Porcellio bolivari — Fact Sheet

Porcellio bolivari · Porcellio bolivari

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Minimum practical culture: 40 × 30 × 20 cm for roughly 15-20 animals.
• Substrate depth: At least 8 cm of mineral-rich edible substrate.
• Moisture layout: Keep only one compact deep-moisture refuge; most of the surface must remain dry under strong cross-ventilation.
• Yellow Ghost is a captive colour line, not a separate taxon. Label the line and retain its provenance.

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Base: Pesticide-free mineral soil with decayed hardwood and crushed leaves. Plain coconut fibre is neither sufficiently mineral nor a complete food.
• Cover: A deep hardwood-leaf layer and stable cork flats provide shaded retreats without trapping the whole tub’s moisture.
• Calcium: Keep limestone, cuttlebone, oyster shell, or plain calcium carbonate continuously available; support any stone from the enclosure floor.

💡 Lighting

• Cycle: Normal indirect room light with a regular day-night cycle is sufficient; UVB is not required.
• Heat safety: Keep the enclosure away from direct sun and hot shelving.

🌡️ Temperature

• Culture: 18-24 °C; breed around 20-23 °C and avoid sustained heat above 26 °C
• Heating: Warm one side wall only if necessary, using a thermostat; bottom heat can desiccate the refuge.

💧 Humidity & water

• Supporting range: Roughly 45-65% RH; enclosure airflow and the dry-to-damp substrate gradient are the meaningful controls.
• Method: Add small measured amounts only to the deep refuge. Do not mist the whole surface or provide a water bowl.
• Correction: Persistent condensation is unsafe for this dry-adapted southeastern Spanish species; enlarge ventilation and reduce water immediately.

🪳 Diet

• Keep hardwood leaves and decayed wood available continuously. Supply permanent calcium, modest protein weekly, and only small vegetable portions; remove wet leftovers within 24 hours.

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Persistent condensation and sour substrate are urgent over-watering signs. Failed molts or animals packed into the damp refuge indicate dehydration; unexplained mortality calls for quarantine and a ventilation-temperature review.
• Quarantine new stock for 60-90 days with separate tools. Do not transfer material from cultures with heavy mites, fungus gnats, mixed species, or unexplained deaths.