8.5" true BL S. alternans female biggest of them all?

[Mastigoproctus]

Well I got this large female a while back, she was super feisty and real quick to envenomate. I knocked her out and sexed her a while back here is a pic when I did that. I've been looking for a huge male to mate her with but alas no luck. She is way too big for any I've ordered from other people and half the time I get small females. She is one of my greatest socialization successes so here are a few vids to show what great progress she has made. She is now handled nightly, one of my most beloved centipedes for sure and no longer ever attempts envenomation. She took about a month to get as calm as she is now but all my sketchy hours of hands on work has paid off. Please refrain from negative comments, I never recommend anyone else try this with such a HOT centipede. Enjoy!

 

[Staehilomyces]

Hey Mastig, I would like to know how you start interactions with your pedes. I want to start interacting with my Ethmostigmus rubripes, but she's still quite jumpy. I see that your efforts are very rewarding, but how do you start?

Btw, I love how your videos show that centipedes seem to have a surprising level of intelligence not usually associated with inverts.

 

[Staehilomyces]

Also, at the very end of your first vid, it looked like she was about to bite you. Did she?

 

[Mastigoproctus]

Also, at the very end of your first vid, it looked like she was about to bite you. Did she?

Nope just a taste hahaha lucky me, she's never actually got a full envenomation on me, never really tried either I guess.

I'll make a vid for you in a few days on it then post it here, I'll use baby Ethmostigmus triganopodus so it will be an identical method to use on your E. rubripes. They have mild venom so you have no worries when attempting interactions, well as long as you aren't allergic which I've never heard of anyone being. I like African, Austrian and American pedes for handling, Asian not so much because they are much more unpredictable and I feel less intelligent from what I've experienced.

 

[KingBaboon352]

Subbed for interaction vid!

 

[Ran]

This is my female S. alternans that I have had for over 2 years now. I put her in this 6" deli to get an approximate size of her. She just recently molted and looks to be over 6". She was sold to me as a Haiti spp...I would assume an alternans species. She looks to be the same species as your girl. Great species!

 

[Mastigoproctus]

View attachment 219039 This is my female S. alternans that I have had for over 2 years now. I put her in this 6" deli to get an approximate size of her. She just recently molted and looks to be over 6". She was sold to me as a Haiti spp...I would assume an alternans species. She looks to be the same species as your girl. Great species! View attachment 219040

I love giant alternans, they are a very unique behaving centipede, very shy. Glad to see there are others with real hatians around, you don't happen to know anyone with a big male do you? Or a male Hispaniola red will do haha. I really wanna get her bred before she passes, she has some monster genes.

 

[Ran]

They are a very unique species. I think Bioquip has some of these still. In the late 80's and early 90's I had a few gigantea (yellow legged morphs) that grew so quickly! 2 females and a male I had reached over 20" including terminals...leg span was well over 3" from side to side. They got so big that they refused to eat hissers...so, I would offer them frogs, anoles and other larger prey. I got them as pedelings for $20 each! I sure miss them

 

[Staehilomyces]

Am I the only one who finds it somewhat amusing that the handling of pedes isn't nearly as volatile a topic as the handling of T's? I haven't seen a single thread on handling pedes that has escalated into an all-out war, but nearly every post on handling Tarantulas contains some sort of argument and/or personal attack.

 

[Venom1080]

Am I the only one who finds it somewhat amusing that the handling of pedes isn't nearly as volatile a topic as the handling of T's? I haven't seen a single thread on handling pedes that has escalated into an all-out war, but nearly every post on handling Tarantulas contains some sort of argument and/or personal attack.

its pretty well known that Ts dont get used to handling. it just stresses them out. pedes on the other hand, no one really knows..

very impressive btw, @Mastigoproctus

 

[Mastigoproctus]

Am I the only one who finds it somewhat amusing that the handling of pedes isn't nearly as volatile a topic as the handling of T's? I haven't seen a single thread on handling pedes that has escalated into an all-out war, but nearly every post on handling Tarantulas contains some sort of argument and/or personal attack.

I used to get tons of personal attacks when posting my centipede interaction vids but then, after about 10-15 consistent results and no envenomations, people kinda stopped bashing my work and actually became interested in it. To my knowledge I'm the only person who has ever attempted true behavioral studies with centipedes with intent to wright a paper or even a whole book on the subject, not just aimlessly handling for attention so maybe that's why people are a little more respectful to me these days. Either way, Venom1080 is right, Ts have no ability I have found to become fully accustomed to handling in any case. Even the calm ones are still stressed when you hold them, there jerky movements show it. I think they lack the mental compasity to "learn" in a sense, unlike centipedes who show vary strong "learning" abilities. They do things like testing the whole enclouser to find weak spots or ways out and if one is found they will exploit that same escape until you correct it somehow. They also clearly understand the difference between my hand and pray items as they never miss and if they think they might hit me, they wait till I drop the pray item and then strike. Also, the way that Ms. Keys used to react to my presence by seeking my hand out and climbing on it, then calming down supports my theory heavily. These are all behaviors that seperate Ts, Scops, and all other commonly kept inverts from centipedes. Even other Myriapods don't exhibit this more developed brain compasity, just Scolopendramorphs. Although It should be noted, Asian centipedes like S. spinosissima S. subspinipes & S. dehaani show heavily decreased brain function in comparison to there new world counterparts, and are in my eyes far to unpridictable to risk free handling.

