# Scolopendra gigantea "robusta" behaviour



## danread (Jun 1, 2004)

My Scolopendra gigantea "robusta" that i bought at the BTS a few weeks ago has been showing some unusual behaviour, and i was just wondering if it is typical of the species or something else. Since i bought it, it has been intent on digging into the substrate. About a week and a half ago i moved it into a new tank with a deep substrate. Since then it has dug itself a big chamber under the soil with two entrances at either end. It has now sealed up both the entrances and is just sitting in the chamber it has made (fortunately i can see all this on the back of the tank). It doesn't look like it is about to molt. Has anyone found "robusta" to burrow more than other gigantea species, or could this be a sign of something else (egg laying? please!   ). The other gigantea i bought have all stayed on the surface and have only made small attempts at digging, nothing resembling a burrow though. I would get some pics, but i am trying to keep the disturbance to a minimum just in case it is indeed gravid.

Cheers,


----------



## Steven (Jun 1, 2004)

sealing entrances is indeed a typical behaviour of females who are about to make pede-keepers happy    


hope for the best !


----------



## danread (Jun 1, 2004)

I really hope so! It really is looking like it could be gravid, very very fat, but when i first got it, it was very hungry. I'd be happy if my first breeding success with pedes was with S. gigantea "robusta", we could definitely do with more of them in the hobby.


----------



## Steven (Jun 1, 2004)

gravid females usually eat a whole lot more as usualy before they lay eggs,... to be sure they can survive the 2-3 months they have to watch their eggs and offspring


----------



## El Johano (Jun 1, 2004)

Hi!
I've got 3 S. sp. "gigantea robusta" from Vinmann, they do dig a lot of tunnels, but they also stay on top of the substrate a lot more than any of my other pedes ever have 
The behaviour of yours is, just like Steven said, typical for females about to lay eggs, or possibly moult.... Let's hope for the best   

How large is it?


----------



## danread (Jun 1, 2004)

El Johano said:
			
		

> How large is it?


Probably close to 10", so definitely old enough to be gravid. I'm only going to check on it once a week at the most, i really want to make sure disturbance is kept to a minimum. Has anyone ever tried rearing pede eggs away from the mother? i.e rearing them in an incubator similar to that used for tarantulas. I certainly wouldn't try it for my robusta, but if any of my more common species lays eggs i might give it a try. It is always a shame to hear about so many batches of eggs getting eaten by the mother before they hatch.


----------



## El Johano (Jun 1, 2004)

It has been tried before, check this old thread from back in the days   :
http://www.petbugs.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/myriopods.pl?read=1803

If I remember correctly he managed to get a few of them to hatch, but I think most of them moulded....

BTW there has been "reports" of the young eating the mother soon after they disperse in "robusta" or "gigantea", don't remember which one....


----------



## danread (Jun 1, 2004)

Oh no, you shouldn't have shown me that link, i just spent the last hour and a half reading through old threads when i should be working   
I wonder what happened to all to all those people who were keeping pedes before, have they still got them or have they just quit the hobby? There doesn't seem to be a lot of people with them anymore, or at least not many people posting on messageboards.


----------



## El Johano (Jun 1, 2004)

He he, what can be more important than reading about pedes? Not work anyway  

I've been thinking about the same thing, seems like a lot of people have disappeared since those days


----------

