Centipede moulting behavior?

Solar Dart

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 4, 2002
Messages
76
One of my centipedes is acting strangely.
He's an S. subspinipes, about 6 inches long, and since the day I bought him (about 2 1/2 months ago) he's remained underneath his water dish 9/10ths of the time. He's also been a voracious eater.
Now last week I dropped 4 crickets in the cage. The next day, one was gone, 3 were dead but not eaten. A couple days ago I dropped 4 more crickets in the cage. The next day, 2 were dead but not eaten, and 2 were still alive.
Strangest of all, the centipede was in a corner of the cage, coiled up. One of the live crickets was actually walking over him without being attacked. Needless to say, I took all the crickets out of the cage.
Today I checked up on the centipede, and sure enough he's still in that corner.
I'm kind of hoping that he's preparing for a moult, but not really having all that much experience with centipedes, I don't know for sure.
What do you guys think?
 

Henry Kane

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
1,884
Hi S.D. It sounds like molt behavior to me. Sometimes it can take a while too. As long as the pede is looking healthy it should be ok. I would remove the prey (dead and live prey) remains to avoid molt, mites etc..
What would you say the humidity level is at?

Atrax
 

Solar Dart

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 4, 2002
Messages
76
::phew:: That takes a load off my mind.
As for the crickets, I removed them the day after putting them in the cage. So no problems there.
The humidity level has got to be pretty high, as condensation is often visible on the sides of the cage.

Thanks for the help! : )
 
Top