Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)
Size
Up to 20mm (0.79in) in length
Moisture
50-60% HumidityDrought tolerent
Temperature
18.3-26.6°C (65-80°F)
Sexing
Females will have a brood pouch and when pregnant, young can easily be seen from within. Calico individuals are often female due to genetics.
Lifespan
Young of this species can mature in as little as 3 months. Adult individuals may live for 2-3 years in captivity.
Instars
Isopods molt in two parts, and will keep growing and molting until death. Young isopods will molt quicker than older individuals. They eat their molts.
Feeding
This is a very protein hungry species. They may very well prefer animal products to plant ones. I always provide my isopods with leaves and rotting wood as a staple, but often provide fruits and veggies, pet kibble, fish food, and sometimes dried fish or shrimp. Particuarly robust colonies could even be used to skeletonize small mammals.
Enclosure
For all of my isopods, I generally use a mix of organic peat, decayed wood, flake soil, sphagnum moss, garden compost, chopped and whole leaves, as well as calcium carbohydrate or eggshells. Coco coir can be used as a filler for water retention, but is mostly inedible fiber. Ensure that your isopods have access to moist hides and substrate to provide the necessary moisture. For hides, I use chunks of cork or oak bark. Ventilation should be present.
Breeding
If kept well fed, P. scaber will produce quickly. In 2 years from keeping ~40 individuals I had surpassed counts of 600. Females carry 25-90 fertilized eggs in a pouch on their abdomen. When the babies have developed, they will leave the pouch and huddle around the parent.
Other Information
This species is great for beginners due to their hardiness. It is easy to cultivate and available in a wide variety of color morphs. Research is still being done into their genetics and new combinations are discovered often. This is a cosmopolitan species that has found its way around much of the globe.