Exuvium Isopods

Common name: Tricolor Merulanella.
Size: adults may reach a length of 20 mm.
Activity: both day and night active. It’s a quite active isopod.
Substrate: check out our premium substrate. The medium in the enclosure needs to be moist but not too much, as Merulanella isopods require high air moisture but not too wet soil.
Terrarium: needs to be escape-proof, since Ardentiella isopods – especially the young and mancae – can climb vertically on plastic, like most roaches do. I keep them wetter – like the Cubaris isopods – with a layered setup of decaying leaves, moss, pieces of twigs with lichen and on top cork bark or tree bark. Check out also our premium substrate.
Temperature: 19 – 26°C; they prefer it a bit cooler.
Humidity: 60 – 75%; maintain by spraying periodically.
Diet: fruits, veggies, greens, forest moss, lichen, decaying leaves, rotting white wood, kinshi, molting of invertebrates and reptiles. And some protein, like gammarus shrimps. Also don’t forget a calcium source (cuttlefish bone, limestone & oyster seashell, limestone rock) to keep them healthy.
Foods they don’t eat: bee pollen.
Difficulty: easy to moderate for CB isopods. WC isopods are quite challenging.
Reproduction rate: moderate to prolific for CB isopods. WC isopods are quite challenging.
Growth rate: normal to slow.
Lifespan: –

Q: Do the Ardentiella sp. ‘Tricolor’ take advantage of the ability to climb?
A: The Ardentiella sp. ‘Tricolor’ may be seen under leaf litter, but they also climb on high branches.

Q: Can you regularly admire them during the day?
A: They are active both day and night, mostly during the night though.

Q: I am going to add some special plants in the terrarium. Don’t they eat the plants and roots?
A: No they don’t eat the plants.