Staehilomyces
Arachnoprince
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2016
- Messages
- 1,514
After thinking I had been going so well with handling Azog, my Ethmostigmus rubripes, especially considering its initial temperament, I have come to the decision to stop attempting to interact with this pede. A couple of days ago, when I was conducting my usual procedure of touching the head before moving further along the body and picking the pede up, Azog spun around and gave me a very quick, glancing blow with one of its forcipules. It wasn't an enormous amount of pain, but this glancing hit was significantly more painful than the bite I took last year from an E. cf rubripes, and that one got me with both forcipules and held on for a second. Considering I had been working with Azog for almost six months, not to mention the fact that its temperament goes back and forth in a manner I never saw with my old S. morsitans, or any of the socialised pedes on 256colors' and Centipede Whisperer's IG posts, I came to the conclusion that I was wasting my time with this pede. I may still handle it on occasion, but it's just too unpredictable for frequent handling. Thus, it has also pushed back the centipede anatomy video I was planning to film.
On the plus side, Gothmog, my new dark banded E. rubripes, seems like a much easier customer. It's only slightly smaller than Azog (~15cm BL), and while quite jumpy and excessively prone to test biting, it seems to be a lot more "normal" for a pede in terms of temperament. Today was my second time interacting with it. It seemed quite agitated for some reason, but when I started to pet it behind the head, it whipped one of its antennae back, tapped my finger for a couple of seconds, and then sat still. While it is smaller than Azog, it is nonetheless a pretty impressive pede, so hopefully I'll be able to get this pede as docile as my S. morsitans was.
On the plus side, Gothmog, my new dark banded E. rubripes, seems like a much easier customer. It's only slightly smaller than Azog (~15cm BL), and while quite jumpy and excessively prone to test biting, it seems to be a lot more "normal" for a pede in terms of temperament. Today was my second time interacting with it. It seemed quite agitated for some reason, but when I started to pet it behind the head, it whipped one of its antennae back, tapped my finger for a couple of seconds, and then sat still. While it is smaller than Azog, it is nonetheless a pretty impressive pede, so hopefully I'll be able to get this pede as docile as my S. morsitans was.