AGB Tank (pic)

Frank

Arachnobaron
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Hello! I'll get my 8 AGBs in 2 days!!


I finished their tank this afternoon, I wanted to get comments or any ideas..

PS: I added the water bowl after the pic, don't worry, they'll get
one! :)





If anything is not proper for them tell me please!






Thanks, Frank
 

XOskeletonRED

Arachnodemon
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You're right, Biznacho. AGB=African Giant Black Millipedes (Archispirostreptus gigas or A. gigas as refered to by many to be shortened).

Frank,
As long as they have somewhere to hide and the humidity stays up really high, they'll pretty much be happy anywhere. Mine have tendecies to burrow a little bit, so I keep the substrate pretty deep. I have not found them to actually make use of burrows as hides, though. I guess they simply are looking for more food. All these guys seem to do, is eat and breed. *lol* They are very interesting though and feel extremely cool when they are walking the length of your arm. It's just a really neat wave motion they have.


adios,
edw. =D
 

Frank

Arachnobaron
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Well for substrate they have 8 inch deep at one place, and 11.5 deep at another, so it looks alright :)


XO, for how long have you been owning them, are they really breeding that much (with 3M 5F)?

Gimme more news about your special experience :)






Thanks, Frank
 
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XOskeletonRED

Arachnodemon
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I've been keeping them for about four years and yes, there are so many little ones in the tanks, I can't count them all. Then again, it's difficult to count them anyway when they are all tied up together. *lol* It's just hard to count anything when there are nothing but lines everywhere. I only have 4 adults of them (1 male, 3 females) but, as I said, I have countless numbers of yougsters wondering the enclosure because all three of the females have given birth at least three times (two of the females were gravid when I purchased them). I actually kept the adults in with adult Heterometrus scorpions as well as an adult Lasiodora tarantula and they seemed to get along great for the period I had them together. I had to separate them when the females (the scorps and T) started to give birth though. Soon after I put the A. gigas together, two of the females gave birth and it was a great feeling for me, considering that every type of invert I keep and at least one of every species, has given birth at least once. Need anything? Gimme a holla. You can feel free to PM me if you want. Time to get offline and get ready for work. I'm usually on in the early AMs and in the later PMs (eastern time).



adios,
edw. =D
 

Frank

Arachnobaron
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Oh okay, are the babies still small even after 4 years??





Thanks, Frank
 

Professor T

Arachnodemon
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Frank,

I house my two AGBs in the same size Wal-Mart plastic tub! :) I have a small water dish and two food dishes (one for fruits and veggies, the other for cricket chow and other dry food). I also have leaves big enough for them to hid under (Sea Grape). My female burrows, my male doesn't.

Wash you hands after you handle them as they secrete hydrogen cyanide that can turn your fingers brownish red. Don't get it in your eyes!

My male (10") rarely slimes me, my female (7") does it every time I pick her up. She also rolls into a ball when I lift the lid, and he carries on business as usual. He eats more and crawls more.

Good luck with your AGB crew, I think you'll really enjoy them! They are always a :)

Originally posted by FrankQC
Hello! I'll get my 8 AGBs in 2 days!!


I finished their tank this afternoon, I wanted to get comments or any ideas..

PS: I added the water bowl after the pic, don't worry, they'll get
one! :)





If anything is not proper for them tell me please!






Thanks, Frank
 

Frank

Arachnobaron
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Joined
Feb 22, 2003
Messages
474
Thanks for your comments Prof. T. but I'll put vedgetables/fruits directly on substrate, so the babies will be able to eat them easily :)



I already knew about the cyanide, thanks anyways :)






And for the leaves, the problem I have is that I want to be sure that they don't have any bacteries, pesticides, etc.. I don't know what to do to be sure that they are okay for my millis..





Frank
 

sunnymarcie

Celestial Spider
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I use Oak leaf litter for my millies. You can get it at just
about any nursery. It should be with the house plant supplies.
Here it's called "Oak Leaf Mould," it's chopped very fine and it
is clean. I just mix it in with peat and put some long fiber moss
on top. I also put calcium powder into the substrate. Most pet
shops have this, it's the kind for lizards.
If you end up with baby millies this will help them the most, because they spend more time eating dirt instead of the veggies.

Make sure that you spray ALL of these items with a little water.
The dust from them can really bother your nose:D
 

Frank

Arachnobaron
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Hmm, so marcie you do nothing to the oak leaf litter before giving them to millis? no cleaning at all?





