# Ivory Millipede (Chicobolus spinigerus) Reproduction



## MrCrackerpants (Apr 5, 2012)

Anybody had any luck getting the Ivory Millipede (Chicobolus spinigerus) to reproduce? I had 15 but now have 7. I was hoping they would reproduce but no luck so far. I have them at 75 F in a typical millipede set up. The same set up has produced lots of Thai Rainbow millipede babies. Maybe they are like Orthoperus ornatus and have not been reproduced in captivity. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


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## GiantVinegaroon (Apr 6, 2012)

MrCrackerpants said:


> Anybody had any luck getting the Ivory Millipede (Chicobolus spinigerus) to reproduce? I had 15 but now have 7. I was hoping they would reproduce but no luck so far. I have them at 75 F in a typical millipede set up. The same set up has produced lots of Thai Rainbow millipede babies. Maybe they are like Orthoperus ornatus and have not been reproduced in captivity. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


They're supposed to be really easy to breed.  I have 22 kept in the hi 60s low 70s and have yet to see any babies.....then again I try not to dig through the enclosure.


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## MrCrackerpants (Apr 6, 2012)

GiantVinegaroon said:


> They're supposed to be really easy to breed.  I have 22 kept in the hi 60s low 70s and have yet to see any babies.....then again I try not to dig through the enclosure.


Thanks for the reply. What are you feeding them? What is your substrate?


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## GiantVinegaroon (Apr 6, 2012)

MrCrackerpants said:


> Thanks for the reply. What are you feeding them? What is your substrate?


It's 6 inches of sphagnum peat.  they have rotting hardwood and hardwood leaves.  Once in awhile I may give them the super soft spots I find on apples and some calcium powder, but that's it.


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## MrCrackerpants (Apr 6, 2012)

GiantVinegaroon said:


> It's 6 inches of sphagnum peat.  they have rotting hardwood and hardwood leaves.  Once in awhile I may give them the super soft spots I find on apples and some calcium powder, but that's it.


Thanks again for the info. Sounds like my set up.  I am not sure how they died. Maybe they were adults.


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## ArachnidSentinl (Apr 6, 2012)

In my experience, Ivories are really hardy and will breed quite readily on their own. I kept mine in the high 70's and misted them every other day. At the time I was a noob and fed them only romaine lettuce (no hardwood) and they seemed to do just fine. Maybe try a higher humidity?

Who knows, maybe you just have 7 males, lol.

EDIT: I should note for clarity that my six Ivories produced 98 pedelings within six months of me purchasing them.


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## SDCPs (Apr 7, 2012)

Sphagnum moss isn't the best substrate. Forest Humus with leaves and rotting hardwoods it much better.

However, I use peat moss in my mixes to hold a bit of water (since humus was not available.)

Reactions: Agree 1


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## MrCrackerpants (Apr 7, 2012)

Thanks for both of your comments. I am doing all of these things. I wonder if the problem is the massive infestation of isopods and springtails. I am going to decrease their numbers.


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## GregorSamsa (May 5, 2012)

Just discovered that I've got pedelings!  Rough count of about 20 on the surface, can see maybe 20 more buried along the wall of their enclosure. They're freaking adorable (although I did think they were fly larvae at first glance  )

There has been no attempt on my part to breed them. I started with 11 adults last fall (November?), currently have 9 in a 10 or 15 gallon rubbermaid with about 5 inches peat & rotting leaves/wood from my yard. They are at room temp, however it has really been warming up here & we haven't turned on the AC, I'd say the house has been 75 degrees on average over the past 2-3 weeks. They are in a shaded, but not dark spot in our office; which gets lots of traffic from the dogs. Have some ground kibble & calcium powder mixed in the top layer. Sub is not dry, but not moist either. I mist maybe once a month. It tends to be more like 2 weeks before I actually get to replenishing their produce. There are lots of springtails & a few potato bugs in there too. I don't remember the last time I cleaned poop out of there (as you can see in the pics  ), I did turn the soil a few months back.

Some pics from my phone... will post some better ones soon.

Reactions: Like 4 | Wow 1


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## MrCrackerpants (May 5, 2012)

Great job! I will keep trying to get mine to reproduce.


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## GregorSamsa (May 5, 2012)

MrCrackerpants said:


> Great job! I will keep trying to get mine to reproduce.


Thanks- but maybe NOT trying is the way to do it, since that's what I've done 

Oh & I forgot to mention... I gave 10 ivories (from the same order) to my little cousin. I set up their bin exactly the same as mine & gave them my care instructions. And guess what they also discovered _this morning_? Yup, "hundreds of them." How funny. Maybe our batch was gravid from the get go.


