# What's your longest lived centipede?



## Wade (Jun 11, 2004)

I feel like I started a thead on this topic a long time ago, but using the search function I was unable to find it (maybe the really old ones drop off??). Anyway, there's alot of different folks here so I think I'll ask it again.

What's the longest period of time you've ever kept a centipede alive? Be sure to mention how big it was when you got it, especially if it was a "pling". Also, be sure to mention things like egg laying and molts if you recorded them. 

I'm asking because I recently had an S. subspinipes die that I haven't had all that long. While in my care, she did lay eggs (and ate them  ) . I'm trying to get a better feel of the real life span of these critters. I've heard numbers as low as 3 to as high as 10 for them, but I think most of these are hobbyists "guestimates" at best. My thinking right now is that when when centipedes reach reproductive age they may live only 2 or 3 years more, on average. Possibly less for some species, maybe more for others.

When I purchased this particular centipede, it was at a show and I picked out the biggest one they had. Recently, I got two more, but this time I got the smallest ones, hoping for improved longevity. We'll see how that goes.

Thanks for your input!

Wade


----------



## danread (Jun 11, 2004)

Thats a really good question Wade. I've heard all sorts of estimates for age, but it seems likely that most of them are based on guesses. 
I don't have much information to give you, as i've only been in the hobby for a few years. The big 'Mau Chai' subspinipes i had, i owned for aproximately one year before it died, but i know the previous owner had had it for roughly 4 years, and i don't know what size it was when he got it. So we know they can live for at least 5 years. I think mine was a male, so it is possible there is a difference in lifespans of males and females.
I bought it on the 20/01/2003, it molted on the 02/05/2003, again on the 07/12/2003, and it died on the 17/01/2004 (wow, almost 1 year exactly!).
I agree with the policy of buying smaller pedes and letting them grow up, its far more satisfying to own a pede right from when it was a pedeling til adult size. Its just shame there arent more plings on the market.
btw, what pedes do you have Wade? are these your first or have you had them before?

Cheers,


----------



## Wade (Jun 11, 2004)

No, these aren't my first. I've been keeping them since like 1998, I think. I've probably had 6 or so subspinipes over the years. I've also kept S. gigantea (way back when they were available over here), S. heros (I collected a beautiful "arizonensis" myself once), S. polymorpha (lots of them, found a great place to collect them in AZ), and an Allipes sp. Some of the early ones probably died of inadaquate care when I was starting out, but it seems like even when everything seems right, 1 to 2 years seems to be the average for adults, although I've had polymorpha live more than 3, which would be my personal best.

Wade

My current collection consistes of S. subspinipes, S. polymorpha, Hemiscolopendra marginata, and a couple of unidentified natives.


----------



## danread (Jun 11, 2004)

You've had a really good collection at one time or another. I'm jealous of the fact that you can go pede collecting in your own country, i think the biggest centipede we have in the UK is about an inch long! The thought of being able to collect S.heros from the wild is a good one. Have you had any luck with breeding any of your pedes? I'd be tempted, if i had large numbers of pedes that i could collect, to try letting them live communally in large tanks and see if that increases breeding success.

Cheers,


----------



## Wade (Jun 11, 2004)

If I can ever get out west again and collect S. polmorpha I'd like to try breeding them. The Sonoran desert form of S. heros is often hard to come by, I only lucked into one while road cruising. If I got annother one, I'd be real reluctant to risk it. The risk involved is too much for me with such a precious specimen, especially when there's no reliable way to sex them! Loosing the one was rough, it was an awsome pede, over 8", bright orange with glossy black head and "tail". It lived for about a year. Towards the end, it developed a kind of "leg rot" on it's front legs. I suspect a fungus from overly-damp conditions, but old age was a possibility since it was so large. It was at that time that I began to seriously change my centipede husbandry practices. I think I was keeping them too damp.

Maybe after more people sucessfully raise babies from WC females there will be more on hand and the risk of breeding won't seem as extreme. 

