# Some Questions: Rainbow Millipedes



## SolFeliz (Oct 25, 2017)

So I am planning on buying some tonkinbolus dolfusii (rainbow millipedes), and I had a few questions about them. 
The first is, can they be housed with hissing cockroaches? I have a few hissers, that I was going to transfer into a different tank anyway, and I was wondering if I could just put the millipedes in with them. I've known people to keep archispirostreptus gigas with hissers, and that went fine, but I'm not sure about the rainbow millipedes. I think it would be fine, but I want to be certain. And do you need a heat mat or lamp for them? My roaches don't have one but I'm planning on giving them a heat mat because I've noticed in winter they become quite sluggish.
That's really all I wanted to know, but if you know anything else about them please let me know. 
Thanks!


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## SolFeliz (Oct 25, 2017)

And also, can I get two and will they breed like crazy if I do? I'm not planning on breeding but I don't want one in case it gets lonely. They will probably have a heat mat but it won't be covering the whole tank. This will be my first millipedes and I don't want to have a tank full of tiny millipedes.
No one has replied yet, I'm just sitting here like


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## 7Fin (Oct 25, 2017)

Welcome to the world of millipedes! I'd say your milli's and roaches should be OK, but I'd be cautious as I've heard that the roaches can be damaged by the foul liquid milli's secrete. As for breeding, it's not complicated at all. If you have a mating pair, all you have to do is take care of them well and let 'em rip. If you want to prevent babies then you need to separate the males from the females. Sexing pedes isn't actually too hard, the 7th segment should be replaced with little gonopods on the underside if the pede is a male, and if the pede is female then they should just have an ordinary 7th segment. I find that quick way of sexing is to look for a "gap" in the legs. If you do get babies you can try dropping off some "excess" at a pet store or the like. I've read that dolfusii (of which I might order soon, come to think of it) are a pretty shy species, so they may be underground for quite a while. Obviously, don't dig them up etc. ;3

Reactions: Like 1


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## SolFeliz (Oct 25, 2017)

7Fin said:


> Welcome to the world of millipedes! I'd say your milli's and roaches should be OK, but I'd be cautious as I've heard that the roaches can be damaged by the foul liquid milli's secrete. As for breeding, it's not complicated at all. If you have a mating pair, all you have to do is take care of them well and let 'em rip. If you want to prevent babies then you need to separate the males from the females. Sexing pedes isn't actually too hard, the 7th segment should be replaced with little gonopods on the underside if the pede is a male, and if the pede is female then they should just have an ordinary 7th segment. I find that quick way of sexing is to look for a "gap" in the legs. If you do get babies you can try dropping off some "excess" at a pet store or the like. I've read that dolfusii (of which I might order soon, come to think of it) are a pretty shy species, so they may be underground for quite a while. Obviously, don't dig them up etc. ;3


Thanks! I know someone who keeps pedes and roaches together, so I'm not too worried about it. As for housing, will the size equivalent of a normal glass aquarium be fine? That's a pretty pede you've got there in your pic!!


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## 7Fin (Oct 25, 2017)

SolFeliz said:


> Thanks! I know someone who keeps pedes and roaches together, so I'm not too worried about it. As for housing, will the size equivalent of a normal glass aquarium be fine? That's a pretty pede you've got there in your pic!!


Ya, tokinbolus aren't a massive species, so anything 24 cm long and 12 cm wide should be fine for them. Your average aquarium is probably a good bit bigger than this, so you're probably good. Before you set everything up, I can't advise enough the use of some cloth (muslin cloth is both cheap and easy to get you hands on) as an anti-gnat barrier. Once one gets in, they multiply until they are all over your house. The pede in my picture is my female centrobolus sp.. They're an awesome species, really active and super pretty. :3


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## Serpyderpy (Oct 25, 2017)

Give them quite a bit of space, as with any community tank or exhibit, I have a feeling they may bully one another if they feel cramped. The only thing I'd be concerned about are roaches possibly taking a nibble on molting millipedes and vice versa, with all the horror stories I have seen on crickets eating tarantula slings, do not rule out the fact that your roaches may eat your millipedes, especially since hissers are a lot bigger than rainbow millipedes. Hissers possibly worked with African giants because of the size and similar mass. Maybe you could go with a small species of roach, like ghosts or headlights?

