Centipede escaped. Help!

[Jason Brantley]

Most posts on this thread were given in the hope to calm the user down in this stressful situation, this kind of "sucks to be you" attitude seriously
People act differently to different situations what makes you think he's under that much stress that he doesn't think what I said is funny? If he doesn't like what I said, that's too bad. I can say whatever I want. It's not like I said great job dumb fuk or anything like that. He seems fine to me. You're not thinking he's in a corner in a fetal position crying are you. Sorry if I offended you, i suggest you just skip my posts when you come across my name because what you say isn't going to change who I am. I'm not joining hands with everyone singing koombaya.

 

[7Fin]

Who are you the internet police?

That's your best mature response? I'm just recommending that you tone your behaviour up a notch so as to that you don't end up getting in any trouble or whatever.

As for the actual thread (sorry about hitchhiking a bit Cell), I'm sorry about your pede escaping, hopefully it'll pop up later (that happens), and you'll be ready to recapture it.

 

[Jason Brantley]

You should lighten up a little

 

[7Fin]

You should lighten up a little

^w^ I'd consider myself a very light-hearted person. I just felt that I should look out for Cell here, he's just lost a pet and you've spammed three posts when you could've had one, all expressing pretty much the same point.

 

[RTTB]

I hope the centipede is found and all is well.

 

[Python]

Just so you're aware, the f bomb is pretty frowned upon even if it isn't the classic spelling. You might want to edit it out

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I hope the centipede is found and all is well.

I hope that as well. But consider what I've said (apart the jokes... I love to joke) for a moment.

Despite their brutal (that's the best term I can think) venom and highly defensive attitude (mind, mostly an enclosure attitude one) when they 'Papillon' they disappear like ninja and avoid contact with us, unless a 'force majeure' stuff happens.

I lived with one (one only, btw?) S.subspinipes on the loose (not by my fault... I mean, I wasn't aware that she was gravid therefore I was beated by the 'surprise effect' and, on that mess, certainly a pedeling escaped) and nothing happened: and I have four cats (skilled hunter that attack almost everything) free to go in and out of my room, other rooms of the house 24/7.

0 bites, 0 encounters, 0 sighting (aside for when I saw him/her, turned into a "teen" 'pede, crawling out of my house door) 0 of everything let's say "risky".

The thing is that, unlike bulky and fast arboreal T's that force the keeper into a chase with those up above in the ceiling etc or huge female T's like H.gigas etc (those last can't "squeeze" behind the corner furnitures, cracks etc that easy) 'pedes, as you know, due to their shape, can.

So you can spray the house? Sure, is an option. You can move the hell out of everything from TV to shelf etc? Ok.

But it's not written "you" will find him/her either. They are ninja. But not prone to bite you or else unless a pure finest bad luck scenario happens.

With that said no one would love such a thing, but I hope this will give a bit of solace to Cell :-s

 

[Myra]

I hope u find it safe and well Cell.
I agree with Fin here. Unhelpful comments aren't what this young lad needs right now. I know it doesn't look to be the most suitable home for it and I agree that you should never get any pet without having a suitable home all set up n ready first... All that said he's a young lad that would benefit more from a bit of friendly advice.

 

[Cell]

Looking at the enclosure and the story behind the previous escapes, I would say spray the house. You are clearly not set up to keep pedes. You don't have the knowledge or the track record to successfully keep them and I think it would be best for everyone if you stopped trying to. What you haven't seemed to catch on to is that these things will exploit any and every weakness they can find. They will escape if given the hint of a chance as you should have already figured out but clearly haven't. These are not something to mess around with either. One bite is enough to ruin your day, I speak from experience. If you want to have a pet that can stay in such a container without escaping, try a goldfish. If it does get out, it'll be much easier to find.

