B. lecontii on the way!

EulersK

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I finally made the plunge and ordered 12 B. lecontii :D

I'm going to be setting up a detrivore vivarium with a live plant, spingtails, P. scaber "Orange", and of course the B. lecontii. I'm quite excited about this, it's something I've wanted to do for a bit now. I've gotten some pretty solid advice from people on this subforum, and I appreciate it! I'll be posting pictures when everyone gets set up. I'm stopping by Home Depot to pick up the plant tonight.
 

BobBarley

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Awesome man!! Brachycybe are pretty nice, I'm on the lookout for some Cali sp. Expecting pics when they arrive. :)
 

Bugmom

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Steve (sdsnybny) and I just bought some of these as well. OMG, they are so tiny, we were not prepared :rofl:

I like your viv idea. I may do something like that myself. I have everything but the P. scabers, but Steve has a ton of them.

What plants are you using?
 

EulersK

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Steve (sdsnybny) and I just bought some of these as well. OMG, they are so tiny, we were not prepared :rofl:

I like your viv idea. I may do something like that myself. I have everything but the P. scabers, but Steve has a ton of them.

What plants are you using?
I've actually hit a bit of a snag. The plant I was planning on using couldn't handle the high humidity and wilted within a few days. I'm going to a nursery within the week to see if they know of a better plant.
 

Bugmom

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Oh here's another question! What are you going to use for lighting? The plants will need UV.
 

EulersK

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Darn. A nursery is probably the better choice anyway. Or an indoor gardening store, if you have one. I don't know that I'd buy from Home Depot; I wouldn't trust the plants to have not been sprayed with insecticides.

There's also online options, such as Josh's Frogs.

Edited: Just read this, it was super helpful http://www.joshsfrogs.com/catalog/blog/2012/11/tropical-vivarium-plant-overview/
It's funny that you linked that - I have it printed out and I'm bringing it to the nursery with me!

Oh here's another question! What are you going to use for lighting? The plants will need UV.
I will be putting these in my bathroom in front of the window. Enough sunlight, but not so much that it will make them uncomfortable. This is going to be more of a display piece than it is an addition to the collection.
 

mickiem

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There is a moss type plant called selaginella that I keep in my vivariums/ terrariums. There are different colors; red, brown, blue, green and gold. Even a variegated one. They need very little light and hold up well with no additional water; just the humidity. I kept one alive for three years or so in a large, covered glass bowl with no additional care after it was planted. Shouldn't be too hard to find.
 

EulersK

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Care to critique my care? And I may have a couple questions :D

My enclosure is below with roughly 20 B. lecontii inside. Here's roughly how I'm keeping them. I have them in a room that is constantly between 80-85F and high humidity. The substrate is made up of peat moss and mostly ground up oak leaves and rotting wood. The wood was provided by the seller, so I know that aspect is fine. I keep the enclosure mildly humid, as I've read that stuffy enclosures kill millipedes quite quickly. They are in a KK, so there is more than enough ventilation. There are also springtails to help keep fungus gnats at bay.

So, some questions. I read a couple passing reports that claim springtails can eat the eggs of small millipedes - is this true? I would very much like to breed these guys, so the springtails would be counterproductive. Also, does anyone know the life cycle of these guys? Google has turned up answers ranging from 1 to 5 years, so I can't really believe what that says. Finally, how humid would you suggest that I keep it in there?

IMG_1908.JPG ------ IMG_1909.JPG
 

mickiem

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The max temp on mine is about 70. I think 80 is high for feathers. I have springtails in with all of my millipedes and no problems with babies. One enclosure with N. americanus has dwarf white isopods and I've never had babies there. Coincidence, maybe. mine are fairly humid; 70-80? No hygrometer there, but that's a close estimate.

Don't you love them? They are so much fun to watch.
 

EulersK

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The max temp on mine is about 70. I think 80 is high for feathers. I have springtails in with all of my millipedes and no problems with babies. One enclosure with N. americanus has dwarf white isopods and I've never had babies there. Coincidence, maybe. mine are fairly humid; 70-80? No hygrometer there, but that's a close estimate.

Don't you love them? They are so much fun to watch.
Thank you for the crash course! Then yeah, I need to bump the humidity and take them out of the hot room. I just assumed they'd do better in there. Are there signs that I should look out for? By that I mean signs of stress. Tarantulas begin to curl, for instance. Do millipedes do anything if conditions aren't right?

I think they're adorable! The small ones seem to ride on top of the adults, so cute. They made their way to the bottom of the enclosure very quickly, I was impressed.
 

pannaking22

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You may want to add more rotting wood too. These guys need tons of rotting wood to feed on. Other then that I think you're good to go! Enjoy them!
 

EulersK

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You may want to add more rotting wood too. These guys need tons of rotting wood to feed on. Other then that I think you're good to go! Enjoy them!
I know that it looks like I've only put wood on the top, but I assure you that over half of that substrate is actually just clumps of rotting wood. Or do I need more than that?
 

Hisserdude

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I have springtails in with all of my millipedes and no problems with babies. One enclosure with N. americanus has dwarf white isopods and I've never had babies there.
Yeah, isopods have been known to eat the eggs of other invertebrates, like roaches, and roach oothecae are way tougher and harder to chew through than soft millipede eggs. Trichorhina tomentosa in particular are voracious, I'd recommend getting your millipedes out of there ASAP and making them a new enclosure, isopod free.
 

EulersK

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Yeah, isopods have been known to eat the eggs of other invertebrates, like roaches, and roach oothecae are way tougher and harder to chew through than soft millipede eggs. Trichorhina tomentosa in particular are voracious, I'd recommend getting your millipedes out of there ASAP and making them a new enclosure, isopod free.
Oh man, are you serious? What a pain... now I have to sort through all of this wood and pick out tiny pedes :banghead:
 

Hisserdude

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Oh man, are you serious? What a pain... now I have to sort through all of this wood and pick out tiny pedes :banghead:
Dang, you put isopods in there? Sorry about that man, but yeah you're gonna want to take all the millipedes out, you don't have to necessarily throw the substrate out, just nuke it.
 

mickiem

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Yeah, isopods have been known to eat the eggs of other invertebrates, like roaches, and roach oothecae are way tougher and harder to chew through than soft millipede eggs. Trichorhina tomentosa in particular are voracious, I'd recommend getting your millipedes out of there ASAP and making them a new enclosure, isopod free.
Thank you so much! What a bummer, so many have told me not to worry. I suspected as much. Those pedes are very sexy and not one pedeling. I've had them over a year and see them mating constantly. I'm holding those isopods accountable for a thousand babies. :(
 

Hisserdude

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Thank you so much! What a bummer, so many have told me not to worry. I suspected as much. Those pedes are very sexy and not one pedeling. I've had them over a year and see them mating constantly. I'm holding those isopods accountable for a thousand babies. :(
Yeah, isopods don't make the best tank mates with certain invertebrates, and they get really protein hungry when their numbers get high. Springtails are much better, and don't ever eat eggs, so you can still use those. Hope your millipedes start producing lots of babies once they've been rehoused!
 
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