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Atlas / Library / Platyarthridae / Dwarf White Isopod
Beginner
Platyarthridae

Dwarf White Isopod

Trichorhina tomentosaไอโซพอด

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. terrariumtribe.com

Photograph: Fabien Piednoir · CC BY-SA

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/trichorhina-tomentosa

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature22–29 °C
Humidity70–90 %

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
22–29°Ambient

One ambient band, 22–29°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 states22-29°C

Humidity

70–90%Target RH

The sheet states70-90%

Enclosure
2–6 L tub or directly in vivarium
Diet
Decaying plant matter, leaf litter, fish flake · Continuous; light protein occasionally

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m0.3–0.5 cm
1520100400 cm
0.3–0.5 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
Beginner
Commonality
Extremely common bioactive cleaner
Adult size
~3–5 mm (tiny)
Lifespan
Up to ~3 yrs
Growth rate
Very prolific
Activity & niche
Micro-detritivore in substrate
Temperament
Peaceful, hidden
Venom / defense
Harmless detritivore; does not roll (cannot conglobate)

Enclosure and conditions

Temperature
22–29°C
Humidity
70–90%
Min. enclosure
2–6 L tub or directly in vivarium
Substrate
Moist coco/soil + leaf litter + rotting wood
Hides / decor / water
Leaf litter, cork bark; consistently damp

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
Decaying plant matter, leaf litter, fish flake
Feeding frequency
Continuous; light protein occasionally
Supplements
Calcium optional (small species, low demand)

Behaviour and handling

HandlingSafe; harmless (too small to handle individually)
CommunalYes – colony/communal; the classic feeder/cleanup species
Defense / stress signsPopulation dip if too dry

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
3 yrLifespan in care
3 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. The sheet also reports a record of about 3 years; that is a reported maximum, not the range to plan for.

Reproduction
Parthenogenetic-like prolific breeding; no males needed in most cultures

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsVery hardy; crash only if bone-dry
Red flags / quarantine
SignsCan carry pest mites; quarantine feeder cultures

Good to know

  • So prolific and tiny they're farmed as live food for dart frogs and velvet worms.

What it needs

A thermometerbecause temp — 22-29°C
A hygrometerbecause humidity — 70–90%
Not stated: The size of the enclosurethis sheet describes the enclosure without a figure: « 2–6 L tub or directly in vivarium »

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

terrariumtribe.combantam.earth

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 pruinosusClown IsopodArmadillidium klugiiZebra IsopodArmadillidium maculatum

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.