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Giant Spanish Isopod (Expansus) (Orange)
Porcellio expansus "Orange"
Morph Orange. The Giant Spanish Isopod (Porcellio expansus). The Holy Grail of Isopod keepers. A gigantic prehistoric creature (up to 1.5 inches), famous for its enormous, flattened and disproportionately wide carapace (Expansus = expanded). It boasts kilometric antennae and a faded chalk white color bordered with flame orange, and lateral 'skirts' so wide as to make it resemble a battle shield. A display animal, incredibly expensive, vulnerable to stagnant humidity and difficult to breed.
Class:Malacostraca
Order:Isopoda
Family:Porcellionidae
Genus:Porcellio
Species:Porcellio expansus "Orange"
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
40 - 60 %
Day temperature
20 - 26 °C
Night temperature
18 - 22 °C
UVB
None
Species description
Geographic Origin and Habitat: No additional source-verified editorial notes are available about geographic origin and habitat for Porcellio expansus "Orange". Consult this record's parameters and sources.
Taxonomy and Genetics: No additional source-verified editorial notes are available about taxonomy and genetics for Porcellio expansus "Orange". Consult this record's parameters and sources.
Behaviour and Habits: No additional source-verified editorial notes are available about behaviour and habits for Porcellio expansus "Orange". Consult this record's parameters and sources.
Morphology and Sexual Dimorphism: No additional source-verified editorial notes are available about morphology and sexual dimorphism for Porcellio expansus "Orange". Consult this record's parameters and sources.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: GIANT BINS, SUPER-VENTILATED (Dedicated dry terrariums). Spanish giants DEMAND MASSIVE AIRFLOW: lids cut to 70% and replaced with very fine wire mesh. Substrate of sandy soil 90% dry, mixed with massive calcareous powder calcium and pristine whole dry oak leaves. Cork bark forests for flat hiding places.
Lighting and Heating: ABSENCE OF DIRECT LIGHT. But COOL MEDIUM-LOW temperatures: 68-75°F (20-24°C). They suffer atrociously from tropical humid heat. Never heat the tank from below. They are very delicate to rapid thermal changes.
Humidity and Hydration: EXTREME AND ARID VENTILATION (40-60% MAX). ABSOLUTE CRITICAL: the bin MUST BE 80% BONE DRY. Stagnant humidity, stale air from a tropical terrarium and condensation will literally melt them in two days. They only need ONE TINY ball of wet sphagnum moss in a corner of the tank to be able to moisten their ventral gills when they decide to. NEVER spray over them.
Feeding and Supplementation: Elite Calcareous Detritivores. They consume huge quantities of immaculate very dry leaves (not decomposed), dry moss (Oak lichen is a MUST), carrots and hard pumpkin. VERY IMPORTANT: Whole cuttlefish bone always available. Without tons of calcium, the giants will not be able to slide off the old hard shell during molting and will suffocate halfway.
Compatibility: Hyper-Delicate, Single Species Keeping. Handle as little as possible with bare hands: human skin fat can glue their pleopods (gills). They stress mortally if disturbed. Reproduction is very slow (up to 1 year to mature, and tiny broods of 15 babies).
Health and Common Diseases: Decay from lethal fungal asphyxia (Wet-Rot and Failed Molt ). Beginner keepers buy them for their weight in gold and put them in the mud of frog terrariums: they all die in 48 hours covered in a fulminating white mold because the very wide 'Skirt' traps the wet air under the belly, putrefying them.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
This species originates from: Spagna (Endemico delle zone montuose e aride).
Origin
Selective breeding and cultivarsEurope, Mediterranean, and West Asia
Terrestrial invertebrate profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 3.2 cm
- Lifestyle/Microhabitat
- No verified data available
- Activity cycle
- No verified data available
- Sociality
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Venom level
- No verified data available
- Handling tolerance
- No verified data available
- Brumation
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
The catalog's scalar value is 3.2 cm. The Exuvium — Porcellio expansus source reports a maximum adult measurement of 3.2 cm for this species, recorded as body length. The biological datum refers to the base species Porcellio expansus, not exclusively to the commercial variety. These figures are not interchangeable: the first is the profile's editorial reference, whereas the second is a published maximum under a specific measurement convention; differences among sources can reflect sex, population, life stage and measuring method.
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
Related species
Recommendations grouped by close relatives, companion choices, and similar care.
