# Scolopendra subspinipes - basic questions



## Lummi (Mar 20, 2013)

Hello,

I read a lot about Scolopendra subspinipes but some questions are still unanswered. 

After weeks of researching I finally bought my first centipede. She should be gravid female but I don't think she is 




She is kinda calm, didn't eat anything yet and loves to hide, like all day and night. I saw her yesterday drinking from bowl and when I came closer she was like NOPENOPENOPE. Anyway I really love her. 

The questions are: 
Can Scolopendra subspinipes be with another in pair? 
I have only scorpions experiences and for example I have Heterometrus petersi in group. To be sure that they will not fight I placed 1 hiding spots per 1 scorpion. 

Another one: 
The guy who sell her to me was 100% sure that she is gravid. Is it the reason to her behavior? When I put her in the tank she just looked around and went straight under bark and dug a small hole. She come out of this hole only for water. Or is it some kind of pre-molt behavior? 

Terrarium is 30x30x35. Humidity around 70% on the half with plants and on the half is around 50% to prevent mycosis. Temperature is around 28°C. Plants are Nephrolepis marisa and Selaginella apoda.








I would like to keep this thread updated


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## nepenthes (Mar 20, 2013)

"Can Scolopendra subspinipes be with another in pair?"

I'm not positive, but I'm almost certain it is not recommended. They really aren't social. If some one easel has a better response by all means please go a head. I'm not familiar with centipedes either, but I have one Scolopendra subspinipes sp's as well, and have been doing more research and plan on expanding my centipede collection.

"When I put her in the tank she just looked around and went straight under bark and dug a small hole."

I've noticed, that they prefer to be cozy in a secure dark place. Which is probably the reason for this behavior, I believe they typically hunt at night.

Hope this helps a little, but take it as a grain of salt.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Lummi (Mar 21, 2013)

Yeah, thats what I thought. Thank you! 

Each source had a lot of differences in these questions. I read they are very active during day and can be kept in pair but after more research I wasn't really sure about it. She is not so aggressive like everyone think. 

I guess I will see her mostly when she gets hungry, right? 
Oh and what about mating? Does anyone have experiences with mating these guys? 


If anyone have a good source with information about Scolopendra subspinipes, own experiences or know good book about them I will be glad if you share it with me


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## singingchicken (Mar 21, 2013)

Congratulations on the purchase, pedes are brilliant 
On the subject of communal setups, as far as i know subspinipes are highly cannibalistic so i would say no haha.
On the subject of her "strange" behaviour, this is perfectly normal, every centipede i have has made a few laps of the enclosure when first put in then head straight for the nearest retreat. You should expect not to see her very often, especially if she's gravid. Just throw a cricket or roach in once a week, if she's hungry she'll come out and munch, if not, remove it and wait another week.
Sometimes keeping pedes can be rather boring, not seeing your pet for months at a time, but i live for the times when i come back from work and everyone of my pedes are sprinting round and being active.
Have fun and be responsible, dont get bitten haha!


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## Lummi (Mar 21, 2013)

Heh, so I will leave her alone  
I don't think that she is gravid because I bought her ''few weeks after succesfully mating'' and it's almost 6 months. It sound like nonsense to me that she will lay eggs. 
I really want to buy a male asap. There is a long way to understant them as much as I want to. Even google failed me with answers to my questions


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## nepenthes (Mar 21, 2013)

You might wanna try sexing it, to be certain of the gender. You said you bought it as a gravid female and so far, from what you said, she hasn't laid eggs. Their are easy methods for sexing you might wanna look up, one method is basically "drowning" even though it just kind of incapacitates them long enough for you to handle. I haven't had a chance to try this my self.


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## Nanotrev (Mar 21, 2013)

Well, a few things.

According to the few people who are up to date with the classification system on these guys I've learned that the species you have (Scolopendra subspinipes dehaani) may either be in the process of being elevated to its own species, or could perhaps already be there. (Scolopendra dehaani) Either way...

