Communal Millipedes?

[TooManyCooks]

Been wanting to try a communal millipede tank for a while. What millipedes commonly sold on the market (Smokey oak, Scarlet, Bumblebee, etc) can be kept together?

 

[goliathusdavid]

All of those species are Florida native\naturalized and can theoretically be kept together. Almost any millipedes from the same geographic area can be co housed fairly successfully, scarlets and bumblebees being the classic combination. It's important to note however, that you will NOT see breeding if you choose to co habitate multiple species. This is why personally, it's not something I do. Finally, if you're still set on this, make sure never to combine species that would not interact in their natural habitats.

 

[Arthroverts]

Principally all round (spirostreptid, spirobolid, julid, etc.) millipedes can be kept together without issues so long as their basic care needs are met. Hybridization is a potential problem with some species/genera, but it is a rare occurrence even in closely related species.

@goliathusdavid, pretty much all commonly-kept species will breed in the presence of another species. The problem only arises in discerning which immatures belong to which species.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[goliathusdavid]

@Arthoverts thank you so much! Was totally unaware this is possible... thank you for informing me!

 

[Arthroverts]

Yeah. If they couldn’t breed in the presence of other species, we’d have some problems with different species in the wild being found in the same areas, ha ha.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Matts inverts]

Almost all millipedes that have similar requirements can be kept together but I would not keep it together if you have a huge millipede and small millipedes. I had kept bumblebees and a scarlet together. I have not had any babies though. I definitely would not keep an A. Gigas with bumblebees because they are way different in size

 

[Joey Spijkers]

Almost all millipedes that have similar requirements can be kept together but I would not keep it together if you have a huge millipede and small millipedes. I had kept bumblebees and a scarlet together. I have not had any babies though. I definitely would not keep an A. Gigas with bumblebees because they are way different in size

In my opinion, the different sizes don’t matter either. I have a big breeding colony of Spirostreptus sp.1 and I keep hatchlings together with the adults. I’ve also had some larger species in with them previously. I only worry about environmental factors being the same for all species kept together.

 

[Sterls]

You should use the search function on this website and research as much as you can before getting any millipedes. Their being communal is a fairly well-known factor in their care, and has been discussed before. There is a wealth of information here - take advantage of it. Keeping millipedes is quite fun, you'll enjoy it.

If you're a book person, Orin McMonigle has a great one (Millipeds in Captivity) and also sells a number of millipede species, including bumblebees. His username is @Elytra and Antenna, you can find his ad in the classifieds section if you're interested.