# Keeping house centipedes?



## Scythemantis (Oct 5, 2005)

I really love these guys, but I've only seen two in my entire life. I know about their lifespan and requirements, but was wondering how possible it is to breed them in a tank for the long run...can they be a "colony?" Or do they turn on eachother?

Then I just have to figure out how to get some.


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## Scolopendra (Oct 5, 2005)

id assume that they would breed pretty readily if provided with an abundance(30 gal long?) of space ,adequate humidity and food. ive always found them in sinks and bathtubs in the morning. try leaving a little water in the bottoms of your sinks and tubs and then check them in the morning. do you have a basement? ive always found them there , check friends and relatives houses too, they actually arent that difficult to find...just keep your eyes open...


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## cacoseraph (Oct 5, 2005)

Scythemantis said:
			
		

> I really love these guys, but I've only seen two in my entire life. I know about their lifespan and requirements, but was wondering how possible it is to breed them in a tank for the long run...can they be a "colony?" Or do they turn on eachother?
> 
> Then I just have to figure out how to get some.


about maybe a quarter of the time i find one of these, i find two that for all intents and purposes seem to be travelling together.  i've never seen a mature pair like that, just juvs

i'm not saying they are or aren't communal, but i am saying they won't instantly shred each other

i kept two i found together in the same container and one actually starved to death (i don't keep these anymore, had poor success, but i didn't do the best job i could, might take another whack though) and was left alone by the other (which i then released).  starving to death, rather than eating your friend, is a real good sign to me...

be interested in hearing any results you have 

good luck and good bugs


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## AfterTheAsylum (Oct 5, 2005)

House centipedes?  Maybe I should be sending them to you instead of making them expire by way of shoe sole.


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## 324r350 (Oct 5, 2005)

> House centipedes? Maybe I should be sending them to you instead of making them expire by way of shoe sole.


I feel the same way. These guys run amok in my basement. I tried keeping one but I could never get it to eat. I wouldn't mind sending you a few Scythemantis if you really are interested. For some a pest, others a pet.


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## ilovebugs (Oct 5, 2005)

Soulsick said:
			
		

> House centipedes?  Maybe I should be sending them to you instead of making them expire by way of shoe sole.


hahaha

wow.

I've seen three (caught them all as well) 

I thought they were some prehistoric things that had been locked away in some life sustaining cavity.

(the first two were found in a really old garage that was being remodled.)

I haven't had much success in keeping them.

I wish I could find more...


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## fantasticp (Oct 5, 2005)

I want house centipedes! I still have yet to get anyone to send me some. If any of you want to trade, PM me.


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## 324r350 (Oct 5, 2005)

I would be happy to send house centipedes to all. How is it that these guys are not super common in your area. The centipede is super fast (much faster than stone centipede, the only other centipede I have kept) almost never hide, and always seem to be trying to escape. Back leg to antennae tip is more than double the body length of the animal. It did not seem to be interested in crushed spider cricket.


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## Scythemantis (Oct 5, 2005)

> I would be happy to send house centipedes to all. How is it that these guys are not super common in your area. The centipede is super fast (much faster than stone centipede, the only other centipede I have kept) almost never hide, and always seem to be trying to escape. Back leg to antennae tip is more than double the body length of the animal. It did not seem to be interested in crushed spider cricket.


Believe me, I've lived on the same property for 22 years (all my life) and we DEFINATELY do not have them. I have seen one at a public pool and one in the store I work at, that's it. I also saw my first-ever silverfish and oriental cockroach there, and have never seen a german or american cockroach PERIOD. Nor a house cricket/camel cricket.

It's pretty amazing considering that yes, we have a basement...moldy, damp and open to the elements (broken windows) in a massive house surrounded by  woods and farmland where we've never used any kind of pesticide, have lots of houseplants and antiques, and my mother is in the habit of leaving food lying around. We do have house spiders and I've seen carpenter ants from time to time, but that's it.


Indeed, House-pedes seem really special and exotic to me. So do all the other critters I mentioned


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## cacoseraph (Oct 6, 2005)

Scythemantis said:
			
		

> Indeed, House-pedes seem really special and exotic to me. So do all the other critters I mentioned


definitely!

pretty much everything turns out to be a little alien if you look long enough or do enough reading/research

part of the reason i love bugs


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## Mister Internet (Oct 6, 2005)

The best success I've had with feeding house centipedes is pinhead crickets.  The secret is getting prey small enough that they can navigate it alright.  I have not kept any since I've had newborn B. dubia, but I suspect they would work as well... but definitely pinheads, they literally jump out of their skin to attack them.


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## Wade (Oct 6, 2005)

Scythemantis said:
			
		

> Believe me, I've lived on the same property for 22 years (all my life) and we DEFINATELY do not have them. I have seen one at a public pool and one in the store I work at, that's it. I also saw my first-ever silverfish and oriental cockroach there, and have never seen a german or american cockroach PERIOD. Nor a house cricket/camel cricket.
> 
> It's pretty amazing considering that yes, we have a basement...moldy, damp and open to the elements (broken windows) in a massive house surrounded by  woods and farmland


Actually, that's probably the reason why you don't see them. The things you mentioned are introduced "cosmopolitan" species, and most of them originate in warmer climates. They are almost always found indoors in regions that experience cold winters, and they depend on human activity to spread. They likely do not occur outdoors where you live, and since you have no nearby neighbers for them to emigrate from you would probably never get them, unless they hitchhiked inside a box moved from a place that was infested. You'd be much more likley to encounter these animals in urban/suberban habitat.

Wade


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## AfterTheAsylum (Oct 6, 2005)

Hell, on any given night I could go in my basement and you see one scatter.  They are those long grey ones with the long black stripe down the back and the long lanky ass legs that look like strands of hair.  I was going to start keeping wolf spiders in the basement to get rid of them... hmmmm... maybe I should gather them.


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## cricket54 (Oct 6, 2005)

I have them here in Nj, and played with them when I was a kid in Balto. MD.
All these yrs I've encountered them, I didn't know they could bite. Was bit by one a couple weeks ago, and as small as they are, it left two tiny bite marks on my arm. Stung a little even. I was so surprised. I had tried to pick it up and it ran all over my body like a tarantula dos, then stopped a second to bite my forearm before it took off running and speeding across the floor when it jumped off of me. In a couple hrs the bite mark disappeared. Was a full sized one I believe.

Sharon


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## Stylopidae (Oct 6, 2005)

I wouldn't mind having some, either.


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## Scythemantis (Oct 6, 2005)

I figured it was something like that, we don't even know our neighbors and I've never had friends or family with "pest" problems.


I'd definately pay to aquire some, but obviously not a whole lot if people who have them would just as soon throw them out


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## Tangled WWWeb (Oct 6, 2005)

I've tried to keep them on 2 occasions with very limited success.  I got them both to eat 1/2" crickets, but neither lived for more than a few weeks.


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## 324r350 (Oct 8, 2005)

Caught in the basement at 1:00 AM


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## Steven (Oct 8, 2005)

wow, thanx for posting those pix,... i didn't know they had eyes like that   

intresting


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## CR33P3R (Aug 10, 2012)

I just caught one in my house.... I was thinking about keeping it cause I don't want my mom to kill it ...but quite frankly they freak me out just a tad.  If somebody wants it I can send it to them if they pay shipping... *shrugs* Just PM me.


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## oldmanofthesea (Aug 10, 2012)

Caught one last night at a friends house. I put it in a coffee cup with a lid. It escaped in my car because I forgot to seal the sipping hole in the top! What a dumbazz I am. I hope it doesn't get me when I drive!!!!!!!!!! Ron


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