Centipede "Breeding Season"

[bryverine]

I've been looking online and all I can seem to find is that 'everyone' has subspinipes or dehanni for sale (which I do not want) and a few miscellaneous centipedes here and there. Is there a specific time of year I should be looking for them?

I assume centipedes have a breeding season like other invertebrates and would be more readily available around that time.

I'm particularly interested in E. trigonopodus and S. angulata if these are somehow special.

 

[Salvador]

It's because those are commonly imported in large numbers as they're cheap, and the females which mated in the wild suddenly find themselves in small containers, get fed without effort, and are relatively safe, so they end up dropping young. I saw somewhere a UK supplier had got in S.dehaani from Thailand and something like 16 laid eggs at once! E.trigonopodus seems to lay eggs less in captivity, and S.angulata is a pretty rare one usually, although again, I saw someone apparently had loads for sale, so don't be surprised if someone ends up with a female around eggs.

If you're looking for something specific, it's always best to speak to good long-term suppliers to see what they can do, or look at communties like this one to find out who is keeping/trying to breed certain species. Where do you live, USA, EU?

 

[bryverine]

It's because those are commonly imported in large numbers as they're cheap, and the females which mated in the wild suddenly find themselves in small containers, get fed without effort, and are relatively safe, so they end up dropping young. I saw somewhere a UK supplier had got in S.dehaani from Thailand and something like 16 laid eggs at once! E.trigonopodus seems to lay eggs less in captivity, and S.angulata is a pretty rare one usually, although again, I saw someone apparently had loads for sale, so don't be surprised if someone ends up with a female around eggs.

If you're looking for something specific, it's always best to speak to good long-term suppliers to see what they can do, or look at communties like this one to find out who is keeping/trying to breed certain species. Where do you live, USA, EU?

That's kind of sad, really. I guess I'm used to people regularly breeding tarantulas and figured this was sort of the same thing.

I live in USA. I've just recently found two dealers who have one or the other of the two species I'm interested in. I guess with centipedes being a seemingly smaller part of the invertebrate hobby they aren't as available or "cheap" as many Ts are.

 

[Salvador]

The centipede hobby is a tiny fraction of the size and interest that tarantula keepers enjoy. Smaller numbers, of course, means less breeders, and like spiders, a lot of failures!

As for the cheap factor, in the UK most of the staple African and Asian species are available at an ok price. Start talking about the South American species and S.heros, from your side of the world, and it gets scary. All I can say is keep your eyes peeled, bargains can always be had at some point.