is my millipede molting or dead

connolan1

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
7
i bought 2 baby millipedes about 2 weeks ago and one is active at night and i can because he escaped today, but the other has been coiled up for about 5 days after 3 days of the millipede staying in the same place and same postion he didnt move so i put him back and ive been checking on him every 12 hours and he still looks the same and hasnt moved. the species i got are Telodeinopus assiniensis : Nigeria and Dendrostreptus macracanthus pink leg. so one is generally more active than other but not moving for 5 days is worrying. is doesnt smell or looked damage but if it is molting is hasnt made any progress. the both look lighter in colour from when i first got them. the tank ranged from 22 to 30 degrees celcius and had 65% humidity which is a bit low. i feed them wood, cucumber and bannana. should i just leave the unactive one alone and assume hes molting or assume hes dead
 

Cavedweller

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
1,064
In my experience, millipedes that die on the surface tend to be die in a loose horseshoe shape rather than a normal coil. How is yours positioned?

Surface molts aren't common, but not unheard of (I've only witnessed it once). If in a few days your pede doesn't move/show any signs of life or molting, you could try something fairly unobtrusive like putting a small droplet of water on it and see if it reacts.

30C might be a bit warm for them, I keep mine closer to 25C. 65% humidity should be alright as long as the substrate is moist enough.

Good luck, I hope your pede is alright.
 
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