I'm still a beginner, this is just my second pede, but I do have the knowledge about keeping them. Easy for you to say without knowing my situation. I had an enclosure that I used with a wild morsitans that I had (died for unknown reason). After my morsitans died, I bought a subspinipes and tried to put it in that container. But I didn't expect it to be able to go rampage and try to escape, because my morsitans was just chill. Usually, a new centipede will just sit around, and explore its new environment sooner or later. My subspinipes wasn't like that. So I didn't know what to do, I just grabbed the largest aquarium that I have (unused) and put it there. And like I've said, it didn't try to escape for a while until that night. Do you think I mess around with my centipedes? Like I said, easy for you to say as you're not in my situation. I'm still a beginner. I'm just asking for help.

@xunicronx I've got to admit. I almost lost my cool there and got scared a little bit, haha. But no, I'm not scared of pedes. I'm a lot more scared of cockroaches xD

Thanks everyone for the tips. I'll keep those in mind. I'll continue to look for it every once in a while, but I think it's not coming back.. Near my room is our terrace, and there's a total of 5 rooms in this floor of our house. We also have 2 storage rooms for it to hide in. But I still hope it comes back. I'll also leave a wet towel bait where the pede first escaped. I'll hold on to what Chris said. They're ninjas, and possibility that it's still in this house (hopefully it is). Again, you guys have my thanks.

 

[Venom1080]

I'm still a beginner, this is just my second pede, but I do have the knowledge about keeping them. Easy for you to say without knowing my situation. I had an enclosure that I used with a wild morsitans that I had (died for unknown reason). After my morsitans died, I bought a subspinipes and tried to put it in that container. But I didn't expect it to be able to go rampage and try to escape, because my morsitans was just chill. Usually, a new centipede will just sit around, and explore its new environment sooner or later. My subspinipes wasn't like that. So I didn't know what to do, I just grabbed the largest aquarium that I have (unused) and put it there. And like I've said, it didn't try to escape for a while until that night. Do you think I mess around with my centipedes? Like I said, easy for you to say as you're not in my situation. I'm still a beginner. I'm just asking for help.

@xunicronx I've got to admit. I almost lost my cool there and got scared a little bit, haha. But no, I'm not scared of pedes. I'm a lot more scared of cockroaches xD

Thanks everyone for the tips. I'll keep those in mind. I'll continue to look for it every once in a while, but I think it's not coming back.. Near my room is our terrace, and there's a total of 5 rooms in this floor of our house. We also have 2 storage rooms for it to hide in. But I still hope it comes back. I'll also leave a wet towel bait where the pede first escaped. I'll hold on to what Chris said. They're ninjas, and possibility that it's still in this house (hopefully it is). Again, you guys have my thanks.

That's not a good track record. One pede died, you don't know why. The other escapes within days of getting it. Very poor record in fact.

Literally the first thing in owning a pede is having a escape proof enclosure for it.

 

[tonypace2009]

I don't keep centipedes because they have proven that they are smarter than me.
you can look everywhere but it is always the family member that fears all bugs that always finds it first just follow the blood curdling screams you will find it.
lay news papers out on the floor and listen for it crawling across the paper they are farly noisy when crawling hope you find it.

 

[Python]

I'm still a beginner, this is just my second pede, but I do have the knowledge about keeping them. Easy for you to say without knowing my situation. I had an enclosure that I used with a wild morsitans that I had (died for unknown reason). After my morsitans died, I bought a subspinipes and tried to put it in that container. But I didn't expect it to be able to go rampage and try to escape, because my morsitans was just chill. Usually, a new centipede will just sit around, and explore its new environment sooner or later. My subspinipes wasn't like that. So I didn't know what to do, I just grabbed the largest aquarium that I have (unused) and put it there. And like I've said, it didn't try to escape for a while until that night. Do you think I mess around with my centipedes? Like I said, easy for you to say as you're not in my situation. I'm still a beginner. I'm just asking for help.

You're right, of course. I'm not in your situation. I've never had a pede escape except once when unpacking and I immediately caught it, put it in an enclosure that I made sure was as close to escape proof as I could make it. Other than that I've never had one escape from an enclosure I put them in. Even a cursory search on this site about pedes will show you just how adept they are at escaping almost anything. There isn't really a good reason for not knowing what is arguably the most publicized and well known aspect of keeping these animals.

