# Feather millipedes



## wastedwoodsman (Mar 27, 2015)

So i have been buying different species of millipedes and i bought a few feather millipedes from a user on this forum and i must say i am very happy that about 5 days after i received them i noticed a couple doing their mating ritual and today i witnessed the female laying her eggs and passing them to the male! The male is now safe guarding the eggs and its so awesome to witness! I will take pictures soon!

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## ryanserafin (Mar 27, 2015)

Congrats, that's amazing that you caught that action so soon! I made the same purchase perhaps a day or two before you, so I'm really hoping I eventually witness the same. Mine started off as a single huddled mass for the first few days and now they are all very active, exploring the substrate and randomly mingling with each other. Have you seen this same activity?

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## wastedwoodsman (Mar 28, 2015)

ryanserafin said:


> Congrats, that's amazing that you caught that action so soon! I made the same purchase perhaps a day or two before you, so I'm really hoping I eventually witness the same. Mine started off as a single huddled mass for the first few days and now they are all very active, exploring the substrate and randomly mingling with each other. Have you seen this same activity?


 Not really mine all spread out a single one here and there on rotten pieces of oak then i lifted one to see just 2 on a piece of bark. The male and female connected. She was giving eggs to the male and once they were done a few hours later he curled up around them and crawled into the corner! Its very fascinating! Mine are Brachycybe lecontii species. is that the same as you? If you bought the same stock as i did then i have no doubts you'll be able to see this soon too!


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## Leonie (Mar 28, 2015)

I've searched the name of the species and wow, how beautiful are they! Congrats btw!

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## wastedwoodsman (Mar 28, 2015)

As promised some photos!

Here's a male and female swapping eggs!






The father protecting his newly acquired eggs by rounding them all up!



And finally, there he sits curled around his batch of eggs!

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## pannaking22 (Mar 28, 2015)

That's super cool! I'm still waiting on mine to relax and start to explore. Hopefully they'll start breeding for me fairly quickly once they loosen up bit.

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## wastedwoodsman (Mar 28, 2015)

pannaking22 said:


> That's super cool! I'm still waiting on mine to relax and start to explore. Hopefully they'll start breeding for me fairly quickly once they loosen up bit.


 I have no doubts that they will!


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## TheHonestPirate (Mar 29, 2015)

Do those stay very small? I was checking them out the other day, I am lookign to try millipedes out, i currently keep T's and Scorpions and roaches


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## pannaking22 (Mar 29, 2015)

TheHonestPirate said:


> Do those stay very small? I was checking them out the other day, I am lookign to try millipedes out, i currently keep T's and Scorpions and roaches


They do stay pretty small. Seems like most people want the bigger millipedes, but these guys make up for the lack of size with a unique look and cool behaviors.


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## TheHonestPirate (Mar 29, 2015)

pannaking22 said:


> They do stay pretty small. Seems like most people want the bigger millipedes, but these guys make up for the lack of size with a unique look and cool behaviors.


How small do they stay? I'm not so much hating on small millipedes as interested in them,


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## ryanserafin (Mar 29, 2015)

How did you determine them to be lecontii? They do look most like the lecontii photos on BugGuide, just curious if you had some other insider knowledge.
Of course mine made a liar of me when I tried to take a photo of them adventuring through the whole enclosure. They were back in a single huddled mass, not roving around..
The large one in this photo is just under an inch, how long are your adults?

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## wastedwoodsman (Mar 29, 2015)

ryanserafin said:


> How did you determine them to be lecontii? They do look most like the lecontii photos on BugGuide, just curious if you had some other insider knowledge.
> Of course mine made a liar of me when I tried to take a photo of them adventuring through the whole enclosure. They were back in a single huddled mass, not roving around..
> The large one in this photo is just under an inch, how long are your adults?
> View attachment 135491


 I am assuming that's the species because the seller told me they were. I think they only get to about 2 inches? So they are smaller mine aren't quiet an inch yet. And i noticed that maybe yours are unhappy due to the fact you have wet dirt in there!  I keep mine in all oak wood shavings and leaves! With rotting oak pieces... And they love it! So much they already started breeding >.>


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## ryanserafin (Mar 29, 2015)

Hmm, beats me.. There's plenty of drier rotten wood and pin oak leaves in there, but they seem to keep migrating all over the place. Might be a sign that they're not comfortable and I should let it dry out a little. I've read that they might huddle in tight clusters as means of moisture retention, so maybe my guys are too comfy.. But certainly not as comfy as your lovebirds!

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## wastedwoodsman (Mar 29, 2015)

ryanserafin said:


> Hmm, beats me.. There's plenty of drier rotten wood and pin oak leaves in there, but they seem to keep migrating all over the place. Might be a sign that they're not comfortable and I should let it dry out a little. I've read that they might huddle in tight clusters as means of moisture retention, so maybe my guys are too comfy.. But certainly not as comfy as your lovebirds!


 The guy i got mine from said to just put them in a substrate of all oak wood shavings and rotten pieces of oak limb with crumpled leaves no soil. I have to admit i think he was correct. I will take a picture of my little setup and add it so you can get an idea of what it would look like! This is the 3rd pair i have seen doing this!


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## SDCPs (Mar 30, 2015)

This is really neat, thanks for sharing!

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## MrCrackerpants (Jan 30, 2016)

Any updates on these super cool millipedes? Do they really get 2 inches? I have hear 1 inch is their maximum size. Could you provide a few more details about your enclosure where egg laying is occurring? Any babies yet? Do you provide minimal ventilation and high humidity as with the other millipedes in the hobby(exception being Orthoporus ornatus)? Can a small amount of soil (1-2 inches in depth) be placed on the bottom of the enclosure? Then add hard wood shavings, dead broad leaves and decaying hard wood branches? Do they eat any secondary supplementary foods such as certain fruits, dry dog food kibble, etc.? If so, what secondary supplementary foods do they like? It seems they would like mushrooms. Have you tried this? Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.


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## DITB (Jan 30, 2016)

I am the person they have purchased from and i'm glad they are doing so well for you all. 2 inches might be pushing it but they certainly do get over 1 inch. They spend most of their time above the substrate  or even a few inches above the substrate if you provide them with elevated twigs to congregate under. If they are spending a long period of time under the substrate you likely have something wrong going on in your enclosure. They do seem to eat fungus and mold on occasion so I advise against sterilizing rotting wood for them and instead just inspect it very well for any pests like centipedes or spiders so you don't introduce any predators to your culture. I offer my colony fish food sometimes but they rarely take notice of it and I mostly just offer it out of habit. They also wouldn't mind having a few lichen covered twigs but they certainly don't require anything more than rotting wood to thrive in captivity.

Reactions: Informative 1 | Helpful 1


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## MrCrackerpants (Jan 31, 2016)

DITB said:


> I am the person they have purchased from and i'm glad they are doing so well for you all. 2 inches might be pushing it but they certainly do get over 1 inch. They spend most of their time above the substrate  or even a few inches above the substrate if you provide them with elevated twigs to congregate under. If they are spending a long period of time under the substrate you likely have something wrong going on in your enclosure. They do seem to eat fungus and mold on occasion so I advise against sterilizing rotting wood for them and instead just inspect it very well for any pests like centipedes or spiders so you don't introduce any predators to your culture. I offer my colony fish food sometimes but they rarely take notice of it and I mostly just offer it out of habit. They also wouldn't mind having a few lichen covered twigs but they certainly don't require anything more than rotting wood to thrive in captivity.


Thanks for all the helpful information! They sound really cool to keep in captivity. Glad everyone is having such good luck with this species.


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