Reactions: Agree 1


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## SolFeliz (Oct 25, 2017)

7Fin said:


> Ya, tokinbolus aren't a massive species, so anything 24 cm long and 12 cm wide should be fine for them. Your average aquarium is probably a good bit bigger than this, so you're probably good. Before you set everything up, I can't advise enough the use of some cloth (muslin cloth is both cheap and easy to get you hands on) as an anti-gnat barrier. Once one gets in, they multiply until they are all over your house. The pede in my picture is my female centrobolus sp.. They're an awesome species, really active and super pretty. :3


Yeah, we don't have gnats here, thank goodness, but we do have fruit flies. And moths. And I don't even know how they get in there!! Like, I'll be lifting up my roaches log, and what seems like thousands of tiny moths come flying out into my face! I was considering getting a mantis to control the moth population! I'll have some kind of cloth over the top, to stop humidity and curious insects escaping, and to keep out said moths!


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## SolFeliz (Oct 25, 2017)

Serpyderpy said:


> Give them quite a bit of space, as with any community tank or exhibit, I have a feeling they may bully one another if they feel cramped. The only thing I'd be concerned about are roaches possibly taking a nibble on molting millipedes and vice versa, with all the horror stories I have seen on crickets eating tarantula slings, do not rule out the fact that your roaches may eat your millipedes, especially since hissers are a lot bigger than rainbow millipedes. Hissers possibly worked with African giants because of the size and similar mass. Maybe you could go with a small species of roach, like ghosts or headlights?


Yeah, that would be bad! But I've heard pedes make chambers to moult in, and my roaches are so lazy they wouldn't bother digging, I hope. I'll definitely keep an eye on them if I suspect a moult, and probably take the roaches into another tank while they moult. It will probably only be three to five small hissers, anyway. 
My roaches, I've had them for under a year, got them when they had just had their first moult or around that time, have never moulted in my care, or if they have, they must've eaten real quick! I'm not too worried about them eating each other; they'll both have their own places where they can moult in peace, but I'll definitely keep an eye on them!


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## SolFeliz (Oct 25, 2017)

The only thing I'm really worried about is breeding. The site I'm buying them from says 'Unsexed sub adults- adults', and I'm probably only buying two or three as my first ones, so I'm worried that I'll get a breeding pair. If I do, it'll be a pain to have to separate them, as one would be lonely. If they do breed, how many would it be? I know a woman who would be willing to take some, but if they have loads, I don't know what I'd do with the rest, I wouldn't like to give them to a pet shop; I live in a rural area, we have a pets at home that wouldn't take them anyway, and the other pet shop doesn't sell animals, so the nearest place I could drop them off is a pet shop that's at least a four or five hour drive, but I would trust them to look after them and sell them to good owners.


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## SolFeliz (Oct 25, 2017)

Another question. Since keeping them with roaches is quite a debate, would I be able to house them with A gigas (African giant)? t would be in a regular sized glass aquarium.


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## Serpyderpy (Oct 25, 2017)

They breed and produce a lot of little pedelings. You can tell what gender they are, though, as previously commeted. My millipede is a male because a little way past his head, he has a white 'space' between his legs. Females don't have these. If you buy the rainbows, they may have been housed together and one female may already be gravid. I don't think there's a way to determine if a millipede is pregnant, though, you usually just see little pedelings turn up one day.

I'd say a hisser and an african giant together would work well. A regular sized aquarium is fine but bigger is always better. Make sure that the substrate you use has leaf litter mixed in as millipedes get most of their nutrition from the substrate they eat and ditritus, and make sure it is moist. Misting them would be good, too. Not all millipedes eat veggies but you can tempt them with some if you want.


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## SolFeliz (Oct 26, 2017)

Serpyderpy said:


> They breed and produce a lot of little pedelings. You can tell what gender they are, though, as previously commeted. My millipede is a male because a little way past his head, he has a white 'space' between his legs. Females don't have these. If you buy the rainbows, they may have been housed together and one female may already be gravid. I don't think there's a way to determine if a millipede is pregnant, though, you usually just see little pedelings turn up one day.
> 
> I'd say a hisser and an african giant together would work well. A regular sized aquarium is fine but bigger is always better. Make sure that the substrate you use has leaf litter mixed in as millipedes get most of their nutrition from the substrate they eat and ditritus, and make sure it is moist. Misting them would be good, too. Not all millipedes eat veggies but you can tempt them with some if you want.