It seems to me that the people who are getting bent out of shape about those of us recommending not getting into pedes without doing the research are missing a huge point here. The OP had a pede die for unknown reasons then got one and promptly lost it and if I read the post correctly, lost it twice. Either way, the research has clearly been neglected. The best thing that the OP can be told is not how unfortunate it is that they lost their pede, it's how unfortunate it is that they got it in the first place. My advice, learn from this experience and do not get another pede until you have addressed the housing concerns, learn as much as you can about the animals that you intend on keeping BEFORE you get them and always put the animals health and well being before your wants.

One last thought, if you do happen to find this pede, are you just going to put it back in the same container? Clearly this won't work. I would highly recommend you find something else more suited to the multi legged Houdini than the plastic tub. There are many suggestions on here on how to properly lessen the chance of an escape, I recommend reading through them and setting up a proper enclosure. Good luck and I hope it works out for you but next time, do the research before you get something and you will be far less likely to have mishaps.

 

[Jason Brantley]

Dude, forget what the others say. Sayin' you shouldn't be keeping pedes and you got a bad history and all that bulls**t. Yeah you f'ed up and pretty bad too but I've done some dumb s**t too so if they never done anything like losing a scorpion or tarantula then good for them. Take a step back and approach this from a different angle and come back stronger...get yourself a nice Exo-Terra tank to start with. Don't let others tell you what to do. Just be smarter and make it a personal challenge to be the best animal keeper from now on. Turn this negative into a positive so that way you can keep enjoying centipedes!

 

[Cell]

I'm not sure if anyone among you watches The Dark Den videos. If not, then watch this specific episode.

His centipede enclosure is similar to my morsitan's. But mine is just round and had less substrate to prevent my morsitans climbing out. Same with The Dark Den's dehaani, my morsitans didn't try to escape in anyway (if you watch his videos, you'll see that he kept that dehaani in the same enclosure for quite a time, only to be transferred on Friday according to his latest video). No problems with that because by the looks of it, his dehaani seems chiller than my subspinipes.
I don't think you can exactly tell the age of a centipede, and since my morsitans was wild caught. I assumed it was an adult (5 inches, the maximum size it can get). It slowly got weaker as days passed by after we got it from biting my little brother.
My subspinipes was around 4-5 inches so I was confident it would settle in my old morsitan's enclosure without problem. Apparently, mine was really active and goes on rampages. And since I had no other enclosures prepared except for my old one, I settled with an old aquarium, something with more height to keep it from reaching it. And please, if you guys are really THAT knowledgeable with centipedes. You at least know that centipede have little to no ability to climb smooth walls (like plastic or glass), but they can extend their bodies to reach heights from the ground. But get this: my centipede isn't long enough to reach the aquarium's height. They can climb up the silicone holding the glasses together though, and maybe that was how my pede escaped.
So please, don't call me someone who didn't research enough. I took all the time I needed to research the basics. I just wasn't prepared for my new subspinipes, I take responsibility from it, and I fully admit my mistake and learn from it, without needed anyone to shove my mistakes back at me repeatedly. I'm not sure if any of you read my story, but things didn't work out so I planned on using the aquarium until I get funds to get a better enclosure.
Thank you for almost ruining the hobby for me, because apparently "I didn't love my centipede enough". But that won't stop me from being fascinated with arthropods. I'm stopping with centipedes, but I'm getting into tarantulas very soon. And while I'm at it, why don't you guys tell me to stop now. Tell me that I lacked research.
To be honest, if you think I lacked research, why didn't you give me advice instead of just telling me I didn't research enough. I humbly asked for advice so why didn't you? Instead I got "you didn't research enough". Fact: an advice would be a lot helpful and appreciated.
That's all, thank you.

 

[Cell]

And how can I possibly have a "good record" if I'm just starting out?

