# South American centipede, "as long as a man's forearm"



## Galapoheros (Feb 6, 2014)

I remember hearing it, it only has to be around 10"s to be that long, but it's still pretty impressive.  I don't recommend handling at all!, I've gotten to know the disposition of this one but still, you never know!, just be sure you have insurance!  Based on morphological classification, leans to Sc. gigantea rather than Sc. galapagoensis, ..if they are even different species after all.  btw, the yellow radio was a gift from the early 80's, it still sounds really nice, I think I was 17 or 18 when I received that thing.

Reactions: Like 15


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## Tongue Flicker (Feb 6, 2014)

Jesus Christ!


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## Elytra and Antenna (Feb 6, 2014)

I still use the alarm clock I bought to wake me up for my paper route when I was 11.

---------- Post added 02-06-2014 at 02:27 AM ----------

Can you get a better shot (no flash glare, better background) for use in say, a centipede book?


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## just1moreT (Feb 6, 2014)

How much longer you reckon that beast of a centipede will live, its a monster im pretty sure I couldnt hold still with all those  legs sticking me in the arm lol

Reactions: Disagree 1


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## JZC (Feb 6, 2014)

How many inches is that monster? Huge, what are you feeding it?!?!?


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## Lurchenstien (Feb 6, 2014)

That, is an awesome centipede.


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## beetleman (Feb 6, 2014)

very nice! i have that one also(2) and the "orange form" mine are huge also, i give you credit for handling it,but there is no way i would ever even thinking of handling mine,they are both very high strung/psyco feeding responces etc. always looking for something,then they calm down,and get crazy again,they are just awesome animals,yours is a beauty! after getting bit(by accident ofcourse)years back from a hongkong giant(THE FREAKIN PAIN) just reminds me about if i ever got bit by these monsters.......


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## herpguy (Feb 6, 2014)

Awesome!  I can't wait for mine to get that big.  My bigger one seems like its read to molt, still nothing compared to the size of yours!


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## Galapoheros (Feb 6, 2014)

Better pic?  Hmm, I don't know if I can get that dumb again haha.  I used to be one of those adrenaline junkies but I'm not like that as often.  I had 5 that became adults and they all mellowed out once they hit 9 inches but before that they were killing machines, real crazy acting.  One time one got out as I was feeding it and my two choices were to let run behind a heavy desk or grab it behind the head, I pinned it and grabbed it behind the head.  I put it back in the container with the cricket and it immediately attacked the cricket.  I thought it would be too stressed to eat so fast but then I saw it was just irritated, looked like it was killing anything around for defense.  It killed the cricket, biting it 4 or 5 times real hard and left it there, then walked around real slow like, "What some of this!"  They probably slow down due to physics and their design when they get big.  They will of coure bite when big but if they only feel slightly threatened they kind of freeze up and sit in a spot, my experience anyway.  They are still fast when they decide to be though.  I wanted a pic like that because it's so hard to show the size of them next to a size reference that really points it out.  Once they hit around 6 inches and it's on the warm side, upper 70s or so, they can reach 9 inches in a year.  One got sick and I sold/traded the other adults, I decided to keep one, a female.  It wouldn't surprise me if it lives a couple more years, somebody told me these usually live 5 to 10 years, don't know how accurate that is.  The one in the pic is about 10".

Reactions: Like 2


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## MrCrackerpants (Feb 6, 2014)

Wow! That is scary...:biggrin:

Is this the "sausage eater on the screen door?" Can you link me to that picture? I can't find it on the board?


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## zonbonzovi (Feb 6, 2014)

Oh my god.  That radio is sick!!!


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## freedumbdclxvi (Feb 6, 2014)

Gorgeous!  I need to get me one of those.


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## just1moreT (Feb 6, 2014)

Your not going feed that poor rosea are you


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## klawfran3 (Feb 6, 2014)

I loaded this thread and read your paragraph, not knowing there was a picture since it didn't load. all of the sudden, it just popped up right in my line of sight, causing me to freeze and then utter a single "oh." beautiful animal you have there. how much did it cost?


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## Blue Jaye (Feb 6, 2014)

LOL I have that same radio even still have the head phones ! my uncle bought it for me for x-mas when I was 14 haha still works great. that is an awesome pede I want one.


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## Galapoheros (Feb 6, 2014)

No way! you have one of those radios too, that's pretty weird, they seem to be kind of hard to find today.  Yeah this is the one that was eating the sausage, the prions haven't kicked in yet, don't know where the pic is of that.  Somebody gave me two roseas, don't know what I'm going to do with those, no, not going to feed them to the pede lol.  Cost $150, out of California around 2 years ago I guess.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Smokehound714 (Feb 7, 2014)

oh dear lord that is terrifying.

 awesome though haha, now subspinipes looks tiny to me lol!


