Yellow-spotted isopod

Armadillidium gestroi is distinct from the clown and zebra isopods already described. Yellow spotting is an aid to illustration, not identity proof.

Confirm the exact culture identity.

Maintain a dedicated colony and observe it before proposing cohabitation with a reptile or amphibian.

Arrange dependable holiday care and keep money available for food, replacement equipment and appropriate veterinary help. Test the habitat before the animal arrives.

Wildform proposes a 40 × 30 cm starter footprint with secure fine-gap ventilation, bark and deep leaf litter, enlarged as numbers grow.

Measure usable internal space after substrate, guards and furnishings. Check ventilation, cable holes and access against the smallest occupant. Fix heavy furnishings independently of loose substrate.

The breeder describes 20–25°C. Record the refuge temperatures, not only the room thermostat.

Record the warm and cool locations, overnight minimum and daytime maximum. Air, surface and substrate readings are different measurements. Any added heater needs compatible thermostatic control and safe separation from the animal; assess summer cooling as well as winter heating.

Provide a day/night rhythm and substantial opaque cover; no mandatory UVB target was established.

Keep the night dark and provide retreat from daytime light. Lamp percentage, electrical wattage and a product name cannot establish the exposure reaching an animal. Check the finished installation after changes to mesh, branches or lamp position.

Maintain a damp refuge and drier alternative. The breeder’s 60–75% air reference does not establish substrate water content.

Inspect the occupied refuge and substrate as well as the air reading. Adjust water provision and ventilation together, and clean contaminated drinking surfaces. A single humidity number cannot describe every microclimate.

Provide decayed hardwood leaves/wood as the continuing base, plain calcium and small assessed supplementary feeds.

Record what is actually eaten and follow changes in growth and body condition. Food size, life stage and the full diet matter. Supplement products require an individual plan; do not combine calcium, vitamin D and multivitamins by guesswork.

Provide nutritious food substrate; a retailer recipe is not a universal formula.

Allow voluntary retreat and avoid repeated disturbance of brood-carrying or moulting animals.

Make necessary maintenance predictable and allow voluntary retreat. Prepare a secure transfer container before essential moves. Observation should not repeatedly interrupt feeding, rest or moulting.

Review nutrition, moisture and ventilation if growth or survival declines; a full bowl does not prove the colony has suitable food substrate.

Keep dated observations of appetite, activity and condition. A sudden decline, injury, abnormal breathing or repeated failed moults needs appropriate professional assessment. This guide does not provide a diagnosis or medicine dose.

Retain taxon, source and colony records and contain young in waste material.

Ask for a dated source record, scientific identity, life stage and established care history. Keep new arrivals and their equipment separate while an appropriate quarantine plan is agreed. Check current official rules for the exact animal, route and transaction before importing or buying; this page does not establish legal clearance. Never release animals or viable eggs outdoors.

Check refuge moisture and spoiled supplementary food. Replenish leaf litter and review ventilation as the colony grows. Keep a dated record of measurements and observations, and revisit the full advice when conditions or life stage change.