Spiky Pineapple Isopods (Cristarmadillidium muricatum) 6 Count

A staple diet of leaf litter is essential, so you’ll need to provide a regular supply. If you're using our Superfood powder, a (small) pinch every 4 days or so is recommended. See our full guide to isopod food for more information.

Being such a tiny isopod, a standard 6 count will probably need a container size of just a gallon or so.

For isopods in closed terrariums we always recommend looser fitting lids and regularly opening for feeding to maintain some level of air exchange. When kept in culture boxes, our isopod partners, RDI, suggest that regularly opening for watering/feeding alone may provide enough ventilation.

Alternatively, drilling holes in the plastic culture container is a popular method in the hobby, though it makes it more difficult to maintain the necessary humidity levels (and brings an increased risk of pests).

How frequently you need to spray your isopod enclosure will depend on the species, the setup, and the ambient humidity in your home. RDI recommends every 3-4 days as a loose rule of thumb (checking daily for the first week after receiving them).

These spiny isopods are a species that are often kept in a lower humidity/moisture setup (based on their proximity to other Spanish species with those requirements). However, we've had them in the same setup as some of our Cubaris and had no issues - so there seems to be some wiggle room.

We recommend opening your order immediately after it arrives and checking them over. For best results, put your isopods into their new home right away; we recommend gently tipping them in along with the contents of the tub.

If that’s not possible, isopods can stay in the tub they’re in for up to a week, provided they have a leaf litter supply and you open the tub up at least every 2 days minimum for air exchange.

Generally speaking, isopods cannot climb glass. Some isopods are better climbers than others and may be able to climb cracks and/or dirty glass to some extent (but these species are not big climbers - I've never seen one climb).

Clean up crew isopods are species selected for their large appetites and high activity, making them particularly good at breaking down and recycling organic matter in a terrarium.

Pet isopods are those that are especially interesting to look at, but waste management skills and terrarium suitability vary from species to species.

Springtails and isopods serve different functions in a terrarium, with springtails primarily tackling mold and isopods breaking down larger decomposing organic materials.

While neither are strictly necessary, they individually bring a number of benefits and offer even more as a bioactive combo working synergistically together.