Changing centipede substrate

[Zeez]

I got a viatnamese centipede from a reptile expo a couple of months ago, and I had a few questions about maintenance.

First, how often should I completely change the substrate? I use eco earth and sphagnum moss, and its in a 10 gallon tank if that helps with coming up with an answer.

Second, how do I safely move the centipede from the tank to change the substrate without being bitten? I've read that their bite can be pretty bad, and I'd like to avoid that at all costs.

Included a pic because I'm not 100% sure of the species. The dealer just said it was a "vietnamese yellow legged centipede."

 

[NYAN]

I got a viatnamese centipede from a reptile expo a couple of months ago, and I had a few questions about maintenance.

First, how often should I completely change the substrate? I use eco earth and sphagnum moss, and its in a 10 gallon tank if that helps with coming up with an answer.

Second, how do I safely move the centipede from the tank to change the substrate without being bitten? I've read that their bite can be pretty bad, and I'd like to avoid that at all costs.

Included a pic because I'm not 100% sure of the species. The dealer just said it was a "vietnamese yellow legged centipede."

Your centipede is scolopendra dehaani. The answer to how often you should change your substrate is never. Unless there is some hazard to the centipede, such as mites, there is no reason to change the substrate. If for some reason you need to move the centipede, catch cups and tongs are recommended.

 

[Bill S]

I do change the substrate in my cages periodically. There is an inevitable buildup of droppings, cricket remains, and other food scraps and debris, and eventually when conditions are humid enough you will get fungus growing, fungus gnats, etc. Also, my larger centipedes sometimes push substrate into their water containers or tip the water containers over, which means that sometimes the substrate gets a little wetter than it should be.

As to how you do it - you'll have to work out a technique that you feel comfortable with. You are right about wanting to avoid a bite - and it's equally important to avoid injuring the centipede. My recommendation is to put the aquarium in a bathtub while you are capturing the centipede. (Make sure that the bathtub drain is close or blocked.) That will give you comfortable access while reducing the risk of an escape. Use a tall plastic cup with a little crumpled up paper towel in it and chase the centipede into it. (A small paintbrush works well as a prod.) With a little paper towel in the cup the centipede is more likely to try to hide in the cup, rather than just run in and back out. Once the centipede is in the cup clamp a lid on it. Pouring the centipede from the cup into the freshly cleaned cage is easy.

 

[Scoly]

There is a recent thread on working with dehaani/subspinipes here:

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/sc...-to-work-with-them.309254/page-2#post-2817605

 

[Chris LXXIX]

If for some reason you need to move the centipede, catch cups and tongs are recommended.

Ma va?

Which means, in Italian, "oh... really?"

The dealer just said it was a "vietnamese yellow legged centipede."

I hate when sellers aren't even aware of what they are selling: seems that no scientific names and invented common names are the rule, nowadays. Mah.

As said above by @NYAN, yours is a S.dehaani. Amazing 'pede.

This one is a S.subspinipes but in the 'hands' of certain sellers indeed is a "Vietnam legged something"

 

[StampFan]

Anybody using springtails as a cleaning crew? Any downsides to that? You'd think with springtails you'd almost never have to replace the substrate unless there was a major outbreak of something.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Anybody using springtails as a cleaning crew? Any downsides to that? You'd think with springtails you'd almost never have to replace the substrate unless there was a major outbreak of something.

Never used those: the mix of a full ventilation enclosure and 'sniper' cleaning is enough

 

[Bill S]

Anybody using springtails as a cleaning crew? Any downsides to that? You'd think with springtails you'd almost never have to replace the substrate unless there was a major outbreak of something.

Although springtails will help break down some of the fungus in the soil (which grows as a result of nutrient build-up plus moisture) they add a nutrient build-up of their own. (Anything that eats also defecates, so you are not removing nutrients - only changing their form.) Ventilation does not make the nutrient level of the soil decrease, and it does allow for introduction of spores. It helps reduce the excess moisture, which inhibits mold growth, but it doesn't make the substrate any cleaner.

 

[StampFan]

Although springtails will help break down some of the fungus in the soil (which grows as a result of nutrient build-up plus moisture) they add a nutrient build-up of their own. (Anything that eats also defecates, so you are not removing nutrients - only changing their form.) Ventilation does not make the nutrient level of the soil decrease, and it does allow for introduction of spores. It helps reduce the excess moisture, which inhibits mold growth, but it doesn't make the substrate any cleaner.

Interesting, I hadn't heard that perspective before. Makes sense. So its kind of a 50/50 proposition -- they help with the mold and eating any leftovers, but leave their own waste.

 

[AZCeptipede]

I use springtails but I also keep live plants and moss in my terrariums to draw nutrients in from the substrate.

 

[Bill S]

How large a set-up do you have? If you can maintain a naturalistic environment that's great, but I imagine it takes a lot of work to do it right.

 

[AZCeptipede]

How large a set-up do you have? If you can maintain a naturalistic environment that's great, but I imagine it takes a lot of work to do it right.

My Dehaani is in a 5.5 gallon tank and my Subcrustalis is in a 3 gallon. Those are the only two I've got a naturalistic setup in. It seems to be working well so far. Soon I want to get a large communal millipede setup for my living room that'll probably be 30-40 gallons and I'll definitely have a lot of plants in there.

 

[Bill S]

Very nice. The only communal centipede cages I have set up are a ten gallon S. polymorpha and a ten gallon S. mutilans. If I had space for it I'd do a larger S. mutilans cage. I also have a communal tarantula cage for Heterothele villosella, an African dwarf tarantula. That one has been set up for years, also a ten gallon.

 

[Euscorpius]

springtails [...] add a nutrient build-up of their own. (Anything that eats also defecates, so you are not removing nutrients - only changing their form.)

Well, they don't add anything to the system, they are not plants.
They retain a lot of nutrients, otherwise they would not grow and reproduce. Decompositors are more efficient in doing so than other animals, so the remains of a roach or a dead leaf will become for let's say 80% springtail/isopod biomass in short time.

 

[Bill S]

I understand what you are saying - but I'll stick with my statement. While they are not nitrogen-fixing like plants, and obviously do not photosynthesize, they are ingesting compounds in the substrate, digesting it (converting it) into different compounds (new nutrients) and depositing these new nutrients back into the substrate. If this were happening in a completely closed system you might be able to argue that they were adding nothing - just modifying existing matter. But that isn't the case. They breathe, they absorb moisture, and they combine the gasses and water with their food as part of the digestive process. The end result is that nutrients are deposited into the substrate that were not already present in that form. Plus, there are other compounds deposited as a result of springtails molting, dying, etc.