Alipes sp. questions.

Cooper

Arachnoangel
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Jun 22, 2003
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Hi, I am new to these boards, I have recently acquired a feather tail centipede:) and a baby scolopendra polymorpha"pling" as a freebie. The s. polymorpha is about 2 inches long nd It has not eaten the pinhead crickets, I would really appraciate some help on this species. My alipes sp. is about 4 inches and is a "buzzing" little guy. He makes that cool buzzing sound all the time, when you bug him, but I am trying to let him settle. i heard that centipedes were eating machines and my guy has not eaten yet(I have had him for 3 days) Is this normal? Should I be worried? I would really appreciate some help.
 

Steven

pede-a-holic
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Feb 18, 2003
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(I have had him for 3 days)
i wouldn't worry, just give them 3 weeks to settle, if their set-up is fine they will be eating soon,...


greetz and welcome to the board
 

fatbloke

Arachnoangel
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Sep 12, 2002
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cooper like gongyles has said give the new pedes time to settle in just to let you know i have 2 texas red head adults 1 of them eats like a pig and the other 1 eats hardly anything and i also have various other pedes some eat all the time and some dont but they appear to be healthy so im not to worried about them but what sort of temperture and humidity are you keeping them at?


fatbloke
 

Cooper

Arachnoangel
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Jun 22, 2003
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Hi, i keep the humidity around 80% for both of them and the temperature about 23-25 degrees. I think the enclosure is good, a large criter keeper for the feather tail and a smaller critter keeper for the texan tigers. They have a peat/soil mix that is about 3-4 inches in the feather tail and 2 in the Texan Tigers. The Texan has made a shallow burrow that he uses. How will he eat if he is in that burrow? Will he come up when he is hungry? The Feather tail has a little peice of bark that he hides under, or burrows just enough to cover himself. I think he may have eaten the pre-killed cricket I put in his cage, because I only found the top part of it. I love watching the little guy, he is really colorful, with a dark body, yellow legs and a red head and red "feather tail". The texan tiger is blue, yes blue, and darker blue along the edges of the body segments. I really love centipedes and I want another one. But I want one that is going to be large(7-8") when I get it. I was thinking a Vietnamese Giant, any suggestins?
 

Henry Kane

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Hi. Yep, just as said above, centipedes may benefit from a little acclimation time and for some pedes, it is necessary. The acclimation time will vary. Some pedes adjust pretty quickly and will be eating and doing their thing in no time. Some can take weeks before they decide it's time to start acting like a pede again.

For your polymorpha baby, you may want to try pre-killed crix and see if they dissappear by morning. Your p'ling will actually come out of it's burrow (mostly at night...of course when we can't easily see it :() to hunt.

Anyhow, just leave them be for a few days, then try again. If the prey remains uneaten by morning, remove it. Wait a few days again, then give it another shot. (even though the days can seem like weeks)

Unfortunately, the feather tails I have kept were very shy eaters. I rarely witnessed them obliterating any prey in the same manner as a giant subspinipes or the like. Usually, it just dissappeared over night.
Polymorphas are much bolder hunters, however, your's is still a little guy and may not really demonstrate this behavior for a while.

Best of luck.

Atrax
 

Cooper

Arachnoangel
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Jun 22, 2003
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Last night I placed 2 dead crickets in the feather tail cage, and in the morning all there was was a few legs and wings and one very fat centipede:D .Still no luck with the polymorpha pling though.....:(

Ill just give it time

David Cooper
 

phoenixxavierre

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Oct 9, 2002
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Hi,

Wasn't sure if this was mentioned, so sorry if I'm being repetitive or stating the obvious, but a water source is very important for centipedes. They are often very thirsty after their travels to the states! So make sure and provide a water source as well as food.

Best wishes,

Paul
 

Poecilotheria

Arachnoknight
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Mar 8, 2003
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242
With my experience with Alipes sp. They don't have the appetite like Scolopendra. If an injured cricket kept walking into its face they wouldn't do anything. They sometimes eat if the crickets are left with them for a long time. Only at night though, or when I dug them up.
Steve
 

Weapon-X

Arachnodemon
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Jul 19, 2002
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774
re

in my opinion, pedes are pretty damn sensitive after shipping and while getting usd to a new enviroment(well this is from my experiences anyhow with specimens), i've actulay only owend 6 pedes and 1 of the 6 i owned actulay thrived, so maybe its just me or i got bunk pedes dumped on me , i dunno, i 'm leaning towards shipping stress myself i think it can be a major factor with pedes( someone please correct me if i am out of place), i've had pedes come in half paralyzed from the lower portion /upper body only, i shipped pedes that suddenly were "paralyzed" when they arrived man it sucks bad when you have to pay out of your pocket for something from your collection(beleave me i know it sucks, not like i 'm a dealer and can replace stock lol), i really beleave they are a much more sensitive invert than they appear, any comments guys i'd like to shed some light on this because i really like pedes, but the only thing that makes me not keeping them is what i just said, most of my exp. with them is like a 55-60% rate of pedes(deaths, paralyzation after being shipped, no eating at all, or my favorite god damn mites) frankly i love pedes but man i want a little security if i'm spending my dollar, but thats the risk i guess, kinda sucks....
 
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