Your centipede could grow to be quite large if it lives long enough (8-10in) and generally speaking, the subspecies dehaani is usually quite calm when well fed and left unmolested. Despite this, it's still not advised that you handle it because of their rather painful bite. One member here was given morphine shots for his. However, such bites usually only occur when one is bitten from particularly large specimens or so people say. I wouldn't be one to find out for myself. Now! Regarding how well they get along with one another!

If they're the same sex, they'll either avoid one another like a plague or (more likely) fight to the death where the victor eats his opponent. However, there are mixed opinion on centipede "co-ed" housing in this species let alone most others. S. s. dehaani will generally get along as long as the pair is male and female. In my own experiences they've been able to coexist for quite some time though other people have reported that one of the two becomes a meal before too long though I strongly believe it depends on the species.

The monster of centipedes from the Galapogos islands and a few countries in South America does not like to share is living quarters with anything, let alone other individuals of its species regardless of sex. Galapoheros would be able to tell you about his experiences with that though if memory serves correctly the male would continually chase the female away after they were done mating. What I can say is that if you want to keep a pair of dehaani together be prepared for babies and to remove the male after you witness the female seal herself away in preparation for the young. Overall however, I'd keep them singly as it's much easier to keep track of one centipede and do enclosure cleaning while only having to worry about one pair of maxillipeds (fangs) while you work.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Lummi (Mar 21, 2013)

Wow, thank you for your post! It helps me a lot  

I bought her like Scolopendra subspinipes ''whatever'' so it's new to me. 

Good point.. Keeping them singly is much better.

I will wait for another few months and then try mating. Do you know how long are they gravid before laying eggs?


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## Insektzuchen (Mar 22, 2013)

*S. galapagoensis Can Be Housed in a Communal Enclosure*



Nanotrev said:


> The monster of centipedes from the Galapogos islands and a few countries in South America does not like to share is living quarters with anything, let alone other individuals of its species regardless of sex. Galapoheros would be able to tell you about his experiences with that though if memory serves correctly the male would continually chase the female away after they were done mating. What I can say is that if you want to keep a pair of dehaani together be prepared for babies and to remove the male after you witness the female seal herself away in preparation for the young. Overall however, I'd keep them singly as it's much easier to keep track of one centipede and do enclosure cleaning while only having to worry about one pair of maxillipeds (fangs) while you work.




It is untrue that the Darwin's Goliath Centipede (S. galapagoensis) dislikes being housed with other members of it's species in a communal enclosure.  For six months, I housed a mature female and sub-adult male pair of S. galapagoensis together in a tank measuring 30" x 18".  Soon after the male molted and became an adult he mated with the female. :roflmao:  I made a short YouTube video showing the spermatophore protruding from the female's genital opening.  See:  http://youtu.be/mBMs4Jl8Afl
Moreover, ever since they've mated they sleep alongside or on top of one another in a small cork log.  And the male sometimes displays protective behavior toward the gravid female.  They are virtually inseparable. :smile:
Analogously, there is no reason not to try housing a male and female pair of Vietnamese centipedes together.  Just ensure that they are, and kept, well-fed to avoid cannibalism.  And make sure that each has a private area that they can escape to, to avoid one another.  I've also made a YouTube video displaying this post-coital affectionate behavior.  See:  http://youtu.be/Q9ybXoaBaKc

Cheers

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## Galapoheros (Mar 22, 2013)

Good lordy!  Maybe I could have left them in there to calm down but it didn't look good at all, every time the male put on a "get out of here show".  But I did notice that the female stayed calm afterward it was only the male acted like that.  Next time I will let things play out and see if they do the same as yours there.  I can risk it now since I have so many.  Mine have calmed down also esp. after they have gotten bigger.  At first I was unsure of them but now I can pick them up only for a few seconds as I watch the walk around in the backyard.  But I will not let them walk around on my arms things like that, tried it and started taking a "curious" looking bite.


