Centipede feeding

[fictitious]

Hey, just a quick question on how centipedes eat. Simply put, I know sometimes a scorpion will eat until it's side splits, I've never encountered that with mine because i can see if he's getting fat. Is this the same with centipedes, or do they know when they are full? I have a little baby one right now and I've been feeding him cautiously. He kills them everytime but only once has he left one dead without eating it. Any help on the matter would be great.
Thanks in advance!

 

[cacoseraph]

basically same as scorps

they "inflate" when they are well fed. the distance between the top and bottom armor plates (tergites and sternites) is a good indicator of how well fed a centipede is

when the distance is negligible and you can not see their pleural membrane (side "skin") the centipede is lean and going to be mean

when they look like little snakes with legs and the distance between is approaching the width of the tergites they are very well fed indeed




as to how much to feed.... very hard to say. depends on species, size, temps, and probably individual specimen genetics. basically what i do is feed at random times... but according to how fat each individual is. a snake with legs might only get a little roach, much smaller than the volume of the head capsule... where as an extremely thin specimen might get food that masses ~1/3 as much as the centipede


a word of caution... centipedes are the most primitive of the major bug types and thus are the like, least efficient eaters. if they are over fed at all they will start to leave uneaten bug parts and like, residue all over their cage. this will lead to mites and mold as centipedes should not be kept on completely dry substrate, imo.



here is some stuff you might find useful to read:
http://www.geocities.com/blight_child/centis/cfaq.html?200825#beginner

Aside from select species, i feel that most centipedes fall into two like, archetypes. There are "moister" and "drier" centipedes. For a "moister" type of centipede please refer to Scolopendra subspinipes (http://www.geocities.com/blight_child/centis/S_subspinipes_x.html) and for "drier" type centipedes please refer to Scolopendra polymorpha(http://www.geocities.com/blight_child/centis/S_polymorpha.html). Please understand that even with the term "drier" being used that virtually no centipede should be left on completely dry substrate without access to water, as death and damage can ensue in a surprisingly short amount of time.

 

[fictitious]

Great, that's everything I needed to know. Im happy to know he'd rather leave half a cricket for me to clean out an hour later than gorge himself.
Thanks again.

 

[cacoseraph]

well.... i wouldn't interpret it exactly that way

rather, i would say that a hungry cent will leave little to no potentially digestible material if it can help it... but a very well fed centipede is not quite as anal retentive

i have centipedes that pretty much always eat *some* of what i offer them... and they are freaking FAT. they are females that have produced eggs (and young) for me in the past, so i like to keep them a little better fed than my normal choice. i suspect it could be deletorious to feed as much as i do to non-gravid cents... and it certainly would lower their lifespan according to the pretty much accepted (according to biologist and ents and what not) understanding of how their metabolsim and longevity work

 

[fictitious]

so generally what your saying is that if he is fed improperly i could kill him (quickly or over span)?

 

[cacoseraph]

yeah, basically.

essentially, the more you feed a bug the faster it grows and matures but the sooner it dies. this is not a good or bad thing, it just is. if you want you pet to be around the most amount of time a reduced feeding schedule is probably in order

 

[fictitious]

DONE! I want this guy to die when I do, lol. Of course I'm not going to starve him but he can do with a reduced schedule. I never thought I'd be killing him by feeding him as much as I was. Thanks a lot buddy.

 

[RottweilExpress]

On the other hand lots of food makes it grow faster and often bigger than sparingly fed ones. At least in my opinion. Genes play a grand part of course.

 

[Galapoheros]

I believe after a while you get an idea of what "moderation" means when it comes to feeding your pedes and other bugs. I feel like I can get a general look at them now to get an idea if they are ready for a crik or not. If they are flattish looking, seem a little jerky than normal and have plenty of water, it might be time to eat. I do let them fill up at times since they prob occasionally come across a big meal in the wild.

 

[fictitious]

I agree with that, that's how I do it with my scorp. My pede is just really small I was afraid of over-over feeding him. She's been doing grat for the last month now so I'm not as worried now. Thanks all.