White Shark — Fact Sheet

Cubaris sp. “White Shark” · Undescribed terrestrial culture

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Starter colony: 30 × 20 × 20 cm with fine opposing ventilation.
• Minimum 8 cm edible, moisture-buffering substrate.
• Broad moist zone plus a small less-wet surface refuge.
• Inspect packing carefully for mancae, then leave arrivals quiet.
• Quarantine for 90 days; do not add to a mixed display before a backup exists.

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Permanent hardwood leaves and decomposed hardwood.
• Several cork flats close to feeding sites.
• Sphagnum or another safe moisture bank.
• Limestone, cuttlebone, oyster shell or plain calcium carbonate.
• Anchor stone on the enclosure floor before adding substrate.

💡 Lighting

• UVB: not required.
• Ambient cycle: 10-12 hours.
• Expect activity mainly after lights go out.
• Prevent direct sun and heat from display lamps.

🌡️ Temperature

• Warm zone: 22-26 °C

• General air: 22-26 °C

• Cool zone: 20-23 °C

• Night: 20-23 °C

• Heat one wall through a thermostat only if room temperature is inadequate.

• Avoid bottom heat and sustained temperatures above 27-28 °C.

💧 Humidity & water

• Monitoring range: 75-90%.
• Keep the lower moist layer continuously damp while the opposite surface becomes less wet.
• Water one corner; do not provide standing water.
• Fine cross-ventilation is essential despite the high humidity.
• Condensation everywhere, sour substrate or spreading mold calls for more airflow and smaller meals.

🥬 Diet

Feed freely:

• Hardwood leaf litter
• Soft rotten hardwood

In moderation:

• Mushroom, squash, carrot, dried greens or prepared isopod diet once or twice weekly
• Dried shrimp or fish food weekly or less for a small colony

Avoid:

• Oversized wet portions, spoiled food and pesticide-treated leaves
• Cohabitation with faster, more prolific isopods

Supplements:

• Keep a plain calcium source available at all times.
• Place small foods near cover and remove leftovers in 24-48 hours.

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Animals vanish after arrival → minimize checks and keep the moist refuge stable.
• Manca losses → check deep moisture, fine food access, calcium and air exchange.
• Fungus or mites → remove supplemental food and improve cross-flow.
• No colony growth → assess founder maturity and conditions over months, not days.
• Suspected mislabeling → retain photographs and transfer history; do not identify from a seller image alone.