Centipede behavior?

[slimtim454]

My centipede has been burrowing into the substrate a lot since i got him. He comes out once and while, but the majority of the time he is burried in the substrate. He ate a cricket the first day i got him home so he has eaten since i brought him home. Is this burrowing strange behavior?

 

[maxident213]

Not unusual at all. Most centipedes will stay buried the majority of the time. I see my S. alternans about once every two or three months. My S. subspinipes comes out almost every day, but still spends about 23 hours and 57 minutes out of each day underground.

 

[slimtim454]

Hahaha once every two months? Well thats a relief although i would like to see him more.

 

[maxident213]

Your best bet if you want to see it more is to try to encourage it to burrow up against the side of the enclosure. Centipedes feel secure having their bodies pressed up against something solid, so if you were to, say, put a piece of cork bark or whatever on the ground against the wall of the tank, the pede might check it out and start a burrow right up against the glass. That, or invent transparent substrate.

 

[Stylopidae]

I've had great luck with switching them to a smaller cage. I recently moved my S. polymorpha from a large rubbermaid container to a deli cup and now I see it once or twice a day.

What species is it?

 

[slimtim454]

Scolopendra subspinipes