Help! Scolopendra eggs

[vespa_bicolor]

Hi all,

first, I'd like to say that I'm relatively new to centipedes. Therefore I would need help regarding some questions in general and on breeding. PLease take a look at the photos.

This morning, I found my huge centipede from China with a whole bunch of eggs, with its legs and tail wrapped around the whole lot! I have never bred centipedes before. I would appreciate any ideas and advice on how to take care of the eggs. Do you think they would fertile anyway? This centipede has been in captivity for a few months, but was wild-caught prior to this, therefore I have no idea. The eggs are a deep yellow colour, full-looking, shiny, about 4 mm or so in diameter. Should I just leave them with the mother, or should I artificially incubate them? Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I artificially incubate all my tarantula eggsacs. Also, how long on average do the eggs take to hatch? Lastly, is there anything about humidity and temperature I need to know? I am not using any heating now, since it's summer here in Hong Kong, the temperature in my room varies from 26 to 30 degrees Celsius and ranges from 75% to 90% relative humidity.

The second and third photos show the centipede more clearly. She is a huge specimen, possibly more than 8 inches in length, and thicker than my last finger. I have no idea what species it is, possibly a subspecies or variant of Scolopendra subspinipes. I really cannot tell, as it seems the taxonomy is quite complicated. But it supposedly comes from Southern China. I would appreciate any ideas on what species it is. By the way, the photo is for comparison purpose only; I would never dream of handling centipedes, except that this specimen already had her fangs cut (for what reason I'm not sure) when I got her. She's still managing well on crickets that I kill, tear open and lay down in front of her. I handled her only for measurement and closer view.

Thank you all in advance for any advice you can offer.

 

[Steven]

1 -> congratz on the eggs :}
2 -> i would leave the eggs with the mother,.. and leave her alone,... stop feeding her for a couple of weeks,... most possible she's in her hiding place,..right ? just give the mother all the rest she can get,... so just keep the humidity and temp. like you use to before she had the eggs,.. she'll be searching for a "cooler" place eitherway
3 -> i can see clearly she's been cut makes me feel
To what've i heard pedes in Azia are beeing cut for 2 reasons:
- to pack them together in large parcels for shipment (the fact that makes me the most )
- second i've heard pedes are used as food (bait????) to catch large fish in some Azian regions

If she's eating it's not that of a problem and she'll probarly survive untill the next molt,... so if you see she's molted,... i wouldn't handle her anymore

and yep,... most likely a colormorph of subspinipes (don't think it's a subspecie)

hopefully this has helped you a bit ?

Cheers
and yeah,... beautifull pede :} :}

 

[danread]

Hi vespa_bicolor,

That really is a beautiful pede, i've never seen that colour morph of S.subspinipes before. Firstly, i would try and leave the mother alone with the eggs and not disturb her at all. Scolopendra are notorious for eating their eggs when disturbed (and possibly for other reasons). I'd put her in a quiet place and possibly cover the whole tank she is in with a dark cloth or something similar. The temperature range you are keeping her in seems fine, as with the humidity levels, so i wouldn't worry about that. Leaving the eggs with the mother is a good idea, the mothers clean the eggs to prevent mold forming on them, so if they are incubated manually it is hard to stop mold forming.
It is likely that the eggs are fertile, we know that some pedes are parthenogenic (can fertilise themselves), or that they can retain sperm for a long time, even after molting. The eggs should hatch in about a month or so, and then the baby centipedes will stay with the mother for about another few weeks to a month until the have had their first molts. At this point they will leave the mother and should be separated. I hope this answers some of your questions. Please post some more photos once the eggs hatch if all goes well. good luck!

Cheers,

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Hi all,
thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it, I think I now have an idea of what to do. I have placed her enclosure in a separate cabinet, one that is seldom opened, and covered the front with a towel. I guess I'll just keep the disturbance to a minimum and check about 3 weeks later.
Thanks again!

 

[Cooper]

Why are you holding it?!?!?!?!

 

[danread]

Why are you holding it?!?!?!?!

Read the post properly and you'll find out

 

[Cooper]

Ahhh, thank god, had me worried there!