Wade

Here's a pic of the S. heros


----------



## danread (Jun 11, 2004)

Ah, that really is a beautiful pede, they are never available in the UK to my knowledege, and it's a real shame. 
I agree with the problem of risking pedes to be able to mate them, and it isn't something i could do unless i had lots of them at a low cost. Each and every one of the pedes i own at the moment are my prized possessions, and the thought of one geting munched by the other is not good. I know steven is trying to pair off some of his species, and as far as i know, he hasn't lost any yet (Steven?). That is one of the reasons i am so keen to get hold of a few S.s.mutilans, i think they are the perfect pede to attempt to get the hang of breeding with. The fact that they will tolerate each other in the same tank is a massive headstart when it comes to trying to get fertile eggs. I'm not sure, but i think the ones that cottonsheep was selling were captive farmed (more than likely for chinese medicine; they powder them up for traditional remedies!), and they must be breeding them in large numbers over there for them to be so cheap.

Cheers,


----------



## Steven (Jun 11, 2004)

danread said:
			
		

> I know steven is trying to pair off some of his species, and as far as i know, he hasn't lost any yet (Steven?)


correct,... i place 2 pedes in a big tall container,.. and keep very focused on their reactions,.... usualy when they touch eachother and they jump back,.... it's a sign to remove them seperate as quick as you can,... when they touch eachother and the 2 don't seem to care or even crawl on to eachother i take the risk to let them stay 2 days in the same enclosure,... so far only a couple of "vanuata's" and cormochephalus were nice to eachother,.. 

back on topic :
longest living pede i know of = 6 years 
(my friends Gigantea,... as seen in the other tread  )
it's still alive and kicking,... so :}


----------



## Wade (Jun 12, 2004)

gongyles said:
			
		

> back on topic :
> longest living pede i know of = 6 years
> (my friends Gigantea,... as seen in the other tread  )
> it's still alive and kicking,... so :}


Was it full grown when he got it?

Wade

Edit: Checked the other thread, the answer was there. Obviously, not fully grown at time of purchase. It'll be interesting to see how long it lives from here!


----------



## Steven (Jun 12, 2004)

Wade

you've answered your own question   
aprox 6 cm at purchase,... at present over 25cm and starting to grow more in thickness instead of length  :}


----------



## danread (Jun 12, 2004)

Steven, do you know if it is a male or a female? And if it is female, has it ever produced eggs?


----------



## Steven (Jun 12, 2004)

danread said:
			
		

> Steven, do you know if it is a male or a female? And if it is female, has it ever produced eggs?


dunno,... never has been a witness of egglaying 
(doens't mean it hasn't occured )

time will tell i guess


----------



## Sean (May 13, 2005)

Steven said:
			
		

> correct,... i place 2 pedes in a big tall container,.. and keep very focused on their reactions,.... usualy when they touch eachother and they jump back,.... it's a sign to remove them seperate as quick as you can,... when they touch eachother and the 2 don't seem to care or even crawl on to eachother i take the risk to let them stay 2 days in the same enclosure,... so far only a couple of "vanuata's" and cormochephalus were nice to eachother,..
> 
> back on topic :
> longest living pede i know of = 6 years
> ...



Its been almost 1 year...Is it still alive?


----------



## Ythier (May 14, 2005)

Hi,
I received an adult (about 25cm) S.subspinipes in 1998, and it is still alive. So it has probably about 9 years now.
Cheers,
Eric


----------



## Randolph XX() (May 14, 2005)

Ythier said:
			
		

> Hi,
> I received an adult (about 25cm) S.subspinipes in 1998, and it is still alive. So it has probably about 9 years now.
> Cheers,
> Eric


WOWWOW
pics plzplzplz, also how big is it NOW?


----------



## RottweilExpress (Jul 19, 2006)

An old thread reawakened in the quest for answers regarding growth rates on males-females and lifespans male-females.


----------



## bistrobob85 (Jul 19, 2006)

Thanks for bringing it back up . I'd be truly interested in knowing how long centipedes can live... As for me, every specimen in my collection is bought as a 'pedeling and all feeding/molting/rehousing data is saved on my computer... Unfortunatly, i only started in november so my infos arent very valuable yet. So, what happened to the centipedes you guys were talking about, are they still alive?

 phil.


