picky eater millipede

[hbcio]

First of all, hello! I'm new here.

I have a few concerns regarding my male African Giant Millipede.

Firstly, he is a picky eater. The only thing he kind of wants to eat are champignons and even then he will munch a bit a leave it. He won't touch his oak leaves (dead ofc), doesn't care about apples or any other fruit or vegetable. Same with protein food.

Secondly, he is not very active lately. I was afraid that he was dying but it's been like two months and he's still alive just... curled up and lazy, or hidden in his hiding spot. I know millipedes are nocturnal creatures but so am I and I know he's not moving much even at night. Is it a sign of stress due to bad environment conditions? I keep the temperature at 24-28 degrees Celsius, max 30 and moist the substrate once a few days, or once a day if it dries too much.

And lastly, we all know those a**holes called mites. He doesn't have much of them. A few white ones (grain mites?)(I tried to clean them off today, partly succeeded), a few red ones having some sonic the hedgehog race all over him but what worries me, are the small clusters of mites around his legs near the head. I tried to clean them off but they are very commited to sticking around.

So in conclusion, please send help lol

Also, keep in mind that I'm a beginner and a fool so if I've done/said something stupid it's because of that. Please correct me if I do something wrong!

Thank you.

 

[Willow]

I don't have any thing to say. I found several baby millipedes outside and kept them and they all died exc3pt 1 out of the 3. I had food provided, good substrate, i kept the tempurature good, and the humidity levels good. I sadly dont know what caused the deaths. They had no mites that i knew of.

 

[Cazador]

I'm not sure what to say about the oak leaves...maybe they aren't soft enough? I don't know if that would make much difference. Have you tried cucumbers? I've never had a millipede that didn't go crazy for them.

I've had a similar problem with my AGBs. I know they naturally have some mites, but this seems like too many. They seem to have two types of mites, white and red. Both move fairly quick compared to grain mites so I doubt that's what it is. They tend to stay near the head as well, and I see my pedes picking at them often. I made a thread for the same problem but didn't get many answers; I was told to hold them under running water and try to gently brush them off, which helped for a bit but doesn't solve the problem, I didn't want to stress my pedes either.

I've thought about getting springtails, from what I hear they work wonders for controlling mites and supposedly don't eat pede eggs or molting pedes.

Good luck, let me know if you find a solution!

 

[BepopCola]

I've thought about getting springtails, from what I hear they work wonders for controlling mites and supposedly don't eat pede eggs or molting pedes.

Springtails helped me a bunch in controlling my mites.

 

[hbcio]

I tried to brush the mites off under running water but it didn't help much. I'm definitely getting some springtails, as soon as possible. I will write the results here when I get them!

 

[mickiem]

If the mites are congregating near the head or legs, they are most definitely grain mites and are a real problem. I would change the substrate and soak the millipede in a few inches of warm water. Definitely get springtails.

I feed leaves that fell the previous season so they are very decayed. If he doesn’t eat those it could be that the mites are a detriment to his health. Keep feeding the mushrooms and anything else he’ll eat.

Keep asking questions!

 

[hbcio]

So I changed the substrate and introduced springtails and I'm hopeful things are gonna get better from now on BUT

Recently I observed my pede pooping, but the poop was watery, as if he had a diarrhea. He also got lighter in color on his butt. I'm really worried about the poop tho.

 

[mickiem]

I have seen this in my colonies. I think it is species, diet and stress related. Has it always been this way? I would watch closely so you can discern what ‘normal ‘ is for your pede. If everything else is ok, I probably wouldn’t worry.

 

[MasterOogway]

'Pedes can take months to wither and die; might have been something that happened a while ago and is just taking a long time for it to finally 'take effect' as it were. The comment on the year old leaf litter is spot on as well; it needs to be mostly broken down already. Freshly fallen leaves are pretty useless. Cucumber, zucchini, yams have all been hits with my A. gigas, in addition to apples, bananas, and the usual leaf litter and punky wood bits.