 

[MossMan]

Who are you the internet police?

You're under arrest!

 

[Staehilomyces]

Please don't abandon centipedes just because you made a mistake. We all do. While I have never had an escape, I have had one of my pedes surprise me by climbing up the silicone and reaching the lid. Anyway, just remember to learn from your mistake, and take the others' advice in regards to an escape-proof lid, preferably something that locks on, and has no breathing holes large enough for the centipede to fit through. In regards to Dark Den's pede enclosure, his lid is one that is intended the entire box, and locks shut onto it as a result. From the images of your enclosure posted on this thread, it appears to be several smaller lids placed on top in an attempt to cover it. Just fix the lid and you'll be fine. Don't let this mistake turn you off pedes forever, or you won't know what you will be missing; centipedes are an amazing and yet underrated aspect of the invert hobby. I think a good idea would be to post pics of an improved enclosure/lid. Once we see that it is escape-resistant, you can go for it again.

 

[Cell]

In regards to Dark Den's pede enclosure, his lid is one that is intended the entire box, and locks shut onto it as a result. From the images of your enclosure posted on this thread, it appears to be several smaller lids placed on top in an attempt to cover it. Just fix the lid and you'll be fine. Don't let this mistake turn you off pedes forever, or you won't know what you will be missing; centipedes are an amazing and yet underrated aspect of the invert hobby. I think a good idea would be to post pics of an improved enclosure/lid. Once we see that it is escape-resistant, you can go for it again.

I compared Dark Den's enclosure with my old one. We kind of have the same size, but mine looks harder to open and close (because I know the feeling of locking a case like Dark Den's) and round. But since my subspinipes tried escaping it, I used a temporary enclosure, which is the one I used in my pictures and the one I've used for a while without escapes.

I don't think my story is clear, lol. Basically, I had a morsitans and an "okay" enclosure (similar to Dark Den's, but round and had less width but same height). My morsitans died, so I bought a subspinipes and attempted to put it into my morsitan's enclosure. Since the subspinipes is very active (compared to my morsitan's and Dark Den's dehaani), I decided to use an enclosure with more height. The one I used is my old aquarium that doesn't have a lid. This was my temporary enclosure until I get enough money to buy a much better one. I used it for quite a while until my subspinipes escaped (twice). First time it escaped because I tried leaving it without a lid because I "trusted" it wouldn't escape, without considering the silicone escape route. We got it quickly. Second time on the same night, I woke up not to see my centipede anymore, even though it had a lid. Note that I used this lid for quite a while as well and it never tried escaping before until now.

 

[MossMan]

I compared Dark Den's enclosure with my old one. We kind of have the same size, but mine looks harder to open and close (because I know the feeling of locking a case like Dark Den's) and round. But since my subspinipes tried escaping it, I used a temporary enclosure, which is the one I used in my pictures and the one I've used for a while without escapes.

I don't think my story is clear, lol. Basically, I had a morsitans and an "okay" enclosure (similar to Dark Den's, but round and had less width but same height). My morsitans died, so I bought a subspinipes and attempted to put it into my morsitan's enclosure. Since the subspinipes is very active (compared to my morsitan's and Dark Den's dehaani), I decided to use an enclosure with more height. The one I used is my old aquarium that doesn't have a lid. This was my temporary enclosure until I get enough money to buy a much better one. I used it for quite a while until my subspinipes escaped (twice). First time it escaped because I tried leaving it without a lid because I "trusted" it wouldn't escape, without considering the silicone escape route. We got it quickly. Second time on the same night, I woke up not to see my centipede anymore, even though it had a lid. Note that I used this lid for quite a while as well and it never tried escaping before until now.

Centipedes are rather intelligent for an invertebrate. With that lid it wasn't a matter of if it escaped, but when

 

[Cell]

Please don't abandon centipedes just because you made a mistake. We all do.

My mistake isn't the reason. The elites told me to stop, so I did. Apparently centipedes aren't for me, if I get their point correctly.