----------



## Tony92 (Sep 18, 2006)

Same here, I'd be very interested in hearing how long some species of pedes live for, I purchased 3 S subspinipes barbados pedelings back in early August 2006, so I've started to keep a growth record of their development & moulting cycles, providing I can spot them before they eat them that is, will be interesting to see how long they can actually live for though, but compared to some T's I would imagine its a lot less, poss 10 years max ?


----------



## Steven (Sep 18, 2006)

Steven said:


> longest living pede i know of = 6 years
> (my friends Gigantea,... as seen in the other tread  )
> it's still alive and kicking,... so :}


and after 2 almost 3 years now it's still alive,...
making it 8-9 years 

i believe 10 years will be the max,... unfortunally


----------



## jayer10 (Nov 2, 2006)

Steven said:


> correct,... i place 2 pedes in a big tall container,.. and keep very focused on their reactions,.... usualy when they touch eachother and they jump back,.... it's a sign to remove them seperate as quick as you can,... when they touch eachother and the 2 don't seem to care or even crawl on to eachother i take the risk to let them stay 2 days in the same enclosure,... so far only a couple of "vanuata's" and cormochephalus were nice to eachother,..
> 
> back on topic :
> longest living pede i know of = 6 years
> ...


it's been about 2 years is it still alive? just curious. Maybe the bigger species live longer.


----------



## jayer10 (Nov 2, 2006)

didn't know you already answered that sry.


----------



## nissan480 (Nov 3, 2006)

my puerto rican giant was purchased from swifts on 8/18/03 at a length of 7 to 8 inches.he's grown to 10+ inches since then and am wondering what kind of time it take's to reach 7 inches.this would give an idea of how old he/she is.

thanks


----------



## CopperInMyVeins (Nov 3, 2006)

I would guess at least 3 or 4 years to reach 7 inches.


----------



## 236260 (Nov 5, 2006)

I have a subspinipes that I acquired nine months ago. It has grown from five inches to 6 1/2 inches. It was six inches long at the five month mark.

I have a five and a half inch Malaysian Cherry Red. I will keep tabs on growth here.

I also have three heros at 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches. I will also chart their growth here.

I do not expect my scutigera to grow anymore.


----------



## Merfolk (Apr 26, 2007)

How about sexual differences. Are males far outlived by females like with Tarantulas????


----------



## Stylopidae (Apr 26, 2007)

Merfolk said:


> How about sexual differences. Are males far outlived by females like with Tarantulas????


We have no clue. The only we can reliably sex females is to see if they lay eggs. There is no 100% sure fire way to sex a male for most species.

I have a S. heros specimen I picked up at arachnocon last year. The most it could have grown is half an inch or so or else I would have noticed a difference. I don't even think it grew that much.

So, based on that growth rate at the 10 year estimated lifespan it will max out at six inches and then die.

I think some species might live a bit longer than we think...maybe within the neighborhood of 15 years.


----------



## cacoseraph (Apr 26, 2007)

Cheshire said:


> We have no clue. The only we can reliably sex females is to see if they lay eggs. There is no 100% sure fire way to sex a male for most species.
> 
> I have a S. heros specimen I picked up at arachnocon last year. The most it could have grown is half an inch or so or else I would have noticed a difference. I don't even think it grew that much.
> 
> ...



i think cheshire is right. i think some species might live considerably longer than 10 years. i also think some species might live less than that.  10 would be a good sort of middle of the road guess

i also think feeding levels would (possibly dramatically) affect the growth speed on longevity. one i tried to test this. i tried to keep half a group from the same clutch real thin and half real fat... but all the skinny ones died


----------



## Galapoheros (Apr 26, 2007)

I would guess that smaller sp are shorter lived too.  I've heard and read lifespan reports of S. heros from 6 to 20 years.  I have around 50 baby S. h. castaneiceps plings from last year and I'm seeing some nutty growth rates.  I'm thinking it's going to get even nuttier when Sept comes along.  I wonder if the larger ones burn out faster, or if it even makes a difference.  Well, as of right now, I have some time on my hands.  I wonder how long I'll ride this.  When I started the hobby again a little over two years ago, I caught a few adults and they are still going strong.  I've caught and kept several adults since then and I haven't had any die yet.  Right now I have 10 adults.  I'll try to remember to report in this thread when the first one kicks over.


----------

