Escape !!

[dragon_ian_uk]

Okay, this is kinda annoying since it's my own fault..... :8o

My S. cingulata has managed to escape. :wall:

Had it in one of those aquazoo tanks, problem being that I didn't
snap the lid shut (the clear one in the middle). It was in place, just
not secured. Went to check on it just now and it ain't there....
Been turning the room upside down looking for it but no sign.
Problem is the door to that room has a 5-10mm gap under it and
it could pretty much be anywhere in the house.

Any ideas on how to locate it ?

How long do you think it'll survive out of the tank without water in
a centrally heated house ?

 

[danread]

Sorry to hear that, its a bit freaky knowing you have a pede loose in the house, i had it happen to me once with a 10" S. subspinipes, although it was found about 3 days later. If you don't manage to find it, you can be sure that it wont last too long, as without water it will soon die. You can try putting a damp towel on the floor and see if it crawls under it, or if you let your house get cold, put a heat mat on the floor and see if it will make its way under there.

Cheers,

 

[Cirith Ungol]

If you have a good hoover and a lot of flour you could create a search grid and look for any trails. Only problem might be that it gets a bit messy if you're not careful. But I guess it depends also on what size your pede is also. If it's tiny it might be a bit hard to see trails in the flour.

Don't know tho if it's a good or bad idea that but it works basically with any animal that is large enough to leave trails on flour and small enough to dissapear without a trail without flour (like snakes).

 

[dragon_ian_uk]

I've tried the damp cardboard trick but so far no joy.

Hadn't thought of the heat pad one though... :clap:

Luckily it just a little pede, couldn't sleep at night if I had
a S. subspinipes running loose. The worst thing about it was
that the aquazoo was just a temporary enclosure until I got
a tank sorted out for it...... :8o

Cheers.

 

[fatbloke]

dragon_ian_uk

are you sure it has escaped not just buried deep into the substrate in the past when ive thought i lost pedes the first thing i do is give the substrate a good dig

john

 

[dragon_ian_uk]

dragon_ian_uk

are you sure it has escaped not just buried deep into the substrate in the past when ive thought i lost pedes the first thing i do is give the substrate a good dig

john

Nah, I checked that. It was while checking that I noticed the unlocked
window in the lid....
Little sod has had the freedom of the house for 4 full days now and not
one sign of it so far. :? Hope it's okay, must be getting thirsty by now...

 

[Nikos]

if you have a drain in your toilet it might already be in the sewers....4 days is a long time but s.cingualata can stand low humidity for long periods

 

[dragon_ian_uk]

if you have a drain in your toilet it might already be in the sewers....4 days is a long time but s.cingualata can stand low humidity for long periods

No drain immediately available for it to escape into....
Still think the little sod is behind the skirtings in the study. :wall:

At which point do you guys think that I consider it a right-off ?
That has now been 5 days in a centrally heated house (very low humidity)
and I'd assume that it'll be starting to get pretty dehydrated.

 

[BigBadConrad]

whoops

Sorry to hear about your fugitive. I sure hope you find it, but with all due respect to those more knowledgable and experienced than me, from my own experience I can't completely agree with the idea that it won't last long without humidity. Mine is a different species and larger than your cingulata, and it didn't escape, but I say sleep with one eye open:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=41251

 

[dragon_ian_uk]

Now that's a story !! :razz:

I'm now into day 6 of the "seige"........

I realise that pedes are tough cookies when it comes to enviromental
conditions (when we're finished screwing up the planet the cockroaches
and the centipedes are gonna take over !! ) and can more
than likely live on the moisture from prey. This little pede has a different
problem though......... Being in NE Scotland it is more likely to come to
grief with the cold (it was all of 5'c this morning!!). The T's and Scorp
tanks are all heated by pads, the rest of the house can get quite cold
when I'm not there i.e. during the day. :wall:

I have slowly been turning rooms upside down and sealing them behind
me. At least if nothing else the house is getting a good old clean !!

 

[Wade]

I had an S. gigantea turn up alive and well after more than a month AWOL once. Of course, I was in a house without air conditioning in a hot/humid part of the country, but I was still impressed.

The cool temps may work in your favor, as long as it's not cold enough to kill it. It may cut down on it's movement, making it easier to find. S. cingulata occurs fairly far north where it gets somewhat cold anyway, doesn't it? I've always seen them as being the north African/southern European version of our S. polymorpha, that is, very tolerant of a wid range of conditions including cool/dry conditions, at least temporarily.

It's probably wedged between a crack between the molding and the floor or something like that. You might need a hammer and a crowbar to find the thing! You could try sliding a card under the molding around the perimeter of the room and see if it flushes him out.

Wade

 

[dragon_ian_uk]

S. cingulata occurs fairly far north where it gets somewhat cold anyway, doesn't it?

The dealer that sold it to me told me that it was a Tanzanian import.
I know that they do occur as far North as Spain though.... so as you
say cold temps probably won't kill it just slow it down.

It's probably wedged between a crack between the molding and the floor or something like that. You might need a hammer and a crowbar to find the thing! You could try sliding a card under the molding around the perimeter of the room and see if it flushes him out.

To be honest, as much as I'd love to find the little sod, I'm not gonna
start dismantling the house to locate a £6 ($9) centipede......