Porcellio scaber ‘Wild’ Isopods For Sale UK - Rough Isopod Culture
Looking for the most versatile isopod in the hobby? The Porcellio scaber (Rough Isopod) is a global favourite for its incredible hardiness, bold surface activity, and ease of care. Beyond their charm as a display species, their prolific breeding and high nutritional value make them an excellent sustainable source of live feed for reptiles and amphibians.
🔍 At A Glance: Porcellio scaber Isopods Husbandry Summary
Scientific Name: Porcellio scaber (Wild Morph)
Common Names: Rough Isopods | Common Woodlouse | Scaber Isopods
Adult Size & Lifespan: Reaches up to 1.7cm | Adults can live for approximately 2 years
Breeding & Growth Rate: Highly prolific and fast-growing; an exceptionally active and bold colony builder.
Ideal Climate: Temperature: 18–23°C (20–23°C for best results) | Humidity: 70–80% (Highly tolerant of environmental ranges from dry to humid).
Physical Identification & Behaviour: Noticeably rough, textured bodies with smooth skirting. This specific culture consists primarily of the classic slate-grey wild type, with occasional natural variations like calico appearing.
Place of Origin: Widespread cosmopolitan distribution, originally spreading from Europe. Highly anthropophilic, naturally thriving around homes, gardens, greenhouses, and woodlands.
Enclosure Sizing Guide: Starter colonies do perfectly well in a 20x15x15cm enclosure, while large master colonies scale up cleanly into a 40x20x20cm setup with abundant lid ventilation.
Dietary Base: General detritivore requirements (Hardwood leaf litter, rotten hardwood, flake soil, organic waste, and mosses).
Supplemental Nutrition: Requires a high-quality substrate baseline (avoid coco coir entirely), a weekly high-quality protein source (fish flakes/shrimp pellets), and a constant calcium supply.
Bioactive Compatibility: An exceptionally popular and hardy clean-up crew for scaled reptiles due to a ravenous appetite and wide environmental tolerance. They are significantly less protein-hungry than Porcellio laevis, making them safer companions, and their high abundance makes them an ideal live feeder species.
At EntoScapes, our P. scaber are UK captive-bred and raised on our nutrient-dense substrates to ensure a healthy, thriving colony.
Explore the sections below for our biology-led guide on their adaptable environmental needs, dietary range, and how to maintain a successful feeder population
- Appearance: P. scaber have rough textured bodies with smooth skirting, and come in a variety of morphs like wild, lava, calico, ghost, dalmatian and orange. All morhps are hardy, active and bold and can tolerate a range of environments from dry to humid. This culture will include ‘wild’ and occasional other morphs like ‘calico’.
- Origins: Porcellio scaber are a cosmopolitan species which are believed to have spread from Europe. They are considered an anthropophillic species as they can be found living in great numbers around houses, gardens and greenhouses, as well as parks and forests.
- Substrate Enrichment: This species does well with a good layer of leaf litter and lots of surface area where they are active and prolific if conditions are right.
- Excellent Clean-up Crew: This species is a very popular clean-up crew with scaled reptiles due to their ravenous appetite and tolerance of a variety of conditions, whilst not being so protein hungry as Porcellio laevis. Due to their abundance and affordability they are also a perfect live feed for reptiles and amphibians.
