centipede won't eat

[Unregistered]

i have a peruvian giant centipede about 1" that hasn't eaten in about 3 weeks. i keep the temperature and humidity right, and the crics are definately small enough for him to eat.
is my pede not eating because he chooses not to? how long can a centipede go without eating?

 

[Henry Kane]

Hey there Guest!
Are you sure you have a Peruvian Giant, and not a Puerto Rican giant? If it is a Peruvian, may I ask where you acquired it, and how old it is?

Anyhow, he may be approaching a molt. 3 weeks sounds a little long for a 1" 'pede to go on a fast though.
Could be some kind of stress as well. Does it have sufficient depth of substrate (what substrate are you using?) or a hiding place? Is he in an area with constant bright light or disturbance?

Is he looking pretty fat or thin? If he looks pretty fat, I'd avoid fussing over him too much creating more stress and just wait it out. If he doesn't molt pretty soon, it's probably some sort of stress. Another thing to keep in mind is that he may just not be much of a survivor. A percentage of a centipede brood are basically just not meant to make it for one reason or another. (Mystery 'pedeling deaths aren't too uncommon.) Hopefully, this isn't the case with yours. I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya.

Atrax

 

[MrDeranged]

I think the first, most important question is where are you and where did you find a 1" peruvian giant, how much did it cost, and does the person you got it from have more?

Anyway, back to your question. IMO three weeks without food doesn't sound like a long time, but that is for a pede that is in premolt and is a sub adult or adult. For instance, the last time my sub adult blacktailed pede ate was August 15. It was burrowed that entire time, I never saw it till yesterday. I'll be seeing if it will eat again tomorrow on it's normal feeding day. I'm sure that it disappeared to molt. If on the other hand, you're talking about a 1" baby pede, three weeks sounds like a bit of a long time. Have you tried smaller prey or trying to prekill it and see if the pede eats it?

Just some thoughts,

Scott

 

[sabre]

You can try changing the food you are offering it. My argentine pede will kill anything alive i put into it's cage, but then it will leave the prey there to rot. The only thing that it will actually eat is frozen blood worms and raw steak.