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Dairy Cow Isopod (Dairy Cow)
Porcellio laevis "Dairy Cow"
A classic, very easy to breed, and ravenous. Brilliant white isopod heavily spotted with black, resembling the coat of a dairy cow.
Class:Malacostraca
Order:Isopoda
Family:Porcellionidae
Genus:Porcellio
Species:Porcellio laevis "Dairy Cow"
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
60 - 85 %
Day temperature
21 - 29 °C
Night temperature
21 - 29 °C
UVB
None
Species description
Geographic Origin and Habitat: No additional source-verified editorial notes are available about geographic origin and habitat for Porcellio laevis "Dairy Cow". Consult this record's parameters and sources.
Taxonomy and Genetics: No additional source-verified editorial notes are available about taxonomy and genetics for Porcellio laevis "Dairy Cow". Consult this record's parameters and sources.
Behaviour and Habits: No additional source-verified editorial notes are available about behaviour and habits for Porcellio laevis "Dairy Cow". 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 laevis "Dairy Cow". Consult this record's parameters and sources.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: PLASTIC BINS OR HUMID BIOACTIVE TERRARIUMS. They need a deep layer (2-3 inches) of pure organic soil mixed with crushed dry oak leaves, crumbled rotten wood (Flake soil) and pieces of cork bark to hide. Always insert a cuttlefish bone for calcium.
Lighting and Heating: TOTAL DARKNESS. They hate intense light. No Basking. Domestic room temperature (72-79°F / 22-26°C). At higher temperatures they explode demographically reproducing in mass; below 64°F (18°C) the colony goes into stasis.
Humidity and Hydration: Gradient Humidity (60-80%). CRITICAL: The bin must have a constantly wet corner (where they take refuge to breathe with modified humid gills) and a dry corner to regulate osmosis. If the whole bin dries out, they will die asphyxiated in 24 hours.
Feeding and Supplementation: Shredding Machines (Very voracious Omnivores/Detritivores). The base of the diet MUST BE dry foliage and decomposing white wood. BUT: for P. laevis MASSIVE PROTEINS are needed (Flake fish food, dried shrimp, freeze-dried, cat kibble) or they will start cannibalizing each other stripping the live newborns. Calcium powder is indispensable or they will literally melt during molting.
Compatibility: Lethal cleaning crew. Excellent in terrariums of large reptiles (Pythons, Bearded Dragons, Iguanas) to eat feces and fungi. NEVER put them with fragile frogs, slow geckos or soft invertebrates (like snails or molting tarantulas): their appetite will push them to bite and devour soft animals alive.
Health and Common Diseases: Decay from branchial asphyxia and cannibalism. They will die en masse crumpled dry ('Dessiccation') if you do not moisten at least one side of the soil, or they will explode liquid leaks if there is a total lack of ventilation (Air must circulate, it must not be a smelly swamp).
Geographic Origin and Distribution
This species originates from: Europa / Cosmopolita.
Origin
Cosmopolitan or introducedEurope, Mediterranean, and West Asia
Terrestrial invertebrate profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 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 2 cm. The British Myriapod and Isopod Group — Porcellio laevis source reports a maximum adult measurement of 2 cm for this species, recorded as body length. The biological datum refers to the base species Porcellio laevis, 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.
