# Need advice on Orthoporus ornatus housing



## ErinM31 (Apr 1, 2016)

I've ordered two _Orthoporus ornatus_ millipedes from BugsInCyberspace and would like to set up an enclosure that mimics their natural environment. I was going to get a 10 gallon aquarium with a hood with lighting; now I'm thinking that I should get a screen lid, perhaps the Zilla metal screen lid. But then I have one of these on my toad terrarium and that tank doesn't hold humidity at all. Is that good? Does this species need moist substrate but low humidity? Also, do you think 10 gallons is overkill? Would 2.5 or 5 gallons be more fitting?

How should substrate for _Orthoporus ornatus_ differ from that for millipedes such as _Chicobolus spinigerus_ and _Narceus gordanus_? Is the same substrate ideal, just kept drier? Would the addition of some limestone sand or gravel be beneficial?


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## Mastigoproctus (Apr 2, 2016)

My favorite lid to use on 10 gallons is the Walmart lid, I'll take pics of everything and post them after I'm done wrighting this for you. A moisture meter is a good idea too so I'd get one at a local plant store, this is an invaluable tool in myriapod keeping in general.

They are super prone to dying from limp back (some sort of fungal infection causes this I think) if kept too moist so they need high ventilation in my experience. Use 70% sand and 30% coco fiber then mix in the the 2lb composite millipede substrate from bugs in cyberspace (I make my own but they offer a great mix!). The substrate needs to be reasonably deep, like 4" total because they love to burrow. I keep them with cactuses too because they seem to really like staying under the root systems. I keep mine out side as I live where they are native but you can keep them happy year round at 60F-75F.

Reactions: Helpful 1


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## Mastigoproctus (Apr 2, 2016)

Keep the top substrate rather dry to the touch but at the last bottom inch or 2 it should read the low to medium end of moist, not highly moist and for sure not wet! Live plants help maintain moister at correct levels. 




Walmart lid, they cost like $5 or so last time I checked and they are locking! They work awesome and have great ventilation, also have a place to mount a light on them if desired. They are in the fish section.

Reactions: Informative 1 | Helpful 1


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## ErinM31 (Apr 2, 2016)

Thank you SOOO much for the advice and all the pics!!!  I shall visit Walmart today and get everything set up!

Have your millipedes produced any offspring? I know they are notoriously difficult/impossible to breed in captivity, but unless a specific plant or migration or something is a requirement for breeding, it would seem that you have reproduced their natural habitat.

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## Mastigoproctus (Apr 2, 2016)

I've got them to mate, I have a suspected grevid Percha Creek Giant Orthoporus as well as a much smaller Texas Gold. If they do probuce babies I will post a report, the exciting part is they will be crosses between Golds and Percha Giants so they should be a copper color and get bigger then the average Gold. Most people claim that Golds are the largest but they are wrong, along Percha creek in the desert they average 7" and I even have a 8" one. Pics of them are in a old thread I posted from last year: 

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/my-7-75-orthoporus-sp-molted-again-an-is-now-tipping-over-8.277984/

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## ErinM31 (Apr 2, 2016)

Mastigoproctus said:


> I've got them to mate, I have a suspected grevid Percha Creek Giant Orthoporus as well as a much smaller Texas Gold. If they do probuce babies I will post a report, the exciting part is they will be crosses between Golds and Percha Giants so they should be a copper color and get bigger then the average Gold.


Oh, I hope so! Large copper millipedes would be lovely! 

I have the tank, Walmart lid, substrates, and some cacti!  I thought of a few more questions:
*1)* How many _Orthoporus ornatus_ would you keep in a 10 gallon tank? I have ordered two and don't know whether or not I should consider adding any more in the future.
*2)* Is there anything specific that you feed these millipedes? Any particular plant species -- fresh or dried/decayed -- that they favor? I read in one thread that they need more protein and would even attack live crickets! Should I supplement with fish food or freshly killed crickets?

Thank you again for all your help!!!

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## Mastigoproctus (Apr 3, 2016)

4-6 max in a 10 gallon. They like fern leafs alive or dried, like I said the composite mixture from Peter is a good choice too though. I feed them snake sheds when ever my snakes shed their skin, they love it as well as the occasional piece of dried animals I find in the desert like dead rabbit pieces that coyotes have killed or small bones with dried flesh still on it. Most people don't like the idea of that I'm sure so I seldom mention it. They will catch wounded insects and eat them alive yes, they cant catch a healthy cricket though as they are slow, unless you pull the jumping legs off. I'll upload a video to my YouTube channel "ThePureLife" of a orthoporus gold eating a cricket today.

Reactions: Informative 1 | Helpful 1


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## ErinM31 (Apr 3, 2016)

Thank you so much for all the advice!  Good to know that they like meat, although I personally would be concerned that a found dead animal had carried some disease -- more for myself than the millipedes as I doubt mammalian pathogens would be harmful to millipedes, but perhaps most of those don't last being dried and sun-baked. However, having more rain and also an abundance of vultures around here, I think I shall try pre-killed crickets and catfood (the crickets LOVE catfood).

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## Pipp (Apr 3, 2016)

Mastigoproctus said:


> 4-6 max in a 10 gallon. They like fern leafs alive or dried, like I said the composite mixture from Peter is a good choice too though. I feed them snake sheds when ever my snakes shed their skin, they love it as well as the occasional piece of dried animals I find in the desert like dead rabbit pieces that coyotes have killed or small bones with dried flesh still on it. Most people don't like the idea of that I'm sure so I seldom mention it. They will catch wounded insects and eat them alive yes, they cant catch a healthy cricket though as they are slow, unless you pull the jumping legs off. I'll upload a video to my YouTube channel "ThePureLife" of a orthoporus gold eating a cricket today.


