Cubaris murina — Fact Sheet

Cubaris murina · Little Sea Isopod · Glacier, Mandarin and Papaya morphs

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Starter colony: 30 × 20 × 15 cm for about 20-30 animals.
• Fine mesh and a tight lid; tiny mancae can exploit wide vents.
• Minimum 6 cm edible substrate, not plain coconut fibre.
• Keep about one-third consistently moist and the opposite surface less wet.
• Quarantine new stock for 60-90 days with separate tools.

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Deep hardwood leaf litter and soft decayed hardwood at all times.
• Cork flats spanning both moisture zones.
• Sphagnum pocket at the moist end.
• Permanent cuttlebone, limestone, oyster shell or plain calcium carbonate.
• Stabilize heavy décor; avoid aromatic conifer wood, fertilizer and pesticides.

💡 Lighting

• UVB: not required.
• Ambient light: 10-12 hours daily.
• Preserve full shade under bark and litter.
• Never place the culture in direct sun or under a hot display lamp.

🌡️ Temperature

• Warm zone: 24-27 °C

• General air: 21-27 °C

• Cool zone: 20-23 °C

• Night: 20-24 °C

• Heat one wall only, under thermostat control, when room heat is insufficient.

• Avoid bottom heat and sustained temperatures above about 28 °C.

💧 Humidity & water

• Monitoring range: 70-85%; 75-90% around a molting refuge.
• Moist substrate should feel cool and damp but release no water when squeezed.
• Let the opposite surface become less wet without drying through its full depth.
• Water the moist end directly; no water dish is needed.
• Condensation everywhere, sour odour or dense mites means excess moisture, food or insufficient airflow.

🥬 Diet

Feed freely:

• Pesticide-free hardwood leaves
• Soft decayed hardwood

In moderation:

• Squash, carrot, mushroom or dried nettle once or twice weekly
• Dried shrimp, fish food or insect-based protein about weekly

Avoid:

• Moldy leftovers, seasoned food, conifer litter and pesticide-treated material
• Large food piles in a small colony

Supplements:

• Keep a plain calcium source available continuously.
• Remove fresh leftovers within 24-48 hours.

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Failed molts or manca losses → check deep moisture and calcium without saturating the whole box.
• Mold, sour smell or mite surge → reduce food and improve cross-ventilation.
• Falling numbers in a dense colony → split the culture and refresh depleted leaf substrate.
• No visible activity → inspect one refuge after dark before disturbing the substrate.
• Mixed colour lines → preserve Glacier, Mandarin and Papaya with separate labels and tools.