Help please...my centipede is boring...

[CS2x]

Hi,

Having been having a lot of fun with mantises and scorpions up until now, I decided to try out looking after a giant centipdede...and I'm very dissappointed.
The one I got has a brownish- yellow/black stripey body, a bright orangey head and tail, and is very small at this stage. However, even though it is well heated and I'm giving it small crickets, it will not eat, and just occasinionally runs madly around if I poke it, or burrows. Why is it being so boring? I thought these things were supposed to be agressive....maybe my species is lame..? It normally simply doesn't react to crickets at all, or moves underground away from them, as if in fear.


Thanks for your help...it would be very much appreciated.

 

[Henry Kane]

Well, I'd have to guess that you're probably stressing it by poking at it. Once they are on the defensive, they don't think about food too much. It may also be approaching a molt in which case it won't eat until after it's molt cycle is completed.
As far as the aggressiveness, it's not like they walk around all day foaming at the mouth, gnashing their fangs. I can promise that if given the chance to take a nip at you however, it probably wouldn't dissappoint you. Plus they can't afford to be too aggressive at a very small size since the idea is for them to survive long enough to become an adult.
What kind of centipede is it anyway? Also, may I ask where you got it?
Oh yeah, not all species of centipede are that extreme in temperment either. Most Scolopendra however....
Atrax

 

[CS2x]

I found out my centipede is a Tanzanian Redhead...I got it at an insect fair....It looked the smallest, so I wanted to try and rear it.
The main problem is, that it is ALWAYS underground. Why doesn't it ever come up to feed? And when the one time it WAS above ground, it either ignored the cricket or burrowed away from it....
Thanks for any help....

 

[MrDeranged]

It may be that the crickets you are giving it are too big for it. You may want to try prekilling them and then leaving them in the enclosure overnight. It may be coming out overnight looking for food. If the cricket is still there untouched in the morning, then the pede probably isn't hungry which is a sign of a possible upcoming molt. They're "not hungry" very unoften.

Scott

 

[Henry Kane]

Yep, whenever I can't find pinheads, I just prekill a small cricket for my smallest 'pedes and sure enough, the next day, the crix are gone.

Later.