My first Centipede! ID and care please.

[Richard_uk]

I have been wanting to get myself a Centipede for some time but had difficulty in locating a supplier. Recently my local invert stockist had some Centipedes labelled as 'Egyptian blue'. I read on line and heard that they were pretty good starter 'pedes.
I ordered one, but was told they were now out of stock so they sent me the following instead.

It was labelled as Tanzanian giant centipede. It's larger than the blue they had in stock, being about 13cm long and 1.5cm wide. It's a greyish brown colour with straw yellow legs and a series of blueish rings on each one. No where near as beautiful as the one I wanted

The following pictures are the best I could get. The thing is so quick!

The questions I have are:

1) What species is it

2) Is this still a decent pede for a beginner or should I send it back?

3) I researched the care for the Egyptian centipede, does this species require the same conditions?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Steven]

a) Ethmostigmus spec.
b) yes, even better as they are tmo very hardy
c) dunno what caresheets you're reading but since it's a different spec. and even from different collecting locality i would say,... no
but judging on your pictures is looks fine.

 

[danread]

Hi Richard,

As Steven said, it is a Ethmostigmus sp, possibly E. trigonopodus. They are great starter pedes, apart from the fact that they do tend to spend quite a lot of time underground. From the looks of the pictures, it seems you have the substrate quite damp. In my experience this species prefers it slightly on the drier side, but of course, always with a full water bowl in the enclosure. Having it so damp will only encourage mites. Putting a piece of cork bark in the enclosure will give it somewhere to hide, and might reduce the amount of burrowing it does.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Cheers,

Dan.

 

[Richard_uk]

Hi Steve / Dan,
Thanks for your help. After some extensive online searching it does seem that is the species I have.
Dan, The pede is in the tub it was sent to me in. I had only opened it up 10 mins before I took the picture. I'll take your advice and replace i with something a little drier.

 

[danread]

Hi Richard,

if you don't mind me asking, where did you get it from?

Cheers,

 

[Richard_uk]

Hi Dan,
I bought it from Worcester reptiles.