Dwarf White Isopod
Trichorhina tomentosa
No venom, no sting
This species is considered harmless to humans, with no medically significant venom or sting. Handle gently and wash your hands afterward.
About
The default clean-up crew of the hobby and the easiest isopod to keep. Tiny, blind-white, and entirely harmless. They are PARTHENOGENETIC — populations are all-female and reproduce without males, so a culture started from a dozen animals will establish on its own. Unlike most isopods they want the substrate damp throughout rather than a wet-to-dry gradient, and they tolerate less ventilation. Feed decaying leaf litter and rotting hardwood continuously, with a calcium source (cuttlebone or eggshell) and an occasional protein supplement such as fish flake. DETRITIVORE: no live prey, and they should never be offered any. They also live inside other animals' bioactive enclosures, where they eat mold and waste — keeping them as their own colony simply means tracking a population you feed deliberately.
Taxonomy
Size & growth
Climate
Enclosure
Feeding
Times kept: 0 · Unverified community entry