Care Guide — Isopods

Porcellio scaber "Orange"

A vivid orange colour morph of the common rough woodlouse — same bulletproof care, brighter packaging.

Humidity 50–70%

Temperature 18–24°C

Starter Group 15–30+

Difficulty Beginner

About this species

Porcellio scaber "Orange" is a selectively bred colour morph of the common rough woodlouse, Porcellio scaber. It is the same species as the wild-type grey-brown P. scaber — not a separate species, subspecies, or locality variant. The orange colouration results from a lack of dark pigmentation, allowing underlying orange-red pigments to show through.

Like all P. scaber, this is a terrestrial crustacean that breathes through gill-like pleopods. It cannot conglobate (roll into a ball) — that is an Armadillidium trait. Care is identical to wild-type P. scaber in every meaningful way.

Enclosure

A ventilated plastic tub with a footprint of at least 20x15 cm suits a starter colony. Provide cork bark for hiding, a generous layer of dried leaves, and a piece of cuttlebone for calcium. Good airflow prevents mould and stagnation — cross-ventilation through the lid is ideal.

Substrate

60% coco coir
20% organic topsoil
10% sand for drainage
10% crushed leaf litter (hardwood only — never pine, cedar, or other softwoods, which are toxic)

Maintain a moisture gradient with one damp corner. P. scaber prefers the drier end of the spectrum for isopods. Depth of 5–8 cm, topped with dried oak or beech leaves.

Feeding

Dried hardwood leaves (oak, beech) — staple food
Vegetables: courgette, carrot, sweet potato
Cuttlefish bone — essential for calcium to mineralise the exoskeleton after moulting
Weekly protein: dried shrimp or fish flakes

Remove uneaten fresh food within 48 hours to prevent mould.

Breeding

P. scaber "Orange" breeds as prolifically as wild-type. Females carry eggs in a marsupium (brood pouch) and produce new broods every 4–6 weeks at stable room temperature. A colony of 15–20 can exceed 100 individuals within a few months.

Morph notes

To maintain orange colouration across generations, keep this morph separate from wild-type or other P. scaber morphs. If wild-type genes are introduced, offspring will typically revert to grey-brown within a few generations, since the wild-type pigmentation is dominant. Occasional wild-type throwbacks may still appear in pure orange colonies — simply remove them if maintaining morph purity.