# Centipede Enclosure



## Peter_Parker (Apr 23, 2006)

Just wanted to get you guys' opinion on the new habitat I'm setting up for the s. subspinipes I'm getting soon.  Is it an accurate potrayal of this species' natural habitat?  Just one more question:  Does the species do a lot of climbing?  I saw a discovery channel show with a centipede in it chasing an iguana around in a bigger and a lot more elaborate enclosure, but it was climbing all around on the sticks and stuff. I'll add more pics as I finish it, and if any of you guys have interesting pics of how you keep your pedes, it would really help me out.  Thanks


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## Gigas (Apr 23, 2006)

lol its like a walk in the jungle (kinda) complete with foot path , nice touch witht the info thingy


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## Peter_Parker (Apr 23, 2006)

*info thingy*

yeah I like to put little information things on each of the display tanks because I do little nature presentations and teach the neighborhood kids/the kids in my youth group about the different critters.  I want to make it more "jungle-y"  but I need to find a source of that moss that grows really fast and covers everything in a short time


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## maxident213 (Apr 23, 2006)

Kinda hard to tell the depth of the substrate, but it looks like a beautiful set-up to me, nice job.


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## Gigas (Apr 23, 2006)

a nice moss is Kyoto moss i believe you can order it off the interweb it grows at a resonable speed but assuming ur not gonna change the tank around eerymonth it would be something to look into


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## Peter_Parker (Apr 23, 2006)

maxident213 said:
			
		

> Kinda hard to tell the depth of the substrate, but it looks like a beautiful set-up to me, nice job.


At its deepest point, the substrate is about 1.5-2 inches deep.  Should it be deeper?  Thanks for the compliment


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## cacoseraph (Apr 23, 2006)

Peter_Parker said:
			
		

> At its deepest point, the substrate is about 1.5-2 inches deep.  Should it be deeper?  Thanks for the compliment


i would make the substrate at least 4" or more. centipedes should be thought of as burrowers or obligate burrowers


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## Peter_Parker (Apr 23, 2006)

Good advice, I'm switching the tank around again anyway, since I just bought some new plants to go in it, and they need extra bedding as well


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## swatc1h (Apr 23, 2006)

Nice. I had a peice of wood like that but in the following days it fungus up badly, i just stick to rubbermaid containers. BTW in the upper left hand side of yr tank what sp yr getting yo and where did you obtain that cool sticker.


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## Scolopendra55 (Apr 23, 2006)

Nice lookin set up!! Though I would also recomend deeper substrate.


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## Peter_Parker (Apr 23, 2006)

swatc1h said:
			
		

> Nice. I had a peice of wood like that but in the following days it fungus up badly, i just stick to rubbermaid containers. BTW in the upper left hand side of yr tank what sp yr getting yo and where did you obtain that cool sticker.


I'm getting s. subspinipes, the "classic" vietnamese.  I made the sticker on paint shop pro, I make them for all my different displays, I think it gives it more of a zoo-like feel


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## cacoseraph (Apr 24, 2006)

Peter_Parker said:
			
		

> I'm getting s. subspinipes, the "classic" vietnamese.  I made the sticker on paint shop pro, I make them for all my different displays, I think it gives it more of a zoo-like feel


i think the way my room smells gives it a zoo-like feel (or smell)


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## Peter_Parker (Apr 24, 2006)

*lol*



			
				cacoseraph said:
			
		

> i think the way my room smells gives it a zoo-like feel (or smell)


LMAO I know the feeling (and the smell  ).  Here's a pic of the updated setup with deeper substrate and a few more little decorations:


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## Voracious (Apr 25, 2006)

Looks great!  That's almost zoo-quality.  I'll probably ask YOUR advice when my wife decides I can keep scolo's! ;-)


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## arachnocat (Apr 25, 2006)

Your tank looks beautiful! I love the little path you made with the rocks. 
I like to try to put my bugs in natural habitats too. I just set up my tank for a S. subspinipes. I've had him for about a week and he hasn't burrowed yet. He uses his little cave which is cool. Sometimes he brings his food up on top of the plants to eat it but unfortunately he's broken a few of the plants by doing that. lol. 
Here's a pic of my little jungle tank. It's just a 10 gallon with about 4" of substrate. On the right you can see his tail and one of the broken plants:


