# Feather millipedes (Brachybe lecontii, specifically)



## JoshDM020 (Oct 12, 2017)

Just ordered six of these guys. Theyll be getting here monday, and im going to set up the enclosure as I'm waiting. 
Info i have so far: Lots of rotting wood and leaves, at various stages of decay. 
Moisture. 
Ventilation doesnt have to be very much, but still enough to move air.
Seems to be one of the easiest to reproduce?

What I'm missing: Temperature ranges.
Depth of substrate. 
Reasonable size enclosure for 6 (thinking 12×14×12, not sure if it should be smaller or bigger).
All the stuff I've read has alluded to them being able to climb plastic/glass, but i may be reading it wrong.

Im slowly but surely making my way into every section of the boards. Thanks in advance! I greatly appreciate any help!


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## chanda (Oct 12, 2017)

JoshDM020 said:


> Just ordered six of these guys. Theyll be getting here monday, and im going to set up the enclosure as I'm waiting.
> Info i have so far: Lots of rotting wood and leaves, at various stages of decay.
> Moisture.
> Ventilation doesnt have to be very much, but still enough to move air.
> ...


You should ask @DITB - he raises/sells them. (Is that who you're getting them from? I see that he's bumped his classifieds listing again.)


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## JoshDM020 (Oct 12, 2017)

chanda said:


> You should ask @DITB - he raises/sells them. (Is that who you're getting them from? I see that he's bumped his classifieds listing again.)


It is indeed. I didnt even think to ask him  .

Reactions: Lollipop 1


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## Draketeeth (Oct 12, 2017)

JoshDM020 said:


> It is indeed. I didnt even think to ask him  .


When you do, have the answers posted here as well. They were good questions and would love to know. They're a really interesting looking critter.


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## JoshDM020 (Oct 12, 2017)

Draketeeth said:


> When you do, have the answers posted here as well. They were good questions and would love to know. They're a really interesting looking critter.


Thats why i made a thread, really. Most recent thread about these guys is from 2016, and i think we all know how much information can change in that short a time.
 I'll message him (aaaagain. Hate bugging people continuously) in the morning, unless he sees this by then.

Reactions: Like 1


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## ErinM31 (Oct 12, 2017)

JoshDM020 said:


> Just ordered six of these guys. Theyll be getting here monday, and im going to set up the enclosure as I'm waiting.
> Info i have so far: Lots of rotting wood and leaves, at various stages of decay.
> Moisture.
> Ventilation doesnt have to be very much, but still enough to move air.
> ...


Rotting wood, yes, and they seem to particularly feed on fungus growing on it. As far as I could tell, mine never touched food supplements, including yeast and mushrooms (as from the grocery store). I would not say that they are an easy species to get to reproduce. Mine seem to only slowly die off after months and I am trying to figure out where I go wrong.  I suspect it either gets too warm for them in my apartment over summer (gets to 80F regularly) or I need to be much more precise on moisture. I believe that @mickiem has had more success with them but I do not think they've gotten offspring yet either.

As to substrate depth, I do not believe that they burrow so much as crawl under and in decaying wood. Substrate depth will be more to maintain a consistent moisture level.

If those enclosure dimensions are in inches, the little millipedes will be lost in there! I've kept half a dozen in a 16 oz deli cup and that seemed to be more than enough space for how tiny they were.

I believe that they can climb plastic. I don't know about glass but it wouldn't surprise me given how small and flat they are.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## JoshDM020 (Oct 12, 2017)

ErinM31 said:


> Rotting wood, yes, and they seem to particularly feed on fungus growing on it. As far as I could tell, mine never touched food supplements, including yeast and mushrooms (as from the grocery store). I would not say that they are an easy species to get to reproduce. Mine seem to only slowly die off after months and I am trying to figure out where I go wrong.  I suspect it either gets too warm for them in my apartment over summer (gets to 80F regularly) or I need to be much more precise on moisture. I believe that @mickiem has had more success with them but I do not think they've gotten offspring yet either.
> 
> As to substrate depth, I do not believe that they burrow so much as crawl under and in decaying wood. Substrate depth will be more to maintain a consistent moisture level.
> 
> ...


Inches it was, but will not be using THAT anymore. Which is fine, really, smaller containers are cheaper and, for me, easier to modify.
So dont let them get into the 80s? I can do that.
Seems one of the older threads, one guy kept them relatively dry, or had one spot for moisture retention? Maybe im reading it wrong. Cant be too dry, or fungus wont grow...


