# My new Narceus Americanus and inter-species terrarium



## satchellwk (Sep 5, 2011)

Well, I had a wild-caught narceus americanus a few months ago, but, because I couldnt find a mate for her, I ended up releasing her. However, I had kinda been regretting the decision, and have had a renwed interest in millipedes. It just so happens that about a month ago, I found a sub adult female narceus near my house. I had nothing else to do, so I went to where I saw her, and, somehow, she was under the exact same rock a month later. I brought her home and set up a terrarium for her in a 2.5 gallon critter keeper. Also in this terrarium, I'm going to try to have a multi-species enclosure. I have a half-coconut hide that 4 cave crickets hide in during the day. I'm also going to try to breed some isopods in here that I can put in other terrariums. I have both sow bugs and pill bugs (rolly pollies) in there, would either work as good detrivores? I also stuck a few snails and slugs in there, since they are easy to care forand shouldnt hurt anything. 
I also plan to add more millipedes in the future, including more narceus, some ivorys, bublebees, and scarlets (I plan to collect a few in florida this fall and try to breed them). When I do this, I will probable remove the crickets, or move the pedes to something bigger just to prevent overcrowding. 
Does anyone think that I will have any problems with this setup? 


Here are some pics:


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## catfishrod69 (Sep 5, 2011)

cool setup...only thing i could see going wrong is the cave crickets eating everyone else..


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## zonbonzovi (Sep 7, 2011)

Nice.  I have a similar setup with several native millipede species.  As suggested previously, it may be wise to remove the isopods if you intend to have offspring.  Not sure if anyone has witnessed eggs being eaten by them, but better safe than sorry until it's verified.


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## satchellwk (Sep 7, 2011)

Thanks!
About the crickets, I know what you're getting at, but my problem is that I have very limited space to set up a new enclosure, and even if I were to be unable to breed more isopods, there are still a million more in my back yard for free that I can get anytime. And, like I said, whenever I expand my millipede collection extensively, they will be seperated. Thanks for the concern, though. 

Also, I found another narceus last night. It's about the same size as the other, and I think that it's a female, but I can't be certain; she/he is really shy and rolls up whenever I try to look at her/his underside. 
I was wondering, though, at about what size do they become sexually mature? 

Also, zonbonzovi, I'm curious, what all species do you keep in this enclosure? Could you post some pics?


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## zonbonzovi (Sep 7, 2011)

satchellwk said:


> Also, I found another narceus last night. It's about the same size as the other, and I think that it's a female, but I can't be certain; she/he is really shy and rolls up whenever I try to look at her/his underside.
> I was wondering, though, at about what size do they become sexually mature?
> 
> Also, zonbonzovi, I'm curious, what all species do you keep in this enclosure? Could you post some pics?


For sexing, check out the underside of the millipede, 7th segment.  The "legs" will be modified or absent.  You'll probably need at least a hand lens for the smaller species.  

I'm keeping Narceus americanus, Anadenobolus monilicornis, Chicobolus spinigerus, & a few unidentified black 'pedes from Arizona.  The enclosure is just a plastic storage bin w/ a food dish & rotted hardwood mixed into the substrate...not very pretty, lol.

Alabama, huh?  Keep an eye out for some of those beautiful flat millipedes you have around there.


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## satchellwk (Sep 7, 2011)

Thanks!
Can you be more specific on  these 'flat millipedes'? I've seen lots of flat millipedes before, and some have been exceptionally large (I remeber finding one that was about as wide as a half-dollar many, many years ago), but never any with any above average colors. The most common ones are brown with a dull yellowish creme underside. 
I have seen Euryurus leachii before that have some nice orange dots, but they're pretty tiny. 

By the way, that millipede in your pic is really nice, do you have any of them?


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## zonbonzovi (Sep 7, 2011)

Euryurus leachii is a great example of what I mean by flat millipedes.  By flat, I mean virtually anything in the Order Polydesmida.  There are many species in your region and the U.S in general but very little success getting offspring or even keeping them alive for that matter.  

That photo is of Haraphe haydeniana- one of our locals.  I'm resisting the urge to collect any more than the dozen or so I have until I see progress on this latest batch.  7 months in from the collection date and they're doing great(knock on a large slab of wood), but I won't consider it a success unless they reproduce.

If you come across any, there are a handful of us around here that love to gawk at Polys so do share!


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## satchellwk (Sep 7, 2011)

Sure thing!
I plan to take a little excursion this weekend to find V. carolinianus scorpions and maybe some more Narceus (hopefully a male or two) and I'll be sure to keep my eyes open for some flat pedes.


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## catfishrod69 (Sep 8, 2011)

here are the kentucky flats we have around here


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## zonbonzovi (Sep 8, 2011)

Apheloria, a pretty one.  They seem to come in different flavors depending on where you're from.  Any distinct habitat features(esp. forest type, tree species) that you noted when this was found?  Would love to try my hand with them if successful w/ Haraphe.  

Sorry for muddying up your thread, satchellwk...


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## satchellwk (Sep 8, 2011)

zonbonzovi said:


> Sorry for muddying up your thread, satchellwk...


No problem. I'm happy that there is actually a discussion going on in my thread, and not just me posting pictures and people saying "that's nice".

Thats a pretty pede there catfishrod. It would be awesome if you could try to successfully raise some in captivity and get them to breed.


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## catfishrod69 (Sep 8, 2011)

yea...i see them all the time, especially when im bass fishing the strip pits during a rainy day...you should have them around you i imagine..


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## satchellwk (Sep 8, 2011)

Yeah, we have some similar ones down here, but I never see them out walking, they're almost always under rotting logs.


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## catfishrod69 (Sep 8, 2011)

yeah...i always just see them on rainy days....the one in the pic i thought about keeping, but turned it loose because i knew it would lead to mite problems


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## zonbonzovi (Sep 9, 2011)

satchellwk said:


> Yeah, we have some similar ones down here, but I never see them out walking, they're almost always under rotting logs.


What kind of trees are we talking about for future reference?


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## satchellwk (Sep 9, 2011)

zonbonzovi said:


> What kind of trees are we talking about for future reference?


Oak, which is pretty much 70% of the trees down here.


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