Panda King — Fact Sheet

Cubaris sp. “Panda King” · Panda King and Panda King Red culture

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Starter colony: 30 × 20 × 15 cm with fine opposing vents.
• Minimum 6 cm edible substrate.
• Keep one-half to two-thirds moist and the opposite surface less wet.
• Small groups hide; avoid repeated excavation.
• Quarantine 60-90 days and photograph the founding animals.

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Continuous hardwood leaf litter and decayed wood.
• Cork flats over both the moist and less-wet sides.
• Moist sphagnum pocket for molting animals and mancae.
• Plain cuttlebone, limestone, oyster shell or calcium carbonate.
• Keep standard Panda King and Panda King Red separately labelled when preserving colour.

💡 Lighting

• UVB: not required.
• Ambient cycle: 10-12 hours.
• Provide dark refuges; low visibility in daylight is normal.
• Protect the box from direct sun and hot lamps.

🌡️ Temperature

• Warm zone: 24-27 °C

• General air: 21-27 °C

• Cool zone: 20-23 °C

• Night: 20-24 °C

• Heat one wall under thermostat control if needed.

• Do not heat the whole base or allow the humid box to remain above about 28 °C.

💧 Humidity & water

• Monitoring range: 70-85%; up to 90% within the moist molt refuge.
• Keep the moss pocket dependable while allowing a less-wet surface area.
• Pour water into one end; do not use standing water.
• Increase cross-flow rather than drying the entire enclosure when condensation persists.

🥬 Diet

Feed freely:

• Safe hardwood leaves
• Decayed hardwood

In moderation:

• Mushroom, squash, carrot or dried greens once or twice weekly
• Dried shrimp or fish food about weekly

Avoid:

• Oversized portions, spoiled food and chemically treated plant material
• Mixing standard and Red lines unintentionally

Supplements:

• Permanent plain calcium source on both moisture zones.
• Remove fresh leftovers within 24-48 hours.

🩺 Health — warning signs

• No visible animals → check one refuge after dark; do not overturn the substrate.
• Few mancae survive → stabilize deep moisture, fine food access, calcium and airflow.
• Mold or mites → reduce portions and improve cross-ventilation.
• Slow growth → check crowding and depleted edible substrate before adding protein.
• Variable Red offspring → label honestly and prevent accidental line mixing.