Millipede dragging head?

[JunkRoach]

I'm a beginner with keeping millipedes so I'm not quite sure whats wrong but my AGB is dragging his head and front few legs, he just seems less perky than he normally is but he's been fine for 6 months? He's probably only about 2 inches so to see him die before maturity would make me feel awful can I save him?

 

[mantisfan101]

Pics of enclosure would help. Maybe he’s preparing for a molt although I believe that they tend to stay underground in order to do that.

 

[JunkRoach]

He actually dug back underground awhile ago and I haven't seen him but one of my other millipedes just died so I guess I'm a tad paranoid

 

[Polenth]

If you hadn't said that millipedes lived there, I'd have assumed it was only a cockroach tank. The substrate is shallow and there's a lack of dead leaves and wood. You'd do better setting them up with their own tank, so you can design it for their needs.

 

[mantisfan101]

If you hadn't said that millipedes lived there, I'd have assumed it was only a cockroach tank. The substrate is shallow and there's a lack of dead leaves and wood. You'd do better setting them up with their own tank, so you can design it for their needs.

Agreed. Mixture of compost, rotten hardwood, and rotten hardwood leaves at least 4-5” deep would be much more suitable for the millipede. Are you giving it enough calciuma s well?

 

[JunkRoach]

If you hadn't said that millipedes lived there, I'd have assumed it was only a cockroach tank. The substrate is shallow and there's a lack of dead leaves and wood. You'd do better setting them up with their own tank, so you can design it for their needs.

I usually have a lot more dead leaves and wood I just took that picture earlier after i threw out some of the litter I was worried it was causing the millipede to be sick so I was freezing a fresh batch, but I'll try to make the substrate deeper

 

[JunkRoach]

Agreed. Mixture of compost, rotten hardwood, and rotten hardwood leaves at least 4-5” deep would be much more suitable for the millipede. Are you giving it enough calciuma s well?

I regularly mix calcium powder into the substrate and give them a small bit of cuttlebone to gnaw on though I'm not sure if thats the right thing to do.

 

[VolkswagenBug]

Agreed. Mixture of compost, rotten hardwood, and rotten hardwood leaves at least 4-5” deep would be much more suitable for the millipede. Are you giving it enough calciuma s well?

4-5 is probably low for an A. gigas, though it would definitely be better than the current situation. 17-21 cm might be more appropriate.

 

[VolkswagenBug]

I regularly mix calcium powder into the substrate and give them a small bit of cuttlebone to gnaw on though I'm not sure if thats the right thing to do.

As far as I know, millipedes don't actively gnaw on cuttlebone. Mixing it into the substrate is a good way to go, as well as lightly dusting any extra food items with calcium powder. (As an aside, I've found that reptile calcium powder works just as well as ground cuttlebone and doesn't smell as bad, so you might want to use that instead.)

 

[JunkRoach]

As far as I know, millipedes don't actively gnaw on cuttlebone. Mixing it into the substrate is a good way to go, as well as lightly dusting any extra food items with calcium powder. (As an aside, I've found that reptile calcium powder works just as well as ground cuttlebone and doesn't smell as bad, so you might want to use that instead.)

oh thats exactly what i do for the roaches so it works for the millipedes then too i guess, but non of this really helps with the current situation, i found out from the seller it already had damage because it was dropped not much i can do to save him i guess

 

[JunkRoach]

Even if I can't save him thank you for all the advice I'm planning on using an old 10 gallon tank on some easier to acquire species from a better seller, does anyone know if this creature soil stuff is a good substrate base? I saw it the other day and I figured if its readily available it'd be better than ordering from bugsincyberspace but if not I can just backstock a bunch of bags instead.

 

[VolkswagenBug]

Even if I can't save him thank you for all the advice I'm planning on using an old 10 gallon tank on some easier to acquire species from a better seller, does anyone know if this creature soil stuff is a good substrate base? I saw it the other day and I figured if its readily available it'd be better than ordering from bugsincyberspace but if not I can just backstock a bunch of bags instead.

Not sure what you're referring to, link?

 

[JunkRoach]

The fact you havent heard of it makes me wary of using it haha, its the one by zoo med, not sure if i'm allowed to link or not

 

[VolkswagenBug]

The fact you havent heard of it makes me wary of using it haha, its the one by zoo med, not sure if i'm allowed to link or not

Zoo-Med is generally fine for most arthropods and it's a reasonably respectable brand, but I don't know if I would utilize their offerings for millipedes in particular.
Sterilized soil and composted hardwood are the preferred bases for millipede substrates.

 

[Obakefan]

The fact you havent heard of it makes me wary of using it haha, its the one by zoo med, not sure if i'm allowed to link or not

I'm using the creature soil mixed with some cocoa and wood and leaves. It's a decent base, just needs lots of supplementation