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## Peter_Parker (Apr 25, 2006)

xenobug said:
			
		

> Your tank looks beautiful! I love the little path you made with the rocks.
> I like to try to put my bugs in natural habitats too. I just set up my tank for a S. subspinipes. I've had him for about a week and he hasn't burrowed yet. He uses his little cave which is cool. Sometimes he brings his food up on top of the plants to eat it but unfortunately he's broken a few of the plants by doing that. lol.
> Here's a pic of my little jungle tank. It's just a 10 gallon with about 4" of substrate. On the right you can see his tail and one of the broken plants:


Your setup is excellent!  I like looking at pictures of different people's enclosures because each one is unique and has some of the maker's personality in it!  My scolo is due to arrive either tommorow or thursday, so when he/she comes I will post a new pic of it in the setup and see if its functional as well as beautiful


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## maxident213 (Apr 26, 2006)

xenobug said:
			
		

> Your tank looks beautiful! I love the little path you made with the rocks.
> I like to try to put my bugs in natural habitats too. I just set up my tank for a S. subspinipes. I've had him for about a week and he hasn't burrowed yet. He uses his little cave which is cool. Sometimes he brings his food up on top of the plants to eat it but unfortunately he's broken a few of the plants by doing that. lol.
> Here's a pic of my little jungle tank. It's just a 10 gallon with about 4" of substrate. On the right you can see his tail and one of the broken plants:


Your tank is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen!  Great work!  :clap: 

You should post more pics, ones that show your pede better.


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## Peter_Parker (Apr 27, 2006)

*They're here.... *

Heh heh, my pedes came today      I got an extra freebie with my order so I'm gonna either put together a similar setup for it or trade it for another species.  I'll post pics of her in her new home, but shes currently hiding under one of the logs so I'll see if I can coax her out with food.


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## Peter_Parker (Apr 28, 2006)

*Here she is!*

Here she is in the setup when I first put her in.  Since then she has burrowed under the substrate and hasn't been seen since


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## Peter_Parker (Apr 28, 2006)

Here's a pic of her tail end as she was diggin'


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## arachnocat (Apr 28, 2006)

Wow! She's beautiful! The moss in your tank looks great. Mine still hasn't burrowed yet. I wonder if my substrate is too hard. It's just potting soil. What kind of substrate did you use?


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## Peter_Parker (Apr 28, 2006)

*substrate*



			
				xenobug said:
			
		

> Wow! She's beautiful! The moss in your tank looks great. Mine still hasn't burrowed yet. I wonder if my substrate is too hard. It's just potting soil. What kind of substrate did you use?


I used potting soil as well, but it has some sphagum moss and a little sand mixed in as well, and some of that "eco-earth" coconut stuff.  I figure that all that will help the moss and the plants grow, as well as make the pede's tunnels more stable.


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## dirtborder4life (Apr 28, 2006)

*pede*

Can I ask where you bought it from?


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## Peter_Parker (Apr 28, 2006)

I bought her from a seller in michigan named John Apple, he's really easy to deal with and very helpful.  You should be able to find a thread on the sellers w/o websites portion of this site if you do a search.


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## maxident213 (Apr 29, 2006)

Dude that is one of the prettiest pedes I have seen, great colour!   

@xenobug:

The Venus' Flytraps in your tank are a very cool touch, I forgot they grow in peat bogs, I guess they would grow well enough in peat moss....   Or would potting soil be better?  You seem to know your plants, may I ask how easy the Venus are to grow?  Would they be difficult to set up/maintain in a scorp or pede enclosure? :?


