Zebra Isopods (Armadillidium maculatum)
You want the striped ones. Everybody does. Zebras are the isopod people point at in somebody else's tank before they know the name, and they are also a forgiving animal to start a colony with.
Armadillidium maculatum is a roller. Disturb one and it balls up, which is the quickest way to tell an Armadillidium from a Porcellio that just sprints for the dark. In a bioactive tank the colony works the leaf litter and the waste you never see; in a bin they are steady and slow to panic. One thing our own bin taught us: rollers need more calcium than the dwarf species, because the shell is heavier and every molt has to rebuild it, so a piece of cuttlebone lives in ours permanently and gets rasped down over months.
Leaf litter is the staple and it should never run out, so add a bag of our mixed hardwood leaf litter when you order. Our zebras share a display tank with our Montenegros and get along fine, but they live in separate breeding bins, for the reason we explain in the Montenegro care guide: a mixed Armadillidium colony is not a sellable colony.
Live animals ship Monday through Wednesday, and we hold a shipment when the forecast at either end would cook or freeze a box. Every order carries a live arrival guarantee. We ship within the United States, and not to Hawaii or Puerto Rico.
Coming soon
These are not for sale yet. Our founder group arrived in 2026 and we will not skim a colony until it can take it, which we expect in summer 2027. Join the waitlist and we will email you the week they go on sale.
Specs
- 10 isopods, mixed sizes, captive bred
- Armadillidium maculatum, the zebra morph
- Our room runs 68 to 72°F year-round and they breed at that
- One bin, two ends: sphagnum at the wet end, litter and a hide at the dry end
- Cuttlebone in the bin permanently; a pinch of protein twice a week, leftovers pulled after a day
- Substrate 3 to 4 inches: topsoil, a little coir, crumbled rotted hardwood, litter on top