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Armadillidae

Red Designer Isopod (Merulanella-type)

Ardentiella sp.ไอโซพอดMerulanella

Traceable. The figures above appear in the page we cite, which we opened on 10 Aug 2026. That means you can check them, not that we have confirmed they are right. postpods.co.uk

Photograph: Cheryl Stinchcomb · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 123 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/ardentiella-sp

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature22–26 °C
Humidity80–90 %

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
22–26°Ambient

One ambient band, 22–26°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states22-26°C

Humidity

80–90%Target RH

The sheet states80-90% (stable, low ventilation)

Enclosure
6 L+ tub, tightly humid
Diet
Leaf litter, rotting wood, decaying plant matter · Continuous; light protein

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m1–1.5 cm
1520100400 cm
1–1.5 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Order / Family
Isopoda
Origin
IUCN / CITES
Not evaluated; CITES not yet in our data
Difficulty
Advanced
Commonality
Rare, premium designer isopods
Adult size
~1–1.5 cm
Lifespan
1.5–2.5 yrs
Growth rate
Slow, sensitive
Activity & niche
Detritivore, humid microhabitat
Temperament
Very shy, delicate
Venom / defense
Harmless detritivore; rolls into a ball

Enclosure and conditions

Temperature
22–26°C
Humidity
80–90% (stable, low ventilation)
Min. enclosure
6 L+ tub, tightly humid
Substrate
Deep bioactive soil + leaf litter + rotting wood + limestone
Hides / decor / water
Cork bark, leaf litter, moss; very stable humidity

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Staple food
Leaf litter, rotting wood, decaying plant matter
Feeding frequency
Continuous; light protein
Supplements
Cuttlebone / crushed limestone (calcium)

Behaviour and handling

HandlingSafe; harmless: but avoid disturbing fragile colonies
CommunalYes – colony/communal but delicate
Defense / stress signsSudden colony crash if humidity/temperature swings

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
1.5–2.5 yrLifespan in care
1.5 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Reproduction
Marsupium brooders; slow, easily stalled

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsNotorious for unexplained crashes; very sensitive to swings
Red flags / quarantine
SignsQuarantine; keep parameters rock-stable

Good to know

  • Merulanella was reclassified as Ardentiella and needs quieter, more humid, less ventilated setups than Cubaris.

What it needs

A thermometerbecause temp — 22-26°C
A hygrometerbecause humidity — 80–90% (stable, low ventilation)
Not stated: The size of the enclosurethis sheet describes the enclosure without a figure: « 6 L+ tub, tightly humid »

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation. What the sheet does not state is listed too, rather than left out: a kit that looks complete is worse than one that names its gap.

Sources

postpods.co.ukexuvium.net

Others in this group

Common Pill Bug / Roly-Poly (morphs)Armadillidium vulgareLittle Sea IsopodCubaris murinaRubber Ducky IsopodCubaris sp. 'Rubber Ducky'Dairy Cow Isopod (P. laevis morphs)Porcellio laevisCommon Rough Woodlouse (many morphs)Porcellio scaberPowder Blue / Powder Orange IsopodPorcellionides pruinosusDwarf White IsopodTrichorhina tomentosaClown IsopodArmadillidium klugii

What this sheet states

85%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 6 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: day/night engine and awake count on the globe. We show the gap rather than fill it with a plausible number.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.