Male Narceus Americanus?

[IllusionQueen]

Two nights ago, my millipede (3 days after it molted) was nibbling on a piece of apple for hours, and then I saw it lying on its back with something pale and white sticking out. The millipede wasn't eating or grooming itself, so I was concerned as to why it was lying on its back and what that white thing was. I thought it was a bit of the apple that got stuck to him...

Just now, I saw it again.

Are those its gonopods? Does this mean that he matured out male after his molt? But he's only 2.5 inches. I thought they need to be maximum length (4 inches?) to be sexually mature?
He's also been running around and around his enclosure in circles restlessly. Is that normal millipede behaviour? Or does it have something to do with him being male?

 

[IllusionQueen]

He kept running around the perimeters of his enclosure restlessly last night, not eating and not pooping. Whenever he found a hole in the substrate, he would stick his head down it, as if he wanted to burrow, but he would always back out of the hole and start running around again. He also kept trying to climb up the sides, which of course is impossible. The last time he did this, it was because the substrate in his previous container was too wet so that he couldn't burrow, but that shouldn't be a problem anymore because I check the moisture levels regularly now. I was worried that he's being so restless because he's drying out, so I even sprayed the enclosure with more water, but he just kept running around. Maybe he's not eating or pooping because of impaction? I wiped his butt end with a wet piece of paper towel but that didn't do anything. I'm also not sure what he could be impacted with, there's just leaves and wood and soil and cuttlebone powder in there. There are some tiny sticks in the soil, even though I tried my best to remove as many as I could, but I was told that millis would likely ignore small degrees of softwoods in the soil.

There is plenty of leaf litter in his enclosure, even some rotten wood placed on top of the substrate. I thought they're always eating when they come out at night, and my room has been around 27-32 C everyday, so it can't be winter diapause so I can't understand why he's not eating...

Could it be because I have my light on, so to him it still feels like daytime? I stay up pretty late so my room light stays on for several hours. Should I move him out of my room at night? But this was never an issue before, he used to eat both during the day and at night.

Three days ago I put a piece of apple in there and left it in there for two days. He kept eating it and would nibble on it for hours. I heard that sometimes if you give them fruits, they wouldn't be interested in their natural diet, so you actually have to stop giving fruits for a while? Could that be what this is? Because he had too much apple?

I looked online and couldn't find anything that explains this strange behaviour... I'm hoping that someone else here has experienced something similar.

It's really worrying and frustrating that after all the work I put in setting up his enclosure and after waiting for him anxiously to re-merge and molt successfully, he is now doing this... I thought I was going to be done with all these unknowns for a while... It feels like I just have bad luck with these animals, because they always behave abnormally despite my efforts...

EDIT: ......I got more and more worried as to why he wasn't eating or pooping. I've seen many people say that water dishes aren't necessary for millipedes, but I've also seen that many millipede owners like to give them water dishes anyway, and in my desperation, I ultimately decided to put a small bottle cap in there with a bit of water, so that he would have even more access to water. When he found the bottle cap, he drank from it for more than ten minutes... After he finished drinking his fill, he walked up to a dead leaf, and immediately started nibbling on it. It was the water all along But I checked the moisture levels by sticking my finger in, and there was a bit of soil stuck to my finger. It shouldn't be that dry... And if he was really thirsty, why didn't he burrow underground where there is more water? Why did he only stick his head down the holes but not dig down deeper? At least this explains why he kept sticking his head down holes and why he ate that apple for hours. He was that thirsty.
I'm surprised that not many people seem to know that them running around restlessly means that they need water or don't need water.
I guess when he runs around restlessly, either the substrate is too wet, or too dry. In this case it was the latter. Good to know, I guess. I'm going to leave the bottle cap in there permanently. Hopefully it's not too late and he'll start passing frass soon...
EDIT again: Looked again and there's frass in his water dish! He must have pooped (unless that frass was stuck to his legs and he dragged it in there)! Oh I'm so relieved!!

 

[Kaiforg]

hi!! my millipede has been doing the same plus he twitches as if he's in pain.. i don't know what to do since he's got a water dish and available food. this is seriously worrying me

 

[IllusionQueen]

I'm surprised that someone has finally replied to this thread. Nowadays I just find my answers on reddit. The people there are nicer too.

I found out that N. americanus reach sexual maturity at around 2 years of age, not when they've reached their full length. And that they migrate in the wild, which is why they run laps around their enclosures during summer and fall. It wasn't because he had too little water or too much. It was just a natural behaviour for him.

I have no idea why he wasn't eating his leaves. I can only assume that it's diapause. Lately he has started nibbling a little on his leaves again, and I even saw him spending a long time eating a piece of rotting wood. He also gets constipated a lot but he always figures that out on his own. I also give him a small piece of fruit or soaked cat kibble about once a week to ensure that he is indeed eating something.

My millipede twitches when he's grooming himself, I think it's very neat and very therapeutic to watch. I'm not sure why yours does it if he's not grooming himself though. I heard that they thrash around when they have mites crawling on them. Could it be that?

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

I found out that N. americanus reach sexual maturity at around 2 years of age, not when they've reached their full length. And that they migrate in the wild, which is why they run laps around their enclosures during summer and fall. It wasn't because he had too little water or too much. It was just a natural behaviour for him.

I have had a continuous colony of Narceus americanus for 22 years and have never seen that behavior. I would guess he's dying.

 

[Kaiforg]

Hello, I've been watching him closely and i don't see any mites! he stopped going crazy around the enclosure and has been burying himself in odd places.. as he usually prefers hiding under a piece of wood, i find it very weird that he's trying out new places now.
Aside from that I think everything seems to be alright, I'll keep an eye on him and perhaps display some new hiding spots.

Also, thank you for the advice, I've been a millipede keeper for only a year now and it's been very hard to find information online. I'll definitely be logging into reddit to see if it brings me some light

 

[IllusionQueen]

I have had a continuous colony of Narceus americanus for 22 years and have never seen that behavior. I would guess he's dying.

Well that's clearly not what's going on with mine. He still eats and poops. If him running laps is an indicator of his upcoming death, he would have died months ago when I first made that post. I've also seen more than one person on reddit saying that it's normal for them to run around due to their natural instinct to migrate, so I'm tempted to believe them. If he's still with me next summer, I would like to see if he repeats that behaviour.

Hello, I've been watching him closely and i don't see any mites! he stopped going crazy around the enclosure and has been burying himself in odd places.. as he usually prefers hiding under a piece of wood, i find it very weird that he's trying out new places now.
Aside from that I think everything seems to be alright, I'll keep an eye on him and perhaps display some new hiding spots.

Also, thank you for the advice, I've been a millipede keeper for only a year now and it's been very hard to find information online. I'll definitely be logging into reddit to see if it brings me some light

You're welcome! It's only been seven months for me, and I'm always worried about him. I always hurry to Google to do research whenever he does something "odd" haha. Glad to hear that yours seems to be doing fine!