Centrobolus sp. ‘Mozambique’

[snakefactor]

Hey guys, does anyone have any experience keeping Centrobolus sp. ‘mozambique’
Had mine for about a week now and they seem to be doing well, just want to make sure I’m giving them the best care possible!
I keep them at 21-24°c with about 75% humidity and plenty of substrate & leaf litter to burrow in (and some cork bark to climb on)

 

[Arthroverts]

Since they are tropical I'd recommend trying to keep that temperature up a bit more, 22-23C minimum. Humidity isn't as important as soil moisture; so long as there isn't too much ventilation and the soil is moist it should be fine.
What's the rest of your setup look like? Substrate recipe, enclosure, foods offered, etc. They apparently appreciate white rotting wood in volume.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[snakefactor]

The seller said they’re very picky and will often refuse fruits and vegetables with the exception of banana, so I’ve been giving them plenty of rotting wood with small banana slices.
I use peat soil mixed with sphagnum moss and coco fibre as a substrate as they can burrow quite easily in it. As for the enclosure I’m using the Komodo millipede set up which was recommended to me.

 

[MantidMaster]

The seller said they’re very picky and will often refuse fruits and vegetables with the exception of banana, so I’ve been giving them plenty of rotting wood with small banana slices.
I use peat soil mixed with sphagnum moss and coco fibre as a substrate as they can burrow quite easily in it. As for the enclosure I’m using the Komodo millipede set up which was recommended to me.

I'd recommend throwing some rotten leaves on there too. However, the substrate you mentioned is 100% filler, which is no bueno for substrate-eating creatures like millipedes. Personally, I'd ditch the peat, keep the sphagnum and coco fiber, but make sure only 25% of the substrate is coco fiber. The rest should be ground-up decayed leaves, and that rotten wood you got, as well as some flake soil(decayed Traeger Oak pellets) and maybe a tiny bit of calcium, like limestone or cuttlebone. I'd recommend buying some flake soil for now, but consider looking into making your own, as the process is pretty simple once you have a tested and true method. If you're looking into keeping rhinoceros or stag beetles, learning how to make flake soil would be beneficial for those hobby fields as well.

Keep feeding bananas if that's what they like, but I recommend changing up your substrate.

As Arthroverts said, keep the temperature up as well. Too much ventilation for tropical millipedes can lead to desiccation, so watch out. Be sure to keep us updated

 

[snakefactor]

I'd recommend throwing some rotten leaves on there too. However, the substrate you mentioned is 100% filler, which is no bueno for substrate-eating creatures like millipedes. Personally, I'd ditch the peat, keep the sphagnum and coco fiber, but make sure only 25% of the substrate is coco fiber. The rest should be ground-up decayed leaves, and that rotten wood you got, as well as some flake soil(decayed Traeger Oak pellets) and maybe a tiny bit of calcium, like limestone or cuttlebone. I'd recommend buying some flake soil for now, but consider looking into making your own, as the process is pretty simple once you have a tested and true method. If you're looking into keeping rhinoceros or stag beetles, learning how to make flake soil would be beneficial for those hobby fields as well.

Keep feeding bananas if that's what they like, but I recommend changing up your substrate.

As Arthroverts said, keep the temperature up as well. Too much ventilation for tropical millipedes can lead to desiccation, so watch out. Be sure to keep us updated

Thanks! Changed their substrate and bumped up the temperatures and they seem to be doing great!

 

[0001]

Question about this species: I hear in winter they can appreciate a temperature drop to 18°C at nighttime as this simulates the cold season that comes before their breeding season. Is this not correct?

How much flake soil do I need to buy to provide 4 of them for about 6 months?

 

[Arthroverts]

I haven't heard that before; looking at just a few graphs of maximum and minimum temperatures in Mozambique it doesn't seem the temperatures get all the way down to 18C regularly in the dry season. It also seems unusual for them to be most active in the dry and relatively colder dry season.

Regardless, I believe they grow and breed just fine without the temperature drop, though some sort of seasonal variation may help somewhat.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[0001]

I got that info from the german site insectenliebe. This pic shows the translation and a picture they have of a table showing day/night temps and rain levels.
Of course I have no testing or experience with the species yet, but if this information is true than that means it. Ight increase their happiness or breeding if a cold spell is introduced. It also means that (lucky for me living in Europe) these can be kept unheated in the wintermonths in the living room.

you say they breed fine, can you tell me how much offspring you can expect from 1 breeding couple in a years time? Do they have a niticable time that they lay eggs or do they do it year round?
I might want to keep this species at some point so very interested to hear your thoughts and findings!

 

[Arthroverts]

Ah, I see...Insektliebe is reputable, but it is unusual to me because when the monsoon comes the weather is very warm and wet, not cold. It is a small quibble however, so yes, you probably should offer some sort of seasonal variation (considering how many African species have to have seasonal variation in order to breed this isn't surprising).

Unfortunately I cannot give specific answers as to your last two questions, as this species has never been available in the US, and I am merely sharing information that I have learned over several years of study and research. Should they make it over here I would jump at the chance (so long as they are affordable).
I would guess they would lay during the monsoon season (actually Insektliebe says it right there), i.e when it is warm, and can probably produce between 50-200 eggs per female. I'll have to go take a look at some of my saved information to confirm.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[0001]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and thoughts. This is all very interesting material!

 

[Arthroverts]

Indeed it is, and you'll always be learning something new if you go far in this side of the hobby. Every time I think I've seen every species in the hobby, I up and see a new one. Like discovering Centrobolus vastus this past week, my new favorite for the genus.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[0001]

Yeah, that certainly seems to be the case. I’ve been reading a lot these past weeks but feel like I barely scratched the surface, it’s a little overwhelming at first, but at least it doen’t get boring. I’m sure there’s plenty of species out and about that aren’t even in the hobby yet, I keep finding pictures of gorgeous red and black pedes that only turn up one or two google results. Ah well, maybe one day I will live next to a forrest and keeping/breeding millipedes will become a basically free hobby

Around Europe the Mozambique’s are around €15,- per animal and they like to hang out in groups so at least 4-5 is advised, so that is a fairly steep price range to start with for a beginner who also has to buy substrate, but for you that might be a very reasonable price if they ever do come over to US.

 

[Arthroverts]

I've researched a ton over years and yet I feel like I'm still only scratching the surface, ha ha. There are just too many species, subspecies, color variations, methods, tips, tricks, and general husbandry information to take in.

I don't know why but €15 sounds a little expensive for Europe; are these wild caught or captive bred? I might be able to find better prices for you, PM me if you like. For the US it is a very good price however .
While millipedes are communal they do not absolutely require "companions", so to speak, and will be perfectly content kept alone or in smaller groups such as a pair or trio. Even so, if you want to breed 4-6 is a good number to start with.
Can you not make your own substrate?

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[0001]

I’m not sure if they are captive bred or wild caught, the site doesn’t say, so I would have to shoot them a message. I hear a breeder in the UK is setting up a breeding line but no idea on the prices they will ask once it gets going.
And thank you for the offer! I’m not ready yet (for a few months probably) to buy a millipede, but is it ok if I shoot you a message about that when I am ready?

I live in the Netherlands where it is illegal to take anything out of the forests, including hummus, leaves, and wood. Making my own substrate would still require me to buy loose elements to mix, which is what I will be doing. It just takes a bit of time, research, and money to get it shipped from different places. I want to make sure I can arrange for everything they need and have everything running before bringing them home.

 

[Arthroverts]

Yeah that's totally fine.

Wow. That just seems wrong to me (there can't be that many invertebrate keepers there...), but I assume there's a good reason for it?

Thanks,

Arthroverts