Perisphaerus spp.

This caresheet should be applicable to all other Perisphaerus species.

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Housing:

Small containers less than a gallon work best for starter cultures, you can move them to larger enclosures as the colony grows, (which will take a while...). They can climb well, so a container with a tight fitting lid is a must. A thin layer of coconut fiber works well for the substrate.

High ventilation and airflow is critical to their well being, (cross ventilation being more important than lid ventilation), as well as high air humidity, (but swampy, stagnant air greatly slows reproduction). Most species prefer a humid substrate, so at least two thirds, if not all of the substrate should be kept moist, but not soggy. Allowing the very top layer of the substrate and hides to dry out a bit in between waterings is fine, and keeping the setup semi-humid may even be preferable especially for arboreal species like P.punctatus, but keep in mind, if kept bone dry the younger nymphs can desiccate rapidly.

Vertically slanted curved bark pieces, corkboard/wood "roach huts", and sturdy leaf litter can all make great hides for most species. Some of the less arboreal species like P.pygmaeus like to have small hole-ridden rotten logs/large chunks of rotten wood in the enclosure, since females and nymphs in particular seem partial to boring into rotten wood and hiding within it. It should be noted that they don't seem to EAT the rotten wood, as they leave piles of chewed up wood outside of their tunnels. Gravid females of this P.pygmaeus and some related Perisphaerinae seem to prefer giving birth within these tunnels. Whereas female P.punctatus and other arboreal species prefer to give birth under their vertical bark hides.

Diet:

In captivity, a diet of fresh fruits, (particularly apple pieces), dog/cat/chick feed, and pollen/artificial pollen works nicely.

Temperature:

75-85F° seems to be best for breeding and rapid growth.

Breeding/Life cycle:

Male nymphs seem to mature a few weeks to several months before the females, depending on the species and temperatures. Adult males are usually shorter lived than females, with males of some species living a mere month or two, while males of others can go on for 6-8 months. Females of most species live for one or two years.

Because of the short male lifespans of some Perisphaerus spp. and their fast growth compared to the females, when you have your starter colony you may need to sex them as nymphs, and keep the males relatively cool, while the females are kept much warmer, to help sync them up. Once you have overlapping generations in your colony, this is no longer a problem.

The gestation period for females seems to be approximately 3-4 months under optimal conditions, (really high airflow and air humidity, good heat with proper hides and low pest/springtail numbers), but females can withhold broods for 6-12 months if kept in substandard conditions. Females usually have litters of 8-20 nymphs, all depending on the species.

Nymphs take around 5-8 months to mature under optimal conditions, and can be kept with the adults safely. Colonies can become stressed by extremely large populations of prolific springtails, grain mites, nematodes, and large amounts of mold growth. Isopods of any type are not recommended as a cleaner crew, as most would outcompete these roaches. If pest populations get too high, you can try drying out half the substrate, but be sure the other half is moist at all times, and keep air humidity high.

Old degraded bark hides also seem to stress them out, especially if covered in springtail frass/sheds, and/or if the bark has reached a crumbly level of decay.

This genus does not eat their sheds or dead bodies, and springtails do a poor job of eating both. The sheds and empty shells of dead Perisphaerus are really thick and do not seem to decompose quickly at all, so you will need to remove and replace the top layer of substrate in their enclosure every now and then to keep things hygienic.

When sufficiently disturbed or startled, nymphs and adult females that aren't heavily gravid can conglobate (curl up into balls), similar to "Roly-Poly" isopods, (like the commonly encountered Armadillidium spp.). Adult males lack this ability. It has yet to be seen whether the adult females of this genus produce any bodily fluids for their nymphs to feed off of in their first few instars or not. 

Species Notes:

Perisphaerus punctatus "Macao"

Probably the hardiest, most prolific species in this genus in culture. Larger than the widespread P.pygmaeus in culture, and more active and virile too. This tropical species needs no seasonal changes/cues for breeding, and likes it warm year round. Prefers semi-humid to nearly arid setups (but with relatively high air humidity). Females live 1-2 years, males live 6-8 months on average. Females usually give birth to 15-20 offspring at a time, quite a large litter size for this genus. Takes this species around 6-8 months to mature, and males only mature moderately faster than females (so that, plus their long adult lifespan makes syncing pairs up is a breeze).

Perisphaerus pygmaeus "Taiwan"

These are the first Perisphaerus to become properly established in culture, and are the "OG" hobby Roly-Poly roaches. However, they've proven fickle to culture long term for many hobbyists over the years, particularly US hobbyists. The key to this may lie in the fact that this species (at least the Taiwanese locality in the hobby) probably requires at least a mild winter diapause for good yearly reproduction, (a theory I'm in the midle of proving out). In terms of humidity, they seem to prefer a little more humidity than P.punctatus, but can take it a little drier as well.

This is the smallest Perisphaerus in culture, and while the females live 1-2 years on average, adult males normally only last for 1-2 months at the most. Their litters are relatively small, 6-12 nymphs on average. Nymphs take 4-6 months to mature under optimal conditions. Males usually mature 1-2 months before females do, which can make syncing up pairs of this species a pain.

Perisphaerus sp. "Hainan Giant"

Perhaps the largest Perisphaerus, period, from the tropical Chinese island of Hainan. This species has entered culture a couple times, and appears to be fairly standard in basic care and setup. However, adult males don't seem to live all that long, and it appears there may be some difference between the growth rates of male and female nymphs, based on several failed attempts to breed them. Another thing that's made establishing them in culture difficult, is that mostly female nymphs are collected from the wild (likely because males seem to mature at a significantly smaller size than them).

Perisphaerus sp. "Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia"

Unfortunately, though this species is very pretty, they've also proven rather finicky. This tropical species seems to prefer humid, but not wet conditions, lives a very arboreal life style, and likes bark hides with lots of cracks and crevices (such as cork or cottonwood bark) slanted against each other. Females live quite a while, male lifespan is unknown. Litters average around 10 offspring, which are extraordinarily large. This species is super slow growing, with nymphs taking over a year to mature.

Perisphaerus sp. "Yunnan - Nautilus"

This is a very large species, roughly twice the size of Perisphaerus punctatus. Fairly new to culture, not much is known about them. However, being from Yunnan, it's likely a mild diapause is needed for optimal yearly reproduction. Otherwise, care and breeding rates seem fairly similar to that of punctatus.