Blue-ring Molt

[Mr. Mordax]

So I've been keeping large centipedes for a year and a half now, and for the first time saw one in the process of molting today. Yay! One of my blue-rings is just a little bit bigger now.

Size comparison -- the petri dish is 2" in diameter (I think)

Some closeups:

20 minutes later, almost finished!

 

[Okitasoshi]

Wow, that's a beautiful centipede...I think I need one now...

 

[Galapoheros]

Great pics man! Congrates on the new pede. It's like getting a new pede to me when they molt. Really like the second pic.

 

[tyrel]

Does it live in that petri dish? Or is it a molting chamber? And what is that blue stuff? (I'm not going to bash you, I just enjoy learning about different husbandry techniques. I try to keep an open mind about things like that.)

 

[Mr. Mordax]

Thanks everyone! To Tyrel, yes, it lives in the petri dish. When Lori first bought me the pair (there's another in a similar dish), we were at the lab where we work and decided to look at them under a microscope for the heck of it. We found a few nematodes and panicked, so we gave them germination paper (the blue stuff -- holds moisture great without molding) and sterile petri dishes. They both have healthy appetites and I re-wet the paper once a week or so. They'll move into larger containers when they outgrow these.

They seem to like tearing up the paper to compensate for not being able to burrow in it.

 

[Arachnomaniak]

Awesome pics! I love the colouration just after molt. I've been keeping centipedes for a while now and I still haven't caught any of them molting