Rubber Ducky Isopod Enclosure Setup

So I made a (potentially) crazy purchase. I decided to try my hand at breeding rubber ducky isopods — the most expensive and sought after isopods. The 6 rubber duckies (six!!) and their supplies cost me around $200. The rubber duckies alone were $169, and most of the other supplies I already had laying around for my frog tanks. Some of you reading this who are already in the isopod game probably think I’m nuts for diving into rubber duckies after only just recently getting into isopods. Eh, they’re isopods, expensive or not. I understand their basic needs and I truly believe taking care of rubber ducky isopods won’t be that much different from taking care of any other isopod. I know rubber duckies need higher humidity and temperature and limestone to mimic their natural cave-dwelling environment…I’ve done the research and I’d like to think I got this!

The video above shows the process of how I set up my rubber ducky enclosure. I used Eco Earth (coco fiber) as the main substrate. Then I added sphagnum moss to 30% of the bin, then leaf litter, then cork bark. I’m going to add garden lime (calcium carbonate aka limestone) to the substrate and probably springtails for mold control. I know a lot of people suggest adding bat guano to also mimic cave grub, so I’m going to try adding solid poop from my frog tanks to see if they’re into that.

My rubber duckies should be arriving in a few days. I ordered them online the Friday before Labor Day, so I’m guessing they’ll ship on Tuesday (today is Sunday). I’ll do another blog post when they arrive and some more updates on their well-being in my simple enclosure in the future.