A Glimpse
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Scientific Name: Porcellio scaber
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Common Names: Common Rough Woodlouse, Scaber
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Family: Porcellionidae
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Origin: Europe — one of the most widespread isopod species in the world, found throughout the UK
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Adult Size: 17–18 mm
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Difficulty: Easy — arguably the easiest isopod species to keep
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Temperature: 15–27°C (room temperature is perfect)
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Humidity: 50–60% — tolerant of a wide range
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Ventilation: Low to medium
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Diet: Almost anything — leaf litter, rotting wood, vegetables, fruit, protein supplements
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Supplements: Cuttlebone for calcium
What's in the Mix?
This listing is a mixed bag of Porcellio scaber colour morphs. Rather than getting a single morph, you'll receive a random assortment from whatever we have available at the time. This might include wild-type grey, orange variants, dalmatian-patterned individuals, calico, and other colour forms that appear in our colonies.
If you already know which specific scaber morph you want, we sell several individually: Scaber Lava, Scaber Ghost, Scaber Whiteout, and Moo Cow. The mix is for people who want variety, want to see what turns up, or want a large number of scabers for a bioactive setup without being particular about which morphs they get.
Because it's a mix, this is also one of the best-value ways to get a large scaber colony established quickly. The 50-pack in particular gives you an instant population for a bioactive enclosure.
Porcellio Scaber: The Species
Porcellio scaber is the common rough woodlouse — the isopod most people in the UK have seen without realising it. Turn over a rock, a log, or a plant pot in a British garden and you'll almost certainly find scabers. They're one of the most successful terrestrial crustaceans on the planet, found on every continent except Antarctica.
The "rough" in the common name refers to the textured surface of their exoskeleton — rows of tiny raised tubercles that give them a granular appearance, distinguishing them from the smooth Porcellio laevis. It's subtle but noticeable once you know to look.
In the hobby, P. scaber has been selectively bred into a huge range of colour morphs — Lava (orange and black), Dalmatian (spotted), Calico (patterned), Ghost (pale), Whiteout (white), and many more. The genetics behind these morphs are actually quite well studied compared to most isopod species. If you're interested in the science, our article on isopod genetics, colours and morphs covers how these colour variations arise and breed through.
Why Scabers Are the Best Beginner Isopod
There's nothing wrong with starting at the beginning, and P. scaber is the beginning for good reason.
Tolerance. Scabers handle a wider range of temperatures, humidity levels, and environmental fluctuations than almost any other species in the hobby. They're comfortable in tropical setups, temperate setups, and even semi-arid conditions. If you make a minor mistake with humidity or temperature, scabers will shrug it off where more sensitive species would struggle.
Appetite. They eat everything. Leaf litter, rotting wood, vegetables, fruit, fish flakes, dead insects — scabers are enthusiastic, unfussy eaters. This makes them outstanding bioactive cleanup crew members. They'll process waste, break down organic matter, and keep substrate healthy.
Breeding. Prolific. Under good conditions, a colony will grow quickly and steadily. A starting group of 10 can become a substantial population within a few months. This is the opposite experience from keeping something like Cubaris or Ardentiella, where you're waiting months for each small brood.
Hardiness. A hard, calcified exoskeleton makes them tougher than soft-bodied species. They're also less susceptible to mites and other common isopod issues.
Enclosure
Almost any container will work. A plastic tub with a few ventilation holes, a converted storage box, a glass terrarium — scabers aren't fussy. For a colony of 10, a shoebox-sized container is plenty. For the 50-pack, start with something larger.
Add cork bark pieces for hides, leaf litter for food and cover, and a patch of sphagnum moss for a moisture zone. That's essentially the complete setup. If you're looking for enclosures, we stock acrylic enclosures and screw-in air vents that make setup straightforward.
If you're new to isopod keeping entirely, our guide to setting up and selecting your first isopods walks through the full process.
Substrate
Organic topsoil (pesticide-free) with leaf litter and pieces of rotting wood. That's it. Scabers don't need elaborate substrate mixes or specialist ingredients. Keep it moderately moist — not waterlogged, not bone dry. A moisture gradient (one end damp, the other drier) is ideal but scabers will tolerate less-than-perfect conditions.
Flake soil can be mixed in as a nutritious substrate component if you want to give them an extra food source, but it's not essential for scabers the way it might be for more demanding species.
Temperature and Humidity
15–27°C. That's the vast majority of UK homes, year-round, without any additional heating. Scabers are native to this climate — they live in British gardens. They don't need heat mats, they don't need thermostats, and they don't need temperature monitoring unless your house is unusual.
Humidity at 50–60% is the guideline, but scabers are tolerant across a broad range. Research has actually found that scaber activity is inversely proportional to humidity — they're more active in drier conditions and slower in very humid air. This makes them unusually adaptable compared to species that need precise humidity management.
Diet
Leaf litter and rotting wood form the base diet and should always be available. On top of that, scabers will eat almost any vegetable or fruit you offer: cucumber, carrot, sweet potato, courgette, apple, banana. They also take fish flakes, dried shrimp, and other protein sources readily.
Cuttlebone should be available for calcium — this supports exoskeleton development, especially for breeding females and growing juveniles. A piece of cuttlebone left permanently in the enclosure gets slowly grazed over time.
Breeding
Scabers breed prolifically once established. A healthy colony with adequate food, calcium, and reasonable conditions will produce regular broods of mancae (baby isopods). The growth rate is fast by isopod standards, and you can expect a colony of 10 to expand substantially within a few months.
This prolific breeding is one of the reasons scabers are the go-to species for bioactive enclosures — they reproduce fast enough to maintain a self-sustaining cleanup crew population, even if some individuals are occasionally eaten by reptiles or amphibians in the enclosure.
Bioactive Use
This is where a scaber mix really shines. If you're setting up a bioactive vivarium for reptiles, amphibians, or invertebrates and you need a cleanup crew that will actually do the work, scabers are the standard choice for good reason. They're active, they eat waste efficiently, they breed fast enough to sustain their population, and they tolerate the range of conditions found in most vivarium setups.
The 50-pack option is designed for exactly this use case — seeding a bioactive enclosure with enough isopods to establish quickly and start processing waste from day one. Combined with springtails, you have a complete cleanup crew.
For more on keeping different species together in bioactive setups, our guide to keeping different species of isopods together covers compatibility and cohabitation.
Who Is This For?
Complete beginners who want their first isopods. Scabers are genuinely the best species to learn on. Everything you learn about substrate, humidity, feeding, and colony management with scabers applies directly to more advanced species later. And at this price point, the learning process isn't costly.
Bioactive keepers who need a functional cleanup crew. The mix gives you variety without needing to commit to a single morph.
Breeders interested in genetics. A scaber mix with multiple morphs is a fascinating starting point for understanding how colour genetics work in isopods. You'll see different patterns emerge in offspring depending on which morphs breed together. Our genetics article has more detail on this if it interests you.
Anyone who just likes isopods and wants an easy, rewarding colony to watch. There's no shame in keeping "common" species — scabers are common because they're excellent.
If You Want to Go Further
Once you've got scabers dialled in and you're comfortable with the fundamentals, the whole hobby opens up. From here, natural next steps include other Porcellio species like the Giant Orange (P. laevis) or the more challenging Spanish species in our Porcellio collection. Or branch out into Cubaris or Armadillidium for a different keeping experience.