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## Nanotrev (Mar 22, 2013)

I really can't wait until I get my first pair of those. At the moment I had someone here in town contact their importer to see if they could get their hands on the Peruvian giant pedes and Malaysian jewel centipedes. Despite this I'm still the most excited about the S. galapagoensis. The more I hear about them the better they seem. I've already set aside some money for them if they should become readily available in the hobby. Those and S. hardwickei. However, I'm still very bummed that I haven't been able to find any S. gigantea. Their colors sure are amazing... then again the Malaysian Jewel is pretty stunning as well. Has anyone seen any of those in the hobby as of late?


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## Galapoheros (Mar 22, 2013)

btw/imo, I would hesistate to leave two galapagoensis together just yet, as cool an experience Insektzuchen has shown on vid.  When I see stuff like that, I think it's a good idea to wait for at least a few more experiences by other people, experiences that are consistent showing this behavior.  I want to give it a try but, as dumb as this sounds, I don't want any more plings right now.  But I could just sell those so I may see how it goes.  Anyway, back to the OP, I would only try it if I had more of them, see how it went then.  The odds are that it's not a good idea.  However there are centipede farms where there are 1000's running all over each other in parts of Asia, the exact species ...I'm not sure, esp. after some name changes.  Have you seen those vids?, they used to be hard to find, maybe it's easier to find now, I haven't looked.  It may be the case that more pede species can get along more than we think but that we don't create the environment for it so they stress and kill/eat each other.  So just from that aspect, it might not be a good idea.  Room and hiding places are key, I do know that.  But, if more got along, I think we wouldn't find so many alone in the wild.  btw Trev, I like the black form of gigantea myself, but would prob freak over the red colored ones too, just never have seen one before.


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## Lummi (Mar 23, 2013)

So. Much. New. Informations. :clap:

Oh, do you mean farm like this? 

[YOUTUBE]qaWYZwCSy0M[/YOUTUBE]

I don't think that they have better environment and still there is not even one fight recorded.

And here they are eating side by side with no problem

[YOUTUBE]gMZWoulLjd4[/YOUTUBE]

Confusing :bruised:


Anyway, back to the OP: If I set a large tank (70cmx50cmx40cm - 28''x20''x15'') with at least 2 hiding places it should be cool, right?

I have mine centipede from guy who bought it in DE. You can get one here but if you don't know what exactly you are buying it's like lottery. You never know what gender or even species you just bought. And S. gigantea or S. galapagoensis? No way to get one here at all.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Galapoheros (Mar 23, 2013)

Yeah that first one, that was it.  I think it esp. depends on the species when trying to keep them together.  I've never read a post here of people having no problems keeping them together, even with the flagtails people post problems.  But it could be that the people that don't have the problems simply don't post, most only post with problems like with everything else, kind of our nature that way.  A couple of decades ago, I put two Sc. heros centipedes together and one was immediately killed and eaten at first touch.  So when messing around with those, they mate, then I separate them.


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## Lummi (Apr 28, 2013)

Re-housing


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## MrCrackerpants (Apr 28, 2013)

Galapoheros said:


> Yeah that first one, that was it.  I think it esp. depends on the species when trying to keep them together.  I've never read a post here of people having no problems keeping them together, even with the flagtails people post problems.  But it could be that the people that don't have the problems simply don't post, most only post with problems like with everything else, kind of our nature that way.  A couple of decades ago, I put two Sc. heros centipedes together and one was immediately killed and eaten at first touch.  So when messing around with those, they mate, then I separate them.


This has been my experience with this species also. Great thread. I love the video of the "centipede farm".


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## zonbonzovi (Apr 28, 2013)

Heros are cranky beasts when together.  Lummi, love the live moss...looks really sharp   User Choobaine used to have a similar tank or two with those beautiful moss islands everywhere.


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## Lummi (May 2, 2013)

zonbonzovi said:


> Lummi, love the live moss...looks really sharp   User Choobaine used to have a similar tank or two with those beautiful moss islands everywhere.


Thank you  I think she likes it too. 

I have one enclosure only for live moss. There are 3 types of moss, one little fern, plastic glow mushrooms and stainless steel spider. This is the enclosure that I always show first


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