| scientific-name | Cubaris sp. "Rubber Ducky" |
|---|---|
| Offered As | 6 Count, 12 Count, 20 Count |
Cubaris sp. "Rubber Ducky"
IsopodsCubaris sp. “Rubber Ducky” Isopod For Sale
Price range: $65.00 through $190.00
The Rubber Ducky is the isopod that made isopods a hobby. Discovered in Thai limestone caves and brought to attention around 2017, Cubaris sp. “Rubber Ducky” is still the species people mean when they say designer isopod — a bright yellow-and-dark animal with a facial pattern that genuinely does look like a duck.
What you are getting
Captive bred. These come from established colonies, not from a shipment of wild-collected stock. That matters more with Cubaris than with most invertebrates: they are slow to establish, and animals that have already been through a generation in captivity settle into a new culture far better than freshly imported ones.
Adults reach roughly 1.5 cm. Offered as a 6 Count, 12 Count or 20 Count mixed group — a starter culture, a working culture, and a colony you can expect to produce from sooner.
Why it is still “sp.” and not a species name
There is no valid species epithet for this animal. It is an undescribed Cubaris, and everything in the trade travels under the trade name. We print Cubaris sp. “Rubber Ducky” rather than inventing a binomial, for the same reason we do it across the catalogue — a name you cannot check is worth less than an honest gap. That policy is set out in about Terrarium Station.
Colour is also not fixed. Captive animals range from strongly blonde to nearly black, and the working theory is that diet and mineral availability drive it rather than genetics. Do not expect every individual to look like the photograph on a competitor’s listing.
Keeping them
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Humidity | Very high, and constant. Think tropical cave. This is the single thing that decides whether a culture takes |
| Substrate | Deep — six inches or more. They burrow to moult and to breed, and a shallow tub suppresses both |
| Calcium | Non-negotiable. Limestone, cuttlebone or crushed eggshell. They are a cave species and they are built around it |
| Temperature | Roughly 75–80°F |
| Food | Leaf litter and rotting wood as the base, plus a protein source and occasional vegetables |
| Container | A 6–32 quart tub with a moisture gradient — one wet end, one drier end |
| Pace | Slower to reproduce than the common starter species. Patience is part of the requirement |
The moisture gradient is the part people skip. A uniformly soaked tub goes anaerobic and a uniformly dry one stalls the culture; the animals need to choose. Bark, leaf litter and hardscape are in terrarium supplies.
An honest word on cleanup crews
Rubber Duckies are a display isopod, not a workhorse. If what you want is a bioactive cleanup crew for a busy vivarium, cheaper and faster-breeding species do that job better, and springtails handle mould in a way isopods do not. Buy these because you want to look at them and breed them — that is what they are good at.
The wider picture on which isopod does what is in types of isopods, and if you are building the enclosure around them, millipede enclosure covers the same damp-detritus construction.
Difficulty, honestly stated
This is an intermediate species. Not delicate in the way a velvet worm is, but not a beginner culture either: it wants depth, humidity and minerals held steady for months before the population moves. If this is your first isopod, that is not a reason to avoid it — it is a reason to set the tub up properly and leave it alone.
Everything ships under our live arrival guarantee.
Common questions
Are Rubber Ducky isopods hard to keep?
They are intermediate. The requirements are simple — very high humidity, deep substrate and a constant calcium source — but they must be held steady, and the culture builds slowly compared with common starter species.
What is the scientific name of the Rubber Ducky isopod?
There isn’t one yet. It is an undescribed Cubaris, correctly written Cubaris sp. “Rubber Ducky”. Any listing giving it a full binomial is inventing one.
How big do Rubber Ducky isopods get?
Around 1.5 cm as adults, which is mid-sized for a Cubaris.
Are Rubber Ducky isopods good cleanup crew?
Not especially. They are a display and collector species. For bioactive maintenance, faster-breeding isopods plus springtails do the work better.
How many Rubber Ducky isopods should I start with?
Six is a viable starter culture, but larger groups establish faster and hit breeding age sooner as a population. If the goal is production rather than display, start with 12 or 20.
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Care questions
- What do isopods need in a culture?
- Moist substrate with a dry side so they can choose their humidity, hardwood leaf litter, decaying wood, and a permanent calcium source. Ventilation matters as much as moisture — stagnant, waterlogged cultures crash.
- How quickly does an isopod culture establish?
- It varies enormously by species. Fast species can produce a usable population within a few months; slower display species take considerably longer and are better treated as animals in their own right than as a cleanup crew.
- What substrate do isopods need?
- A base of hardwood leaf litter and decaying wood over coco fibre or topsoil, kept damp at one end and drier at the other. The litter is the food source, not just decoration — top it up as it disappears.
- Do isopods need calcium?
- Yes. Cuttlebone, crushed eggshell or limestone should be permanently available. Isopods moult in two halves and a calcium shortage shows up as failed moults and stalled growth.
- Why does the enclosure need a moisture gradient?
- Isopods regulate by moving. A uniformly wet box invites mould and drowning; a uniformly dry one kills them. Water one end and leave the other dry so the colony can choose.
- How many should I start a colony with?
- More than feels necessary. A starter culture of ten to fifteen animals establishes far more reliably than a handful, and rare species in particular are slow enough that a small start can stall for months.
- Can isopods be used as a cleanup crew?
- Common species, yes — they process waste and shed skin in a bioactive enclosure. Rare and slow-breeding species are collection animals rather than cleanup crew, and it is worth keeping the two purposes separate.
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