# Male or female centipedes: does gender matter?



## Ratmosphere (Sep 3, 2017)

Recently, I found a centipede for sale that I like. However, it is a male. I'm not sure this matters and I am not sure if the temperament and lifespan differs from a female. What do you guys think?


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## kermitdsk (Sep 3, 2017)

I never saw a difference. Sometimes I thought males are more active but you can't really say that.


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## Ran (Sep 3, 2017)

I have found that centipedes (Scolopendra) are similar to T's in that females are better eaters as they grow older. Although both genders in pedes live about the same if females are not eaten by their brood.


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## Serpyderpy (Sep 3, 2017)

It doesn't really matter, I think. Though you do have to be careful if you get a female, not really because they differ from males, but because they might be brewing little 'pede hellspawns. I think a lot of centipedes are usually wild caught because there's not that big of a market for them as there are other inverts, like tarantulas? So breeding is kind of a waste of time, and there's no real way of telling if that centipede you picked up and sold was gravid or not. 

That's what I've heard, anyway!


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## Ratmosphere (Sep 3, 2017)

Do females and males generally look the same?


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## Staehilomyces (Sep 3, 2017)

They generally look the same, save a couple species such as Scolopendra morsitans, which has slight dimorphism in the terminals.


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## spotropaicsav (Sep 4, 2017)

Ratmosphere said:


> Recently, I found a centipede for sale that I like. However, it is a male. I'm not sure this matters and I am not sure if the temperament and lifespan differs from a female. What do you guys think?


I'm glad you posted this question, as I always wondered this too.


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## LawnShrimp (Sep 4, 2017)

Centipedes are basically unsexable except for the knock-unconscious/squeeze-like-toothpaste method. This is mainly because the only difference between males and females is, well, that they are males and females. A sexed male should be no different from a female and might actually live longer, as laying eggs (fertile or infertile) probably is fairly taxing.

Glad you found a good 'pede, good luck with the buy and shipping!


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## Ratmosphere (Sep 4, 2017)

Think I'm going to go with the bigger, unsexed one. Looks like my dream pede. Thankfully I am going to meet up with the guy selling this at the next expo.

Reactions: Like 2


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