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## MrCrackerpants (May 7, 2012)

GregorSamsa said:


> Thanks- but maybe NOT trying is the way to do it, since that's what I've done
> 
> Oh & I forgot to mention... I gave 10 ivories (from the same order) to my little cousin. I set up their bin exactly the same as mine & gave them my care instructions. And guess what they also discovered _this morning_? Yup, "hundreds of them." How funny. Maybe our batch was gravid from the get go.


Wow!! That is awesome.


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## GregorSamsa (Sep 13, 2012)

Figured I should update you folks... The pedelings are growing up! Some are bigger, some are smaller, but you get the idea...


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## zonbonzovi (Sep 13, 2012)

Nice, Gregor.  For all of you that have had success, would you post the dates in which you first set the animals up and the dates that you first noticed offspring?


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## MrCrackerpants (Sep 13, 2012)

Cool picture. I had another one die last week so I am down to 6 out of 12 adults with no reproduction : (.


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## GregorSamsa (Dec 1, 2012)

zonbonzovi said:


> Nice, Gregor.  For all of you that have had success, would you post the dates in which you first set the animals up and the dates that you first noticed offspring?


Whoops sorry I never saw this- I was hibernating for awhile. Ill have to do some digging to find those dates- sadly I wasn't keeping track of the pedes as I so my spiders. Ill get back to ya 





MrCrackerpants said:


> Cool picture. I had another one die last week so I am down to 6 out of 12 adults with no reproduction : (.


Thanks... I'm sorry to hear that you're having a rough time!! Do you know if yours were WC or CB?


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## GregorSamsa (Dec 1, 2012)

Ok well that didn't take long to figure out... I set up 2 identical enclosures on 10/19/11- one with 10 adults, one with 5 adults. Babies were spotted in both enclosures on 5/5/12. And if it makes any difference, the 10 remained in SW PA & the 5 went to VA (just outside of D.C.)

Reactions: Like 1


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## VictorHernandez (Dec 1, 2012)

This is great. I hope my Tyloblus breed.


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## MrCrackerpants (Dec 1, 2012)

Good job everyone. I have 2 ivory millipedes left. I believe they were all WC. The same set up has produced 100s of Thai rainbow millipedes. The Thai rainbows were CB.


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## VictorHernandez (Dec 2, 2012)

Question: what is this WC/CB you speak of?


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## MrCrackerpants (Dec 2, 2012)

VictorHernandez said:


> Question: what is this WC/CB you speak of?


WC: Wild Caught
CB: Captive Bred

: )


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## GregorSamsa (Dec 2, 2012)

Figured I'd share some more baby pictures... They're getting big. Only really seeing a few of the babies at a time now. 

Doing the pede thing...



Cute...


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## VictorHernandez (Dec 2, 2012)

MrCrackerpants said:


> WC: Wild Caught
> CB: Captive Bred
> 
> : )


ahhhhhhh ok. thanks.


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## MrCrackerpants (Dec 3, 2012)

GregorSamsa said:


> Figured I'd share some more baby pictures... They're getting big. Only really seeing a few of the babies at a time now.
> 
> Doing the pede thing...
> View attachment 110761
> ...


Lucky (http://youtu.be/uFN_tBT-xZE) ; )


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## GregorSamsa (Dec 4, 2012)

I shall call the fattest... Tina.


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## shebeen (Dec 4, 2012)

MrCrackerpants said:
			
		

> I wonder if the problem is the massive infestation of isopods and springtails.


Your isopod infestation is most likely the reason you have not seen any offspring.  Chicobolus spinigerus lay eggs between April and June.  A typical clutch will number in the hundreds.  Move your ivories to an isopod free enclosure and next spring you should have better luck.


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## MrCrackerpants (Dec 4, 2012)

shebeen said:


> Your isopod infestation is most likely the reason you have not seen any offspring.  Chicobolus spinigerus lay eggs between April and June.  A typical clutch will number in the hundreds.  Move your ivories to an isopod free enclosure and next spring you should have better luck.


Yes, I did this a while ago. Just waiting now. : ) 

Thanks for your concern.


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## SIMslayer (Dec 28, 2012)

Why would the isopods be a problem? What negative impact do they have?


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## shebeen (Dec 28, 2012)

Isopods will feed on newly hatched and molting immature millipedes.  A handful of isopods in your enclosure pose little threat; even if you do lose a few immatures, millipede egg clutches tend to be large.    However, an enclosure that has a "massive infestation of isopods" is going to be a very dangerous nursery for young millipedes.


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## MrCrackerpants (Dec 31, 2012)

gregorsamsa said:


> i shall call the fattest... Tina.


lol!!!!lol!!!!


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