 

[Staehilomyces]

I've noticed that pedes definitely show a much greater learning capability than any other invert I've kept, that's for sure. They can remember if you drop crickets in at the same spot, and as a result I often find them lying right under the feeding slot in their enclosures. I've already tried handfeeding them with success, and even giving them water from my hand. These learning abilities certainly set them apart from scorps, and even further apart from tarantulas.

 

[Staehilomyces]

I also remember David Attenborough commenting on the intelligence of Gigantea, talking about how the pedes make deliberate journeys to hunt bats, ignoring prey like roaches on the way, and stating they this was a demonstration of intelligence and deliberation not usually associated with invertabrates.

 

[BladeGypsy]

I used to get tons of personal attacks when posting my centipede interaction vids but then, after about 10-15 consistent results and no envenomations, people kinda stopped bashing my work and actually became interested in it. To my knowledge I'm the only person who has ever attempted true behavioral studies with centipedes with intent to wright a paper or even a whole book on the subject, not just aimlessly handling for attention so maybe that's why people are a little more respectful to me these days. Either way, Venom1080 is right, Ts have no ability I have found to become fully accustomed to handling in any case. Even the calm ones are still stressed when you hold them, there jerky movements show it. I think they lack the mental compasity to "learn" in a sense, unlike centipedes who show vary strong "learning" abilities. They do things like testing the whole enclouser to find weak spots or ways out and if one is found they will exploit that same escape until you correct it somehow. They also clearly understand the difference between my hand and pray items as they never miss and if they think they might hit me, they wait till I drop the pray item and then strike. Also, the way that Ms. Keys used to react to my presence by seeking my hand out and climbing on it, then calming down supports my theory heavily. These are all behaviors that seperate Ts, Scops, and all other commonly kept inverts from centipedes. Even other Myriapods don't exhibit this more developed brain compasity, just Scolopendramorphs. Although It should be noted, Asian centipedes like S. spinosissima S. subspinipes & S. dehaani show heavily decreased brain function in comparison to there new world counterparts, and are in my eyes far to unpridictable to risk free handling.

^
I know this is an old thread. Just stumbled across it today. Very interesting and informative. I sincerely appreciate you sharing.
However, I must disagree a bit...
All bugs, as with all critters, are individuals with their own individual personality traits. MOST of my Ts, I admit fall into your general behavioral description. And, of course, all species have their general personality traits. However, I do have one specimen that exhibits many of the behaviors you described observing in your centipede/s.
My T "Maleficent," a female G. pulchra, will actively seek weak areas in her enclosure and explore on a consistent basis. I purchased her from a local private party - she came in a homemade acrylic enclosure from the previous owner. Interestingly enough, the enclosure had a weak spot at one of the corner joints that was not, initially, visible. It took me a few days to figure out what she was doing - she was moving substrate and then physically pushing out the weak spot with all of her might! I would occasionally hear tiny squeaky noises and discovered what she was doing. EEEK!!!
Upon moving her into a Jamie's enclosure, for awhile she actively sought out the lid opening area and attempted to open - of course, unsuccessfully.
Anything new introduced into her enclosure she will inspect and move if it does not suit her fancy. I have a small marble in her enclosure she enjoys moving around from time to time. I added a few leaves the other day - she spent a ton of time moving and physically crushing them to suit her preference. When I removed a small bit of the leaf material, but not all, she was seemingly satisfied and has not moved as much since. She did not put the leaves that she was moving into her water dish - something i often see my Ts do when they want something removed from their enclosure be it a bolus or substrate.
Unlike most of my Ts that wish to stay put and not venture about, often, if I leave the lid open for even a few moments when doing enclosure maintenance she will begin to come out. She still occasionally inspects the integrity of the round air holes in the acrylic with her fangs, but does not actively roam.
Handling - she is docile and has never bit me. No hair throwing. Often times seems to enjoy being out. Only once did I observe a minor strike when doing some enclosure maintenance - perhaps I surprised her for some reason.
Feeding - something neat...she will actually stalk a bit and hunt her prey. If it digs into the substrate, she will sense it out and then dig rapidly and aggressively to unearth and kill it.
Admittedly, I do not drop prey into the same feeding spot so I cannot comment on her remembering where prey is dropped.

What do you think makes the "brain function" decreased in OW centipedes vs NW?