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Rough Woodlice

🔤 Taxonomy

Porcellio scaber is the accepted scientific name used for this feeder guide.

Common names used in the feeder trade:

  • Rough woodlouse
  • Rough isopod
  • Cleanup isopod

Calico, Dalmatian, Lava, Orange, White Out, and White are captive colour or pattern lines of P. scaber, not separate species. Their basic culture requirements are the same. Keep each line separately labelled if its colour and provenance matter; the “Lava” name is also associated in parts of the hobby with large Iberian stock, so a trade label alone should not be treated as a verified locality or subspecies identification.

📌 Description

Rough woodlice are hardy, rough-backed isopods about 1-1.8 cm long. They are active cleanup animals and occasional feeders for small insectivores, processing leaf litter, shed skin, and organic remains. They cannot roll into a complete ball and run for shelter when disturbed.

Treat them more as cleanup-culture animals than as gut-loadable insects: leaf litter, calcium, and a moisture gradient matter more than short-term feeding before use. Offer only surplus from clean cultures and do not rely on isopods as a staple feeder.

🌍 Distribution

The species is native to Europe and has been introduced widely elsewhere with soil, plants, and human activity. Use captive-bred cultures and do not release surplus isopods.

The map highlights the western European native core described in faunal references, not the many introduced populations. Commercial feeder and cleanup cultures are moved far outside that range.

Native western European core range of Porcellio scaber

⚖️ Regulations and safety

Checked on 2026-08-23: Porcellio scaber was not found in the current CITES Appendices, EU wildlife-trade Annexes A-D under Regulation (EU) 2026/1383, or Bern Convention Appendices II-III.

The EU Invasive Alien Species Regulation restricts species on the Union list; this guide does not treat Porcellio scaber as a Union-list species. Local and national rules can still restrict live invertebrate imports, transport, breeding, sale, use in schools or workplaces, and disposal.

Keep purchase and batch records, secure every culture, and never release live animals, substrate, or associated springtails. Freeze surplus or unwanted invertebrates before disposal where local rules allow.

🤌 Husbandry

A 30 × 20 × 15 cm smooth-sided tub is a practical starter culture for roughly 20-30 animals. Use at least 6 cm of edible substrate. Keep about one-third damp with moss and deeper moisture, while the remaining surface stays lightly damp to dry. This temperate species tolerates a wider gradient than tropical isopods, but neither a bone-dry box nor a sealed swamp is safe.

Good setup:

  • Smooth-sided plastic tub, cup, or ventilated culture box
  • Fine mesh or fabric ventilation sized for the feeder
  • Several cork hides and abundant hardwood leaf litter
  • Sorting container for feeding and cleaning
  • Clear date, source, and morph labels for cultures and purchased batches

Quarantine new batches for 60-90 days with separate tools. Check for mixed species, fungus gnats, grain mites, unusual blue-purple individuals, and unexplained deaths before transferring culture material into another enclosure.

💡 Lighting

Feeder invertebrates do not need UVB. A normal room day-night rhythm is enough. Keep cultures out of direct sun because small containers overheat quickly.

🌡 Heating and temperature

Recommended ranges:

  • Culture range: 16-24°C; breeding is strongest around 20-24°C
  • Tolerates cooler room temperatures
  • Avoid sustained heat above 28°C; heat one side wall only, under thermostat control

💧 Humidity and water

Use roughly 50-70% relative humidity as a supporting measurement, not a target for spraying the whole tub. Pour water into the moss end and allow the open side to dry at the surface. No water bowl is needed. Persistent condensation, sour smell, or muddy substrate means excess water or insufficient ventilation; failed molts and animals packed into the damp corner mean the refuge has become too small or dry.

🌿 Enclosure and decoration

Mix pesticide-free leaf soil or topsoil with decayed hardwood, crushed leaves, and a moisture-retaining component. Coconut fibre may improve texture but is not an adequate diet by itself. Cover most of the surface with verified safe oak, beech, maple, or other hardwood leaves and add cork flats.

Keep cuttlebone, limestone, oyster shell, or plain calcium carbonate available. Avoid aromatic conifer wood, fertilizer, treated compost, street-collected leaves, and heavy stones resting on loose substrate. Refresh part of a depleted old culture rather than replacing every established layer at once.

🪳 Feeding

Useful foods:

  • Leaf litter and decayed hardwood
  • Vegetable scraps in small portions
  • Cuttlefish bone, limestone, or calcium powder source
  • Dried shrimp, fish food, or insect-based protein in small portions

Feed the culture mainly with leaf litter and decayed hardwood, then add vegetables once or twice weekly and a small protein meal about weekly. Remove wet leftovers in 24-48 hours. If animals will be used as feeders, harvest only surplus from a clean, pesticide-free culture rather than trying to gut-load them at the last minute. Isopods are naturally calcium-rich, but they should remain an occasional part of a varied diet unless the predator’s specialist guidance says otherwise.

🥚 Breeding

Females retain eggs and embryos in a fluid-filled ventral marsupium and release mancae, so there are no externally laid eggs to incubate. The repository therefore records reproduction as viviparous and omits incubation fields. Stable moisture access, leaves, calcium, modest protein, and 20-24°C produce steady growth; split crowded cultures before every hide is packed.

Do not let breeding goals override feeder quality. Cultures that smell sour, contain many dead animals, or show heavy mites should not be used for sensitive animals.

🩺 Common problems

Common problems:

  • Mold from excess moisture or stale food
  • Mites from damp waste and old cultures
  • Escape through poor lids or oversized ventilation mesh
  • Nutritional imbalance when one feeder is used alone
  • Predator injury or impaction risk when feeders are oversized
  • Culture crashes from heat, crowding, pesticides, or contamination
  • Blue-purple animals or sudden unexplained mortality, which require immediate isolation of the culture and its tools

📌 Conclusion

This species is most useful as a cleanup animal and occasional feeder when the colony is clean, calcium-rich, and not overharvested. The common failure is a sealed, wet box with too much fresh food and too little ventilation.

📚 Sources and further reading