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Rough Woodlouse "Orange Koi"
Porcellio scaber "Orange Koi"
Rough Woodlouse "Orange Koi". A highly attractive morph of the hardy rough woodlouse, featuring orange and white patterns. Excellent clean-up crew for bio-active setups.
Class:Malacostraca
Order:Isopoda
Family:Porcellionidae
Genus:Porcellio
Species:Porcellio scaber "Orange Koi"
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
50 - 70 %
Day temperature
20 - 25 °C
Night temperature
18 - 22 °C
UVB
None
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: The species Porcellio scaber is native to temperate Europe, but has achieved a cosmopolitan distribution worldwide. It inhabits damp forest floors, deciduous woodlands, grasslands, and suburban gardens, sheltering under loose tree bark, rotting logs, and leaf litter to preserve essential moisture.
Taxonomy and Genetics: Belongs to the class Malacostraca, order Isopoda, and family Porcellionidae. It is a terrestrial crustacean featuring a segmented exoskeleton with a bumpy, heavily tuberculated texture. Unlike the genus Armadillidium, Porcellio scaber has a flatter profile and cannot roll into a ball. Grows to 18-20 mm.
Behavior and Habits: Strictly nocturnal and lucifugous (light-avoiding). It exhibits gregarious behavior, clustering in dense groups within damp, dark crevices. It functions as an essential detritivore, breaking down organic waste, decaying wood, and dry leaves into rich soil nutrients while preventing mold growth.
Morphology: The 'Orange Koi' morph is a selectively bred color variety characterized by a mottled pattern of bright orange, white, and occasionally gray blotches across the exoskeleton. Females possess a ventral brood pouch (marsupium) where they incubate eggs and carry young mancae.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: Can be housed in ventilated plastic containers or glass terrariums of at least 5-10 liters. The substrate should be 5-10 cm deep, consisting of organic soil mixed with coco fiber, peat moss, and decayed wood (flake soil). Provide cork bark slabs on top to serve as hiding places.
Lighting and Heating: Being light-avoiding, they do not require special lighting and must be kept away from direct sunlight. Maintain temperatures between 18°C and 25°C. Basking or heating lamps are not required; standard room temperature is ideal for colony growth and reproduction.
Humidity and Hydration: Moisture is critical as they breathe through modified gills (pleopodal lungs) and need humidity to survive. Maintain a moisture gradient inside the enclosure by spraying one side with dechlorinated water regularly while leaving the other side dry so they can self-regulate.
Feeding and Supplementation: Primarily detritivorous. Their main diet must consist of decaying organic material, especially dried hardwood leaves (oak, beech) and rotting wood. Supplement twice a week with protein sources (fish flakes, dried shrimp) and fresh vegetables (zucchini, carrots). A cuttlebone is vital for calcium.
Compatibility: Extremely prolific and compatible as a clean-up crew (CUC) in bioactive setups for robust frogs, geckos, lizards, and tarantulas. Avoid keeping them with very tiny, delicate amphibians or reptile eggs, as a dense population of hungry isopods may nibble on them.
Health and Common Diseases: Desiccation (drying out) is the primary risk and can wipe out the entire colony within hours if the substrate dries completely. Ensure adequate ventilation to prevent stagnant, waterlogged conditions. Supply constant calcium to ensure successful molting of the chitinous exoskeleton.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
The species Porcellio scaber is native to temperate Europe, but has achieved a cosmopolitan distribution worldwide. It inhabits damp forest floors, deciduous woodlands, grasslands, and suburban gardens, sheltering under loose tree bark, rotting logs, and leaf litter to preserve essential moisture.
Origin
Selective breeding and cultivarsCentral America and CaribbeanNorth AmericaEurope, Mediterranean, and West AsiaCosmopolitan or introduced
Terrestrial invertebrate profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 1.7 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 1.7 cm. The British Myriapod and Isopod Group — Porcellio scaber source reports a maximum adult measurement of 1.7 cm for this species, recorded as body length. The biological datum refers to the base species Porcellio scaber, 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
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