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## arachnocat (May 1, 2006)

They're actually begonias growing in there although I am going to get some venus fly traps and other bog plants to replace the begonias with. Venus fly traps are pretty easy to grow, but they need high humidity so as long as you have a bug that likes humidity you should be fine. I get my plants from a place called California Carnivores: http://www.californiacarnivores.com/
As long as your bug is too big to get "trapped" it should be ok. Just don't put any sticky plants in there like sundews. 
Pedes seem to like to climb on the plants a lot so you should find ones that are pretty sturdy. Venus fly traps can be a bit delicate.
Here is a website with a list of non carnivorous bog plants you could try: http://www.backyardgardener.com/bog/index.html


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## maxident213 (May 1, 2006)

Awesome man, thanks very much!


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## BugBoyX (May 2, 2006)

Thing you have to be careful though with Venus Flytraps is if you want them to live for a long time, you have to hibernate them.  They're a temperate plant and if not given a period of decreased temp., light and moisture they'll eventually just exhaust themselves and die.  I've had one growing now for almost 21 years.  Every winter it goes down in my basement, and every spring, summer and fall....it sits out on my deck and grubs on passing by bugs and soaks up the sun.    Also you have to watch what water you use for them....you want to use RO or distilled or rain water for them.  The minerals in regular tap water will eventually kill them.  Hope this helps, I just love my VFT, it's like another pet!


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## maxident213 (May 2, 2006)

Thanks man!


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## Peter_Parker (May 7, 2006)

*update*

here's a photo update on the pede nicknamed "Pode" by the kids (lol).


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## Galapoheros (May 7, 2006)

That is a nice, thick centipede!  Looks wider than most I've seen.  Very nice setup.



			
				BugBoyX said:
			
		

> Thing you have to be careful though with Venus Flytraps is if you want them to live for a long time, you have to hibernate them.  They're a temperate plant and if not given a period of decreased temp., light and moisture they'll eventually just exhaust themselves and die.  I've had one growing now for almost 21 years.  Every winter it goes down in my basement, and every spring, summer and fall....it sits out on my deck and grubs on passing by bugs and soaks up the sun.    Also you have to watch what water you use for them....you want to use RO or distilled or rain water for them.  The minerals in regular tap water will eventually kill them.  Hope this helps, I just love my VFT, it's like another pet!


 .  21 years!  That's awesome!  I think I've had mine 4 years now.  I just keep them outside here in Tx.  Have them in a big container that sits in a tub of water.  They are blooming now.  Haven't seen any seeds though.  Wondering if they aren't fertile(?).  Got most of them from Home Depot.  Ha, 21 years, that's encouraging.


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## Peter_Parker (May 9, 2006)

*even more...*

Lol, last night she came out and sat on the log with her jaws outstretched, I guess waiting for prey, so I had the prime opportunity for pix.  The only downside I'm seeing to this setup is that it may be TOO naturalistic; I only see the pede when she wanders around hunting during the wee hours of the night.  I guess thats a good thing, though since it probly makes her feel more at home  

note: you can see she did a number on the moss while she was burrowing around in there :wall:


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## maxident213 (May 10, 2006)

Man, that is a STELLAR-looking pede.  That first pic is my new desktop.   

Good to see the girl's doing well...


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## Peter_Parker (May 11, 2006)

maxident213 said:
			
		

> Man, that is a STELLAR-looking pede.  That first pic is my new desktop.
> 
> Good to see the girl's doing well...


Heh heh, thanks for the compliments   So far so good, i will keep you guys informed.  I hope to get a better camera soon to take some really good shots to share, if I can scrounge up the cash


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## BugBoyX (May 12, 2006)

Galapoheros said:
			
		

> .  21 years!  That's awesome!  I think I've had mine 4 years now.  I just keep them outside here in Tx.  Have them in a big container that sits in a tub of water.  They are blooming now.  Haven't seen any seeds though.  Wondering if they aren't fertile(?).  Got most of them from Home Depot.  Ha, 21 years, that's encouraging.



Yeah mine just came from a local nursery.  Mine are also getting spikes on them too....but I cut them off.  I've heard they can have an exhausting affect on the plant.  Mine tend to divide a lot as is, so every other year when I repot them, I usually end up with lots of offshoots.  I think there are little clones of my flytrap all over the place now, with as many as I've give away!


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