Thanks for all the info, but I was actually asking if you could keep the rainbows and the african giants in a tank together? Its quite a size difference but I think it would work.


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## LawnShrimp (Oct 26, 2017)

SolFeliz said:


> If they do breed, how many would it be?


 Hundreds of plings can come from a pair of females and a single male in the space of a year. However, millipedes are easy to sex.


SolFeliz said:


> Thanks for all the info, but I was actually asking if you could keep the rainbows and the african giants in a tank together? Its quite a size difference but I think it would work.


Almost any Spirostreptid and Spirobolid (the round-bodied types)millipedes can be kept together successfully, although if overcrowding becomes an issue, there might be less room for smaller millipedes to molt. 

I think hissers and AGBs would do well together, as both genera would be found in Madagascar (or other, similar large Spirostreptids.)


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## SolFeliz (Oct 27, 2017)

So at Christmas, I think I'll be getting a load of new bugs, and I'm just deciding which I'd like.
How big are giant gold millipedes? Are they in similar size to AGBs? S
Some other millipedes I'm thinking about are: Ivory millipedes, Pink Foot millipedes, Smoky Oak, Giant Gold, Ghana Giant Fire, Purple Banded, Giant Orange and the Rainbow millipedes. These are the only ones I'm considering, and some aren't on the website often, so any information on these breeds would be greatly appreciated.
And would it be possible is I was to get one of three of these species and keep them all in the same tank, so I would choose three or four of these and bought one of each and kept them together. Would they still breed if they are all different species?


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## LawnShrimp (Oct 27, 2017)

SolFeliz said:


> So at Christmas, I think I'll be getting a load of new bugs, and I'm just deciding which I'd like.
> How big are giant gold millipedes? Are they in similar size to AGBs? S
> Some other millipedes I'm thinking about are: Ivory millipedes, Pink Foot millipedes, Smoky Oak, Giant Gold, Ghana Giant Fire, Purple Banded, Giant Orange and the Rainbow millipedes. These are the only ones I'm considering, and some aren't on the website often, so any information on these breeds would be greatly appreciated.


Do you have scientific names for these? I'm not familiar with the common names Giant Fire, Purple Banded, and Giant Orange.
Giant gold could possibly be _Orthoporus ornatus_. It attains a maximum size of around 12 cm, perhaps larger, so it is about half as long as an AGB.
Ivories (_Chicobolus spinigerus_) are some of the hardiest millipedes available, and they make up for their 10 cm max length with great personality and low price tag. Of a similar size, pink foot and smoky oak millipedes (_Narceus americanus_ complex, N. gordanus) are hardy millipedes that breed slower than spinigerus. _N. gordanus_ comes in a variety of color morphs, among them a bright yellow. Rainbows may get a little larger than the previously stated species, but there are several millipedes known as rainbows, and they all look somewhat similat to one another: genera _Aulacobolus_ and _Tonkinbolus_ are both a bright white with red lines. _Aputhes_ is a more uniform grey.


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## SolFeliz (Oct 27, 2017)

LawnShrimp said:


> Do you have scientific names for these? I'm not familiar with the common names Giant Fire, Purple Banded, and Giant Orange.
> Giant gold could possibly be _Orthoporus ornatus_. It attains a maximum size of around 12 cm, perhaps larger, so it is about half as long as an AGB.
> Ivories (_Chicobolus spinigerus_) are some of the hardiest millipedes available, and they make up for their 10 cm max length with great personality and low price tag. Of a similar size, pink foot and smoky oak millipedes (_Narceus americanus_ complex, N. gordanus) are hardy millipedes that breed slower than spinigerus. _N. gordanus_ comes in a variety of color morphs, among them a bright yellow. Rainbows may get a little larger than the previously stated species, but there are several millipedes known as rainbows, and they all look somewhat similat to one another: genera _Aulacobolus_ and _Tonkinbolus_ are both a bright white with red lines. _Aputhes_ is a more uniform grey.