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Lol... I would never dare to start working with my pedes without a large escape proof container and my 11 inch forceps!

Unfortunately, something horrible happened. The female ate all the eggs up! Ah well, this is the first time, I can't expect to succeed on the first try! Just hope I have more luck in future.

 

[danread]

Unfortunately, something horrible happened. The female ate all the eggs up! Ah well, this is the first time, I can't expect to succeed on the first try! Just hope I have more luck in future.

Sorry to hear that Vespa, they can really be quite unpredictable. I think the trick is to not disturb them at all, right from the moment the mother preparing to lay eggs until the moment they are hatched. I think they probably eat eggs in response to environmental disturbance. If they are disturbed, they decide that it is not a good time/place to lay eggs, so they eat them to get the energy supplies back up and replace some of the nutrients lost in the eggs laying process.
What other pedes do you own? are there only native species available in Hong Kong, or do you get imports from other counties as well?
Good luck for the future.

Cheers,

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Hi Dan,
thanks. Probably I made a mistake earlier when I accidentally banged on the cabinet her container was kept in. I hope I will be able to learn more about them in future, though.

Well, this huge specimen was brought in from southern China. I also have a couple of large specimens of a species which was locally caught in Hong Kong, shown in the first and second photos below. I'm guessing it's another form of subspinipes. And also some S.s.mutilans, and one in the third photo which was supposedly imported from Tanzania. Used to have a Sonoran desert pede too (S.heros something if I'm not wrong?). Hoping to collect more, I'm getting hooked on them! Basically many species from elsewhere can be found here on occasion, but it always happens that when I see nice ones I can't afford them at that moment.

Cheers

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Sorry, I forgot to attach pics earlier. The fourth pic is one of my mutilans, last one is of a small but colourful one I caught near my place ( I live in quite rural area).

 

[Cooper]

You caught that ?!?! I wish I had pedes like that around here*shakes fist*

 

[danread]

Thats a really nice collection Vespa! I especially like the first subspinipes, it looks similar to what i have seen sold as Malaysian cherry red. Is there much of a trade in centipedes in Hong Kong, and do many people keep them as pets? What sort of price do you have to pay for a good side S.subspinipes in Hong Kong?

Cheers,

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Cooper >> yup I caught the last one, the one with orange legs. It's quite common in my area now that summer is in full heat, but I've no idea what species it is or even whether its a scolopendrid. It's really small now, around 2 inches, but I don't think it's anywhere near full size since it's grown a lot since I got it a month ago and still seems to be growing rapidly. There are actually quite a lot of nice pedes around, but I haven't had a chance to get a good look at most of them.

Dan >> Hmm well, there is quite a variety of centipedes around, although the number of people into tarantulas far outnumbers people who like pedes ( I think this is quite normal elsewhere too ). The pricing for Asian species is not too bad. The 2 forms of subspinipes, the one in the first pic with eggs, and the red one, go for around USD$25 or less at at least 6 inch sizes. S.s.mutilans is even cheaper. But foreign species such as S. heros or a really huge type I've seen labelled as "Peruvian giant" cost a lot more, and are not so commonly available.

Cheers.

 

[Steven]

vespa_bicolor,... you're one lucky guy !!!! i envy you

really awsome pedes around your place
that last one has my fulll attention !!!! really like the 2colored antenna's,...
Is it only with pedelings these guys have that colors of antenna's or have you ever noticed "adult" pedes with those marks crawling around too ?

keep us informed on what's going on there in HK

Cheers

 

[vespa_bicolor]

I haven't actually seen any others with that kind of colouration on the antennae. But again, I'm not sure how old that one is, or how big they actually reach

Will keep you updated. I'm really hooked on them now!

Cheers.

 

[Steven]

I'm really hooked on them now!
Cheers.

join the club

 

[fatbloke]

vespa_bicolor

nice photos and a nice collection of pedes you got i wish we had those kinds of pedesover here

john

 

[Lateralus]

Hey, here's follow up to one of vespa's Hk giants. Hope you enjoy the pictures bro.

 

[Steven]

D*MN

those are just amazing pictures !!!!! really stunning !!! :} :} :}
keep those coming