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## mickiem (Oct 12, 2017)

I think @ErinM31 said it all!  I did get some babies, but it was shortly after I received the adults, so it was nothing I did. I never let their enclosure get dry, I keep it damp. One end is always a little more damp, but not soggy wet. I have around 50 (less now) in a plastic box the size of a 10-gallon tank. There is less than 2” of rotted wood. I have decayed leaves on top of that (oak) and sticks with lichens. I also have a piece of bark on which they climb. I always find a feather delegation congregated under the bark.  The temperature stays at 70° or below.  I’ve never seen them eat the lichens or any other supplement. These are sweet little millipedes. I keep springtails with mine.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## mickiem (Oct 12, 2017)

PS - welcome to this amazing part of the boards!

I keep mine in a plastic box and I have never seen them climb the sides. They seem to enjoy the backs of wood, the backs of leaves; all of the underworld.

Reactions: Like 1


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## JoshDM020 (Oct 12, 2017)

Is oak just the best for this, or does any hard wood work? I only ask because it seems like people use that almost exclusively with others just sprinkled in here and there. Not that its a problem, I'm just curious.


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## mickiem (Oct 12, 2017)

Oak is best.  I have put maple, apple and cherry in and they don’t seem to be as interested. I see DITB sells bags of wood now. Great deal!

Reactions: Like 1


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## ErinM31 (Oct 12, 2017)

mickiem said:


> PS - welcome to this amazing part of the boards!
> 
> I keep mine in a plastic box and I have never seen them climb the sides. They seem to enjoy the backs of wood, the backs of leaves; all of the underworld.


Yeah, thinking about it I could be mistaken. I thought I might have seen them on the side of the container just above the substrate, but it was pribably dirty there, enabling them to climb it. And I do not know of any millipedes that can climb smooth surfaces, although some of the large round ones do an impressive job of stretching up in a corner for a foothold!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## DITB (Oct 12, 2017)

Brachycybe are very simple to care for. They basically just need need moisture, sticks, and leaves.
The first thing I want to say is I believe the main reason anyone struggles or fails with this species is because they have "sterilized" the rotting wood and leaves they offer them.
I DO NOT in any way sterilize anything I put in my millipede enclosures. No washing, no baking, no microwaving and no boiling.
I suspect the millipedes eat tiny things that naturally grow on the wood and leaves and sterilizing the wood will kill their food source.
Not sterilizing the wood does pose the risk of introducing a spider or centipede to your colony which can quickly turn disastrous so I try my best to sort through my freshly collected wood and pick out any possibly predators.

I always include rotting sticks in my enclosures but really all of the wood doesn't need to be "rotting" Dried out dead sticks that fall from trees after storms still offer a lot to these millipedes but I wouldn't use them exclusively.
They also like leaves. I use oak and/or maple.
For substrate I use a mix of rotting wood and leaf litter. I try to crumble it it up to a very fine consistency to keep the millipedes from clustering together in the nooks and crannies of the substrate and instead spend their time on the sticks and leaves I provide them.
This species for the most part doesn't burrow into the substrate like most other millipedes in the hobby and instead climb on sticks and leaves and form clusters in their favorite spots.
In the wild this species can be found in temperature extremes both high and low. I often have to save them from fire wood I carry into the house in the winter so they dont end up getting burned. However I keep my colony at room temperature year round.
I have never done anything species to get them to breed. The females will transfer he eggs to a male who will curl around them often on the underside of a stick and guard them until they hatch. Newly hatched feather millipedes are round and remind me of teeny tiny starfish.
No matter how large the enclosure is with enough time they all seem to find each other.
I keep a colony of around 200 millipedes in a 15 quart plastic storage tote(basically 1 size up from a "shoebox"). Most people have drastically smaller numbers and I suggest they keep their feather millipedes in nothing larger than a plastic shoebox or else you will have trouble finding them inside the enclosure.

Reactions: Informative 4 | Love 1 | Award 1


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## mickiem (Oct 13, 2017)

DITB said:


> Brachycybe are very simple to care for. They basically just need need moisture, sticks, and leaves.
> The first thing I want to say is I believe the main reason anyone struggles or fails with this species is because they have "sterilized" the rotting wood and leaves they offer them.
> I DO NOT in any way sterilize anything I put in my millipede enclosures. No washing, no baking, no microwaving and no boiling.
> I suspect the millipedes eat tiny things that naturally grow on the wood and leaves and sterilizing the wood will kill their food source.
> ...


This is great info - thank you!


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## blackjesus (Oct 13, 2017)

Thanks for this information. I am very intrigued by this species and would love to purchase some.


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