Orange' sibling. Like every Porcellio, it cannot conglobate, so it never rolls into a ball; instead it relies on size, speed and cover when it wants to hide.

Keepers come to this one for the scale and the character. A big grey woodlouse with white antennae reading against dark bark is a display animal in its own right, not a background clean-up crew, and it sits comfortably alongside other giants like Porcellio magnificus in a collection built around the Porcellio genus. It has a bit more attitude than the small tropical woodlice too, which makes watching it more rewarding, though that same character asks a little more of you in return.

Care here is dry, giant-Porcellio husbandry, and it runs against the instinct many isopod keepers pick up on tropical species. Aim for warmth of 20 to 26°C and keep the enclosure mostly dry, with a moisture gradient rather than blanket damp: one end reliably moist, the rest left to dry out, so the colony can choose where to sit. Medium to high ventilation keeps that gradient stable and stops stale, humid air building up. Give them a deep substrate, because they burrow readily and appreciate the depth, and load it with decaying hardwood, which they favour over leaf litter. A layer of flake soil adds nutrition to the base. Calcium is not optional for an animal this size; a moult on a 4cm woodlouse is a big undertaking, so leave cuttlebone or crushed limestone in permanently. Round out the diet with the occasional vegetable and protein in moderation, offered as a supplement rather than a staple.

Give the colony room, as large males can turn territorial and start jostling for space when the enclosure feels crowded. Breeding is slower and steadier than you'll see from the weedier, quick-turnover species, so this is not a woodlouse that explodes into hundreds overnight. Patience is the reward: keep the conditions stable, the calcium topped up and the group unhurried, and numbers build gradually into an established, self-sustaining population. A small culture of springtails works well tucked into the damp end to keep mould in check around fresh food. For a fuller look at how this form fits the wider genus, our guide to the different types of Porcellio isopods is a good place to start.

Every order is captive-bred here and packed to travel safely: a ventilated tub over a bed 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 parcel is covered by our live-arrival guarantee. We tuck in a 20% overcount as well, so you start with a little more than you ordered.