Thanks, Frank
 

Professor T

Arachnodemon
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Originally posted by FrankQC
Thanks for your comments Prof. T. but I'll put vedgetables/fruits directly on substrate, so the babies will be able to eat them easily :)
Frank
Frank,
The food dishes I use are flat, with a very tiny lip. It makes it easy for the millipedes to get in to eat, and easy to clean. One is a plastic mold, one is made from rock. Do what works for you , this is only an idea, aye. Good luck!

PS- I wash leaves and lichen covered branches, and let them dry 24 hours before I put them in the enclosure. I check to make sure they are bug free.
 
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kellygirl

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Ok, I recently acquired 1 male and 1 female AGB. They appear to be mating a lot, or maybe they are just snuggling... but anyways...a few questions for you experiences milli-keepers:

How do I know if the female is gravid?
Is it fine to leave the male in there once she has laid eggs?
What do the eggs look like?
Does the humidity need to be raised when there are babies?
Are the babies fragile?
Do they squirt that ooze too?
Will the babies burrow?
How long after the eggs are laid before they hatch?
When can I separate the babies from the parents? (I don't intend on having 20 millipedes at once... 6 is fine, thank you!)
Any more advice?

kellygirl
 

sunnymarcie

Celestial Spider
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......Hmm, so marcie you do nothing to the oak leaf litter before giving them to millis? no cleaning at all?.................

Frank, just mist it a little so it is not dusty. It is already sterile.

Kelly, You probably won't know it even happened, until you see
the babies. Millies tend to spend a good deal of time underground.
The female will hide the eggs in her waste. And leave it near the food source. Check your left over food befor you get rid of it.
New millies will be very very tiny and almost clear in color.
I had babies and thought they were a pest, and I got rid of them
:( :(
Not sure how long it takes for them to hatch. Maybe someone else can help us with that part:) I do know that they grow kind
of slow.
 

sunnymarcie

Celestial Spider
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There is a book on millies that is pretty good. So far, I have
not had the chance to read all of it. :?


"The Guide To Owning Millipedes and Centipedes"
By: Jerry G. Walls

It is pretty detailed and has nice photos. I picked up my copy
from amazon.com, they have many more topics to pick from.
I plan on getting a few more books this week. You can never
have too many~:0)
 

Wade

Arachnoking
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You don't have to do anything special for the babies, no need to split them up, etc, or seperate them from the parents unless you want to. Provided that there is a decent amount of moisture in lower levels of the substrate, they should do fine (pretty much the same deal I described in your mites and mold thread), although they will be a little more vunerable if it becomes too dry, so keep a closer eye on it. They will eat the same food as the parents, but when babies are present it's a good idea to spread the food on the surface of the substrate rather than placing it in a dish. The eggs are laid singly inside of fecal pellets, so DON"T CHANGE THE SUBSTRATE!!! Many, many millis have been thrown out this way. If kept optimally, there's never a reason to change millipede substrate. You won't know that mating has been successful until one day you look in there and you'll think the cage has been overrun by maggots, until you look closely and see they're really baby millis. I'm not talking 20 either, I'm talking hundreds. For awhile, you can just keep going the way you were, but when you think it's getting too crowded (your call) you can start selling or giving them away.

Wade
 

kellygirl

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Originally posted by Wade
I'm not talking 20 either, I'm talking hundreds. Wade
Holy crap! I should've known that considering the number of eggs tarantulas lay... so how long does it take them to get some size?

kellygirl
 

Frank

Arachnobaron
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Thanks Marcie (come see me on Yahoo one day, you're always invisible (looking offline) ;))




I heard that the total AGB process until a baby has hatched is 5-6 months, anyone got more informations about that?





By the way.. I'LL GET MY 8 AGBs IN 2 HOURS!!!




An happy Frank :)
 

Wade

Arachnoking
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Originally posted by kellygirl
Holy crap! I should've known that considering the number of eggs tarantulas lay... so how long does it take them to get some size?

kellygirl
IME growth is kind of slow...mine had babies a little more than two years ago and now the bigger ones are around 6". I've sold and given away quite a few, but I probably have close to 100 still. Fortunately, maintaining hundreds of these millipedes is not difficult, they seem to do pretty well in crowded conditions. I have found, however, that if split up into smaller groups they grow faster. Several months ago I started two new bins with 20 millis each...these are now much bigger than those left in the more crowded bin. Now I've split them up furthur to maximize growth.

Wade
 

Frank

Arachnobaron
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474
Very very interesting wade :)




Is your substrate dry (but tank still humid)?


With peatmoss I won't mist all the substrate to watch out for mites, so its sometimes dry, will eggs still hatch on dry substrate?


I mostly mist the big spagnum moss and some millis hides in and some seems to be eating it :)








Thanks, Frank
 
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