I had no idea!  Good info.  I've only ever seen them eat their own shed skins.


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## pannaking22 (Apr 6, 2016)

Very good info about _Orthoporus_, thank you @Mastigoproctus! Looks like I'll be bumping up the ventilation in my shoebox then...

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## ErinM31 (Apr 9, 2016)

I  now have three gorgeous _Orthoporus ornatus_ millipedes! 



I had no idea they were arboreal! XD In any case, that is the favorite spot of the millipede curled up in front there whereas the millipede in the background is often obsessed with the cholla wood.

Here is an image the left half of the terrarium (the right also has a small cactus and succulent):


The fibrous things are the skeletons/remains of local cacti (I boiled them before adding them to the terrarium and them removed most of them when I saw that the millipedes found them troublesome to walk on (like walking through netting -- hadn't thought of that). As you can see at the bottom of the photo, most of the substrate is still bone dry (I SHOULD have added half, wetted it, and them put the rest on top, but as it is, I am working from the left corner outward. I notice the millipedes retreat to the wettest area on occasion to rehydrate. Eventually it will be right (moist on the bottom, drier on top), but until then, at least they have lots of options for modulating their hydration level.

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## ErinM31 (Apr 9, 2016)

@Mastigoproctus Do you keep any other creatures with your _O. ornatus_? I was thinking some feigning death-feigning or other beetles from the southwest might be interesting, but ONLY if they pose no risk to the millipedes or their eggs (hey, I'm being optimistic  ).

Thank you again!

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Hisserdude (Apr 9, 2016)

He had some Embaphion muricatum darkling beetles in with his Orthoporus, and they even reproduced in the same cage! You can read about it here: http://arachnoboards.com/threads/what-beetle-species-is-this-they-produced-young-for-me.281546/

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## Mastigoproctus (Apr 9, 2016)

I keep spring tails, Embaphion maricatum of course, Scolopendra sp. unknown(possibly a species of small Viridis variant) and tiny white millipedes all in the same cage, no issues so far and it's been a rather long time like that. They are all found under rocks together commonly in my collection areas so I house them like that. None seem to mind, although I removed all the centipedes when the E. Maricatum larva appeared.

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## ErinM31 (Apr 10, 2016)

Thank you both!  Those _Embaphion maricatum_ are the coolest looking darkling beetles I've seen! @Mastigoproctus if you ever have extra larva again, I would be interested in a purchase or trade.  I would like to get those and the black feigning death beetles from BugsInCyberspace but will probably keep them separately at first to watch their behaviors as I do some more research, maybe put cricket eggs or something in with them as a test of whether or not eggs are truly safe from the beetle larva (or maybe that is a ridiculous concern?). As for centipedes... well... the smallest no longer make me jump like a cat who's come upon a snake, but I don't think I'm want to keep any, certainly not big ones *involuntary shudder*.

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## Hisserdude (Apr 10, 2016)

If there are a whole bunch of darkling beetle larva in one cage, and they are just a little underfed, I wouldn't put it past them to eat any eggs they find, they really like protein. If there are a whole bunch of dead leaves and rotten wood in the substrate, that should keep them from getting too hungry though. Still, I would never trust them around a molting millipede...

Reactions: Agree 1 | Informative 1


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## Mastigoproctus (Apr 10, 2016)

Yeah larva probably aren't the best choice if you want eggs to, I've separated them now. Adults will coexist together though for sure.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Informative 1


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## Mastigoproctus (Apr 10, 2016)

And honestly little centipedes are likely much safer then larva In that respect.


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## ErinM31 (Apr 11, 2016)

Thank you both so much!  I will stick with cacti and succulents as tankmates then. I want to maximize the chances for offspring! Should I be concerned that none of the millipedes has, to my knowledge, burrowed yet? The substrate varies from wet (just in one corner) to completely dry. I wonder if I should adjust the ratios of the substrate components, add... coco fiber or millipede substrate? I aimed for the recommended ratio but the substrate feels overall sandy to me. Now if it's nothing to worry about, I'm not complaining; I enjoy seeing my beautiful millipedes out and about. 

Here is their (potentially) finished terrarium:

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## 7tisix (Apr 14, 2016)

Terrific info!  I just ordered a moisture meter so I can get my 5 gallon aquarium right for my 2 orthoporus.  I had mine a little too damp at first and started noticing one getting foot rot, so I have been letting it air out a good bit and got the top layer dry so far.
I have quite a specific question for my setup.  I want to add some burrowing roaches (Roth's burrowing cockroaches) to this enclosure, but I'm scared they might mess with molting millipedes.  Any suggestions about this?  They get along great with my big Hisser.  But my Hisser doesn't dig so no problems there.


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## ErinM31 (Apr 14, 2016)

I hope that your millipede is able to recover! I believe that Mastigoproctus said that it is usually swiftly fatal.  I am obviously new to keeping these millipedes, but it seems to me that having a large branch or two for them to climb can be one way for them to adjust their microenvironment -- at least mine seem to enjoy climbing and will curl up for a nap up there (assuming millipedes sleep).

Based on all the advice I have received here and in other threads, I would hesitate to add ANY burrowing insect to ANY millipede enclosure because of the risk of disturbing a molting millipede. But Orin McMonigle (author of books on keeping various invertebrates -- including millipedes -- in captivity) says that isopods, cockroaches, land snails, and many other invertebrates with similar habitat requirements will safely coexist with millipedes

It is rather confusing, to be honest.  Right now I'm playing it safe and have only introduced springtails into my millipede enclosures (and in fact all my vivaria).


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