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## josh_r (Feb 7, 2014)

Imagine going for a hike and stumbling across a centipede that big or flipping a rock or log and finding one that big underneath it... that happens here in Peru

Reactions: Like 2


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## herpguy (Feb 7, 2014)

josh_r said:


> Imagine going for a hike and stumbling across a centipede that big or flipping a rock or log and finding one that big underneath it... that happens here in Peru


Just keep rubbing it in.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Galapoheros (Feb 7, 2014)

Hey Josh, have you found one there yet?  I'm guessing they are pretty common in areas there but not so easy to come across.


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## dactylus (Feb 8, 2014)

Nice radio, even nicer pede!!  Thanks for the pics!

David


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## josh_r (Feb 9, 2014)

Galapoheros said:


> Hey Josh, have you found one there yet?  I'm guessing they are pretty common in areas there but not so easy to come across.


I have found what I had thought were juveniles, but now I am not so sure. I don't think I have come cross them yet. I definitely haven't come across adults hahha! In the area I am in, they are very rare but they are here. If I go up north a bit, they get very common in areas. If I go south a bit, they get very common in areas. From what I have been told, they are most commonly encountered near rivers in valleys through the montane areas. In the jungle, they are found all over. I have yet to find out if they have a particular season of activity, and if so, when that is... Once I find out this info, I am sure I will start to find them. The hardest part about finding some species is figuring out the when and how.. You can know the where, but if you don't know the when and how, you are pretty screwed.

Reactions: Like 1


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## jthorntonwillis (Feb 9, 2014)

My sentiments exactly!!  





Tongue Flicker said:


> Jesus Christ!


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## RedbackBreeder (Feb 10, 2014)

Either that centipede is enormous, or the man handling it is a dwarf...


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## MrCrackerpants (Feb 11, 2014)

:biggrin:I found the sausage eater! :biggrin:

http://s146.photobucket.com/user/galapoheros/media/DSCN95292_zps52a703e9.jpg.html

Reactions: Like 2


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## Freaky123 (Feb 14, 2014)

That is a stunning 'pede. Been trying to get my hands on one of these for a while now; not literally like you though. You've earned my respect though handling that, even if they're meant to be a more docile species.


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## Lurchenstien (Feb 15, 2014)

Galapoheros said:


> They probably slow down due to physics and their design when they get big.  They will of course bite when big but if they only feel slightly threatened they kind of freeze up and sit in a spot, my experience anyway.


The biggest of my  S. dehaani does that. Of the five adult S. dehaani I have here, three are 6 inches long, one's 7 inches long and the last is 8 inches long. Two of the smaller three are mental, one's currently injured and not on form like the others. The 7 inch one isn't as mental, but still pretty scatty, but the biggest of them doesn't seem to care about anything.


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## Amblypygi (Feb 17, 2014)

RedbackBreeder said:


> Either that centipede is enormous, or the man handling it is a dwarf...


Galapoheros is no dwarf.  I know him quite well....I've seen that thing running around.  It is NUTS.


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## Galapoheros (Feb 17, 2014)

Freaky123 said:


> That is a stunning 'pede. Been trying to get my hands on one of these for a while now; not literally like you though. You've earned my respect though handling that, even if they're meant to be a more docile species.


I respect you for not handling them, really makes more sense not to.  I don't know why I am tempted, along with some others, to do such things.  Well I do but, everybody is different. 

And yes, I am no dwarf, but we did grow up with alisonii gigantea in the family HAHAHA, so wrong, I'm just JK.  I get a gut feeling that this one is not going to molt again but time will tell.


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## pyro fiend (Feb 18, 2014)

Reaction 1) holy..!!! chihuahua eater!!

Reaction 2) i now need to study to get a pede ;D

always thought pedes where kinda interesting but never seen a un-photoshopped one hittin 5+ tho i knew they get bigger. but i thought itd be a bit different. holy crud that is cool!


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## Freaky123 (Feb 18, 2014)

They truly are stunning and interesting creatures. couldnt be much more of a perfect evolutionary marvel. They're are both fascinating to own as their behaviour is completely different to that of any other critter ive owned and personally i think, they're strangely beautiful. 
No collection is complete without a 'pede or two.
I recommend them. As aggressive as they are.



pyro fiend said:


> Reaction 1) holy..!!! chihuahua eater!!
> 
> Reaction 2) i now need to study to get a pede ;D
> 
> always thought pedes where kinda interesting but never seen a un-photoshopped one hittin 5+ tho i knew they get bigger. but i thought itd be a bit different. holy crud that is cool!




