Antimonan Giant Isopod — Fact Sheet

Filippinodillo sp. “Antimonan Giant” · Antimonan Giant Isopod

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Housing: Indoor, escape-resistant colony box with fine, opposing side vents that retain mancae.
• Starter size: At least 30 × 20 × 20 cm; expand floor area as numbers increase.
• Substrate: 7–10 cm of deciduous leaf mould, rotten hardwood and pesticide-free mineral soil.
• Gradient: Consistently damp refuge, moist middle and slightly less-wet ventilated end; none of the depth should dry completely.
• Avoid: Stagnant sealed tubs, waterlogged coir, manure-rich soil, fertilizers, pesticides and aromatic wood.
• Preserve the full culture label; the catalogue spelling “Filipinodillo” is a misspelling, and appearance does not prove species identity.

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Thick pesticide-free hardwood leaf litter across most of the surface.
• Soft white-rotted hardwood as staple food and shelter.
• Cork flats spanning the moisture gradient, with clear air gaps beneath.
• One consistently damp sphagnum refuge; secure heavy décor above burrowing animals.
• Cuttlebone, limestone or clean calcium carbonate available continuously.

💡 Lighting

• UVB: Not required; no specialist lamp or replacement schedule is needed.
• Cycle: 10–12 hours of diffuse room or plant light.
• Keep most of the enclosure shaded for nocturnal activity.
• Avoid direct sun and hot display lamps.

🌡️ Temperature

• Warm-side upper target: 24–26 °C

• Ambient zone: 21–26 °C

• Cool retreat: 20–22 °C

• Night: 20–23 °C

• Do not exceed 27 °C for sustained periods.

• Read probes inside the litter at both ends.

• If heating is unavoidable, thermostat one outer wall; never heat the whole floor.

💧 Humidity & water

• Working range: 70–85%; keep the molt refuge at 75–90% with continuous cross-ventilation.
• Add dechlorinated water to moss and deep substrate at one end, not across the whole surface.
• No water dish is required; eliminate standing water and persistent condensation.
• Tight clustering in the damp refuge suggests dryness; surface crowding, sour odor or repeated molt losses suggest excess water, heat or stagnant air.

🥬 Diet

Feed freely:

• Decaying hardwood leaves and soft rotten wood; replenish before the leaf layer disappears.

In moderation:

• Mushroom, squash, carrot, sweet potato or balanced isopod food 2–3 times weekly.
• A small portion of dried shrimp, gammarus or quality fish food once weekly.

Avoid:

• Seasoned food, conifer litter, pesticide residues and large protein piles that promote mites.
• Wet leftovers older than 24 hours.

Supplements:

• Keep cuttlebone or clean calcium carbonate permanently available.

🩺 Health warning signs

• Failed molts or mancae losses → dry refuge, unstable moisture, excessive heat or mineral shortage.
• Animals remaining at vents with condensation → waterlogging or inadequate cross-flow.
• Colony compressed into the damp end → the wider substrate is too dry.
• Mites, bacterial film or mold at food → oversized portions or delayed removal.
• Sudden decline after mixing cultures → possible pathogen transfer or mismatched stock; isolate immediately.

For persistent unexplained decline, isolate the colony and consult an exotics veterinarian or experienced terrestrial-isopod specialist.