Giant Fire: Pelmatojulus ligulatus  Purple Banded: Thyropygus sp   Giant Orange: Thyropygus sp. The giant gold is actually Orthroporus ornatus.


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## LawnShrimp (Oct 27, 2017)

SolFeliz said:


> Giant Fire: Pelmatojulus ligulatus  Purple Banded: Thyropygus sp   Giant Orange: Thyropygus sp. The giant gold is actually Orthroporus ornatus.


Ah, ok. _P. ligulatus_ are very thick, prolific Spirobolids and attain a large size for this order. Thyropygus is a diverge genus that has many nice colors. They are probably closest to AGBs in size. I'd say either of these would be a good choice, or rainbows for smaller species.

If you are planning on breeding millipedes, be aware that nobody (maybe but not definitely 1 person) has produced . plings in captivity.


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## SolFeliz (Oct 27, 2017)

LawnShrimp said:


> Ah, ok. _P. ligulatus_ are very thick, prolific Spirobolids and attain a large size for this order. Thyropygus is a diverge genus that has many nice colors. They are probably closest to AGBs in size. I'd say either of these would be a good choice, or rainbows for smaller species.
> 
> If you are planning on breeding millipedes, be aware that nobody (maybe but not definitely 1 person) has produced . plings in captivity.


Really?! So I don't have to worry about breeding?
And also, I'm presuming its okay then to keep one of each species in a tank? The line up for the ones I'll probably get are: 1 P. ligulatus, 1 AGB, and two ivories, but that may change.


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## LawnShrimp (Oct 28, 2017)

SolFeliz said:


> Really?! So I don't have to worry about breeding?
> And also, I'm presuming its okay then to keep one of each species in a tank? The line up for the ones I'll probably get are: 1 P. ligulatus, 1 AGB, and two ivories, but that may change.


It should be fine to house them alone, but I find that millipedes enjoy company. Besides, even two millipedes housed together could produce a herd of plings within a few months. Breeding conditions is the same as living conditions! All they need is old wood, dead leaves, and plenty of treats like cucumber or apple. 

My personal choice would be to buy 3-5 of only one species at a time and breed them. Then once I could afford to but more, I'd buy another 3-5 of a different species, and so on. Do whatever you want, though. If breeding is not your top priority, get one of each!


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## SolFeliz (Oct 28, 2017)

LawnShrimp said:


> It should be fine to house them alone, but I find that millipedes enjoy company. Besides, even two millipedes housed together could produce a herd of plings within a few months. Breeding conditions is the same as living conditions! All they need is old wood, dead leaves, and plenty of treats like cucumber or apple.
> 
> My personal choice would be to buy 3-5 of only one species at a time and breed them. Then once I could afford to but more, I'd buy another 3-5 of a different species, and so on. Do whatever you want, though. If breeding is not your top priority, get one of each!


Yes, I think I'm going to get one of each, probably about four or five pedes, so I don't have to worry about breeding!!


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## Learnerlisa (Jun 4, 2018)

7Fin said:


> Welcome to the world of millipedes! I'd say your milli's and roaches should be OK, but I'd be cautious as I've heard that the roaches can be damaged by the foul liquid milli's secrete. As for breeding, it's not complicated at all. If you have a mating pair, all you have to do is take care of them well and let 'em rip. If you want to prevent babies then you need to separate the males from the females. Sexing pedes isn't actually too hard, the 7th segment should be replaced with little gonopods on the underside if the pede is a male, and if the pede is female then they should just have an ordinary 7th segment. I find that quick way of sexing is to look for a "gap" in the legs. If you do get babies you can try dropping off some "excess" at a pet store or the like. I've read that dolfusii (of which I might order soon, come to think of it) are a pretty shy species, so they may be underground for quite a while. Obviously, don't dig them up etc. ;3


Nothing shy about my ones lol they mated on top of soil and she has been scoffing her face ever since lol


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## 7Fin (Jun 4, 2018)

Learnerlisa said:


> Nothing shy about my ones lol they mated on top of soil and she has been scoffing her face ever since lol


Funnily enough, I actually KEEP dofussi now. He goes through phases of staying underground for eternities, and then staying up for months on end trying to mate with everything that moves.


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