---------- Post added 02-18-2014 at 01:10 PM ----------

haha, fair enough, i think the only reason i never has is due to their bites reputation, doesn't sound to joyous. id be surprised if it did molt again. Although it would be an even greater specimen if it did.


Galapoheros said:


> I respect you for not handling them, really makes more sense not to.  I don't know why I am tempted, along with some others, to do such things.  Well I do but, everybody is different.
> 
> And yes, I am no dwarf, but we did grow up with alisonii gigantea in the family HAHAHA, so wrong, I'm just JK.  I get a gut feeling that this one is not going to molt again but time will tell.


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## pyro fiend (Feb 19, 2014)

Freaky123 said:


> They truly are stunning and interesting creatures. couldnt be much more of a perfect evolutionary marvel. They're are both fascinating to own as their behaviour is completely different to that of any other critter ive owned and personally i think, they're strangely beautiful.
> No collection is complete without a 'pede or two.
> I recommend them. As aggressive as they are.


iv always admired them from afar.but sneaking around here over the years makes them sound like alot of work so iv never studied them lol. what size tank do you need to keep that monster in a 30-40gbreeder? LOL always thought the longer they got theyd be more toothpick like i suppose didnt think it would be so huge..


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## J Morningstar (Feb 19, 2014)

I totally remember this pic.....


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## Red Dragon (Mar 11, 2014)

nothing to say


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## Red Dragon (Mar 11, 2014)

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?144272-What-s-YOUR-largest-Scolopendra-sp./page7


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## MrCrackerpants (May 4, 2014)

Still a crazy pic by Galapoheros!! Got anymore pics of the beast?


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## Galapoheros (May 4, 2014)

I happened to take pics earlier today, the one adult I have is 11", you have to count the inches, I couldn't get the pede to stop.  This is the only adult I have so the odds are that it's just an average sized specimen of the sps you know....


btw, been thinking about possible ratios of adults to juvs in the wild.  Big adults may be kind of hard to find in the wild since they can breed early, around 7 inches.  The female gets eaten so then you have maybe 100+ juvs running around to one or less adult males in the wild, who knows what's going on there.

Reactions: Like 1


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## MrCrackerpants (May 5, 2014)

Awesome! :biggrin:


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## MrCrackerpants (May 5, 2014)

Wow! Such a thick centipede species. When you have them outside do they ever run? If so, how fast and for how long?


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## laurenkane (May 6, 2014)

Wowowowowowwwwwww


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## Galapoheros (May 6, 2014)

MrCrackerpants said:


> Wow! Such a thick centipede species. When you have them outside do they ever run? If so, how fast and for how long?



They are real fast and leery acting until they hit around 9", ime.  When they get big they can still move fast but they just don't do it as often, it takes more to scare them.  With this only adult I have, I can put it in the grass and it will walk along real slow.  As it's walking I can gently pick it up by the last half of it's body with my hand(don't recommend it!).  It doesn't seem to pick up on it being touched by something else so much when it's moving, something like being preoccupied.  But if it is sitting still, it reacts fast to being touched.  If I tap it's body while it's walking, it will take off and start running, sometimes for several feet, just depends on how scared it is.  btw I just re-read the description of gigantea and galapagoensis again, I just don't know what this thing is for sure.  They have femoral spurs on at least 90% of the legs if not all of them, that's supposed to be characteristic of gigantea according to an science article.  I might get around to taking some back yard vid of it.


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## MrCrackerpants (May 6, 2014)

Galapoheros said:


> They are real fast and leery acting until they hit around 9", ime.  When they get big they can still move fast but they just don't do it as often, it takes more to scare them.  With this only adult I have, I can put it in the grass and it will walk along real slow.  As it's walking I can gently pick it up by the last half of it's body with my hand(don't recommend it!).  It doesn't seem to pick up on it being touched by something else so much when it's moving, something like being preoccupied.  But if it is sitting still, it reacts fast to being touched.  If I tap it's body while it's walking, it will take off and start running, sometimes for several feet, just depends on how scared it is.  btw I just re-read the description of gigantea and galapagoensis again, I just don't know what this thing is for sure.  They have femoral spurs on at least 90% of the legs if not all of them, that's supposed to be characteristic of gigantea according to an science article.  I might get around to taking some back yard vid of it.


That's some great info. Thanks for sharing. I think it would be really cool to have a video. I am hoping it is gigantea!  How many do you have left?


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