Should I move my millipedes?

[Dmitry Maksimovich]

Hi everyone! I'm quite new to this forum (this is my second post) and to keeping millipedes, so I don't have much personal experience and knowledge about the hobby, however, this morning I have discovered dozens of tiny baby millipedes crawling around my terrarium. They don't appear to be burrowing or hiding but they seem to keep together in groups. I presume that they are either smoky oaks as I have 3 of them, or fire reds although I only have one of those but I got it as an adult (I think). I have several other relatively large millipedes in the terrarium along with one madagascarn hissing cockroach, just because he seems quite happy in there, so I was wondering if it's safe for the babies to be in there with the rest. I've heard that millipedes can eat smaller millipedes for calcium but mine never touched the cuttlefish bone nor their own molts, so I don't know if theyre even bothered about calcium, but I don't know how true that statement is to begin with. And I don't know if the roach will try to eat them either. If anyone has any advice or an answer it would be greatly appreciated. Also wondering if it's possible to identify what species they are this early. Thank you in advance.

 

[davehuth]

I don't have a definitive answer for you, but I can offer the anecdote that I've kept multiple hissing cockroaches (3 species, all males to avoid population explosions) in a mixed taxa enclosure (with Narceus) that has produced many baby millipedes. I keep a pretty close eye on things in there, and I've never seen any hissers bothering the millipedes. Ive never heard of millipedes preying on other millies except Abacion sp. If the conditions are right, mixed species tanks can be very interesting and entertaining, so reproduction might mean that you have things set up well.

Incidentally, the only millipedes I've witnessed with the grouping behavior you describe are Polydesmids, such as my local Pseudopolydesmus sp. If you get a close look at the babies, or can take a macro photo and blow it up, you should be able to tell if they're Smoky Oak pedelings, or flatbacks that may have been introduced in substrate.

 

[Dmitry Maksimovich]

I did just that, and they're definitely not flatbacks. It's been a couple of days and they've spread out around the terrarium, most are no longer visible so I assume that they've burrowed. I guess time will tell what they really are. Thank you for you reply

 

[Scarlet Skies]

I wouldn't remove them, the babies typically need to get some "gut bacteria" from the adults
At least that what I've been told

 

[SFA]

Yeah agreed with everyone else, I would not worry about moving them. I keep mine all in colonies of adults, juvies, and babies.