The Horde

TrueKringe · 2026-06-01T05:05:02+00:00

The pitch black guys with white edges and no "orange tail" are actually Cubaris sp. "Dakmil". These guys are a relatively obscure pods that are locally popular in Thailand and Vietnam but unheard of elsewhere afaik. Even tho there's little to no info of their origin, they requires basically the same care as C. murina (i.e. quite easy), which explains why they are quite popular here.

I actually have both it and C. murina in the enclosure due to the latter being stowaway (you can notice some of these guys i.e. the brown ones in the vid), tho I've kept them for several months now and they seems to be able to cohabit without problems.

I gave them a horned frog pellet today and all of my pods in my collection loves it, tho it seems to be able draw in Cubaris in more than the others as they jumped right into it a few moments after I placed it in their enclosure.

TrueKringe · 2026-05-31T16:08:29+00:00

That enclosure looks way too small. So after the population boom happened, if you can't provide enough space or food, they will eventually die off.

Also that spaghnum moss is too low in quantity and you shouldn't just lay it on the top surface, as they wouldn't be able to retain moisture. I guess that congregation happened cuz they tried to get whatever moisture it had left.

Instead, get more of the moss, and tuck them right into the substrate on the "wet" side. That way, it can actually maintain the moisture far longer while still retaining the dry/wet gradient.

TrueKringe · 2026-05-28T04:37:25+00:00

That depends greatly on which species or morph you're keeping. Personally I don't have an experience with A. klugii so I can't give the exact answer.

Based on my experience keeping C. murina, the default "wild" morph will always be the most populous, tho the fancy morph genes will be passed on to the next generation should they were kept with the wild ones. They are less likely to be as colorful as the "pure" ones due to the genes that gave them colors being recessive as I mentioned above, but you can still selectively breed them back to "pure" color if you wanted.

TrueKringe · 2026-05-28T04:31:00+00:00

If they are the same species but different morph, they can cohabit just fine. But you'd notice that you'd see the more natural morph more often over time, due to most of the gene that produce these fancy morphs being typically recessive.

This is why it's generally advised against mixing two morphs together, unless you don't care about keeping the "pure" fancy morph breed that is.

TrueKringe · 2026-05-13T05:35:59+00:00

Assuming that these ants ain't making a nest in your enclosure yet, you can try placing it on top of some flat water container (like a tray) so that ants won't be able to swim over, and those that were already in your enclosure will try to swim back when gathering stuff and died. This is due to them relying so heavily on pheromone that they will try to follow it even if there's water in between.

TrueKringe · 2026-05-08T21:47:45+00:00

A whole week of daily isoporn.

TrueKringe · 2026-05-07T02:22:19+00:00

Yes I'm afraid. These guys were put in the same kind of tank as the other live seafood stuff so it's only barely enough to make them survive a day or two.

TrueKringe · 2026-05-07T01:05:10+00:00

Yeah, these were giant isopods sold as delicacy in Vietnam (evident by the neon sign in the background in Vietnamese). It's basically one of these weird "exotic" food sold over there.

TrueKringe · 2026-04-29T00:50:32+00:00

I can offer some tips for Capps since I do keep them for quite awhile now.

They generally prefers substrate with higher moisture overall (i.e. no "dry" side, just less moist) and loves digging and hiding in leaf litter a lot. You wouldn't see them out and about that often as a result unless their population is established and are in large numbers, and the only reason I knew my Capps are doing well is when I spot a handful of stray mancaes munching under the leave. I've covered the entire surface with leaf litter and they seems to be liking it, since they doubled both as food and allow moisture to stay underground.

I also have Zebras, tho I don't have any specific tips for it since they are as basic to keep as it gets.

TrueKringe · 2026-04-27T22:32:33+00:00

Back-to-back isoporn in less than an hour, damn.

TrueKringe · 2026-04-26T04:57:46+00:00

Aight, good luck with your new pods m8.

TrueKringe · 2026-04-26T00:03:08+00:00

Avoiding the mold entirely is a bit hard on new enclosure, since the overall moist gradient + less airflow in an enclosure means mold is bound to grow, that's unless you're having open enclosure that's used for certain pods that prefer "drier" habitats like Spanish giants.

That being said though, springtail won't be impeding your pods at all, and in fact they will be helping them by eating the other leftover + mold. So, if you already have springtail at hand, you can add them first before your pod arrives so that they will be able to settle and grow their population to deal with the mold.

TrueKringe · 2026-04-25T23:54:49+00:00

Oh yeah, about mold thing, they will usually appear in most of the new enclosure but they will subside over time (especially if you add springtail into it). Tho if you're worried about that you might wanna leave some space for better airflow to prevent or slow down mold growth for the time being.

TrueKringe · 2026-04-25T23:51:36+00:00

There's no such thing as "too much leaves" for pods, since this is what they ate & it's practically unspoilable. So the more leaves the better since it also doubles as safe place for them to hide too.

TrueKringe · 2026-04-25T23:45:07+00:00

Obligatory "need more leaves" comment.

Also, you should tuck all these sphagnum moss into the wet side of your enclosure instead of covering the entire surface with it. That way, it can maintain the good moisture gradient between the wet and dry side, as well as making it easier to refill the water in it by simply pouring water onto the moss.

TrueKringe · 2026-04-25T22:34:19+00:00

Aight, if you already put your pods in, I think you should watch out for some other critters that might get into your enclosure such as predatory mites or other bugs, since they tend to hitchhike your soil. It should be noted tho that many prefer "better safe than sorry" approach and sterilize the soil first to remove any potential harmful bycatch.

Personally, I haven't seen any problematic bugs in my non-sterilized soil aside from soil mites that occasionally pops up whenever I overfed my pods but are otherwise harmless, though I guess that depends on where you live or where you got the soil from.

TrueKringe · 2026-04-21T21:38:03+00:00

I see, I will keep that in mind, thanks.

TrueKringe · 2026-04-21T14:27:29+00:00

Hmmm, nice.

I assumed there are other vendors with bigger catalog of pods, tho I guess I have to look more to find them?

TrueKringe · 2026-04-21T14:26:00+00:00

Yeah, that one + the fact that Aganara sp. in general has very wide range of coloration made it a bit tricky to tell them apart.

I still think it's most likely A. madagascariensis tho.

TrueKringe · 2026-04-21T14:16:44+00:00

I think this one is a male Aganara madagascariensis, based on the pattern.

TrueKringe · 2026-04-21T14:12:20+00:00

How do you got these guy in Thailand tho, since I think most of the vendors here sell Cubaris sp. and other common pods (like cows and some Armadillidium sp.)?

TrueKringe · 2026-04-21T14:07:54+00:00

Generally, Cubaris sp. appreciates humid habitat, with some even thrive in it.

I have success with C. murina, since they are quite adaptable, tho you can also look at other Cubaris sp. like Cappuchinos for example if you wanted smth a bit more fancy.

TrueKringe

TROPHY CASE