Cubaris sp. 'Orange Freezy' Isopods

The Orange Freezy gets its name from a trick of the light: a bright yellow-orange body rimmed by semi-transparent edges, so the colour looks suspended inside a glassy outer skirt, almost frozen in place. It is one of the more striking Cubaris in the hobby for exactly that reason, a chunky, flat, faintly cuboid Thai species at around 20 mm that rewards a close look. The translucent skirt is clearest along the sides and rear, and it reads best under a little light against a dark substrate, which is where the frozen-in-glass effect really lands. You will sometimes see it written "Orange Frenzy", which is simply a misspelling of the same animal.

For anyone who knows the premium Cubaris, it reads as a brighter, busier relative of the Rubber Ducky, close to the blonde phase in colour but faster on its feet and quicker to breed. That combination, the warm translucent look of a collector's Cubaris with more visibility and more pace, is a large part of its appeal, and as a fairly recent arrival to the hobby it still carries a little collector's-piece novelty. It sits alongside other large warm-toned Cubaris such as the red-eyed Giant Mandarin and the translucent-edged Red Edge Orange.

Care is standard Cubaris, a step up from the Mediterranean species but not difficult once the moisture is right. These Thai animals want warmth and a humid gradient rather than a soaking-wet floor: keep one damp end and one drier end, mist to top up moisture, and cross-ventilate so the air stays fresh instead of stagnant. Warmer room temperatures suit them, and steady humidity brings out the best colour. Aim for roughly 22 to 26°C and a humid end around 75 to 85 per cent, with the opposite side allowed to run drier.

Set a colony up in a five to ten litre clip-lock tub with cross-vented sides. For substrate use a living base of flake soil, rotted hardwood and organic topsoil deep enough to burrow, with plenty of calcium worked through, crushed limestone, cuttlebone or oyster shell, as with all the limestone-cave Cubaris. Keep a plain coco-coir base out of the mix; it holds water but offers nothing to graze.

Top it with a thick layer of magnolia and oak leaf litter and cork bark for the dark, humid cover these animals like. Feeding is easy: leaf litter and rotting wood always down, soft veg such as courgette, squash and sweet potato a couple of times a week with leftovers removed promptly, and a little protein now and then for a breeding colony. Being more active and prolific than the Rubber Ducky, a settled Orange Freezy colony rewards you with quicker visible growth than most premium Cubaris. They are also more inclined to be out in the open than the reclusive Rubber Ducky, so you tend to see the glassy-edged colour on show rather than hidden away under the bark.

Breeding needs only warmth, humidity and calcium held steady: females carry young in a brood pouch and release live miniatures, and the colony builds reliably from there. Pair them with a springtail culture to keep mould down in 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 small overcount as standard.