Nosy Pill Woodlouse — Fact Sheet

Armadillidium nasatum · Nosy Pill Woodlouse

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Minimum colony box: 30 × 20 × 15 cm; secure, smooth-sided and indoors
• Substrate: 5-8 cm pesticide-free topsoil, crushed leaves and soft rotten hardwood
• Ventilation: fine cross-ventilation high on two sides; seal gaps large enough for mancae
• Keep one-third moist at depth and grade to a drier surface near the main vents
• Avoid fertilized compost, aromatic wood, conifer resin and pesticide-exposed material

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Deep deciduous leaf litter and rotten hardwood as permanent structure and food
• Cork bark across the gradient and a small moss patch only at the moist end
• Permanent cuttlebone, limestone or clean crushed eggshell
• Dalmatian is a colour line; confirm the diagnostic “nose,” enrollment and provenance before labelling

💡 Lighting

• UVB: not required
• Light: diffuse room or plant light; never direct sun
• Photoperiod: 10-12 hours daily
• No specialist lamp or scheduled UVB replacement is necessary

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 22-25 °C

• Warm zone: 19-25 °C

• Cool zone: 17-21 °C

• Night: 16-21 °C

• Preserve a warm-to-cool choice; heat one side only if the room is cold

• Measure air at substrate height with a digital probe

• Avoid sustained heat above 27 °C and bottom heating

💧 Humidity & water

• Working range: 45-70%; moist refuge 70-85% for molts and mancae
• Pour water into the refuge; do not spray every surface
• No water dish — it adds drowning risk without improving hydration
• Persistent lid condensation, wall climbing or mold at the dry end → correct airflow, heat and water volume

🥬 Diet

Feed freely:

• Deciduous leaf litter and soft, rotten hardwood

In moderation:

• Carrot, squash or sweet potato 2-3 times weekly
• Small protein portion about weekly

Avoid:

• Moldy leftovers, treated plant material and excessive protein
• Colour-enhancing foods presented as proof of Dalmatian genetics

Supplements:

• Continuous cuttlebone, limestone or clean crushed eggshell

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Young appear then vanish → damp leaf-covered refuge too small or vents too open
• Animals stay rolled or crowd one corner → temperature or moisture extreme
• Poor molts → dry refuge or unavailable calcium
• Flies, mites or mold → excess rich food and inadequate airflow
• Questionable Dalmatian identity → isolate until morphology and culture history are checked