Cooling Systems For PNW Millipedes

[goliathusdavid]

Interested to hear how others manage genera like Tylobolus or Paeromopus in captivity. How do you as a keeper get colder temps? The Paeromopus angusticeps I am keeping seem quite happy in my basement for now, but will need some sort of system to cool things down for the hot Philadelphia Summer. I bought a couple of four inch fans I could rig on the top of the enclosure (a ten gallon) but I have no idea how this would affect stress. Honestly, not sure where to begin, despite having read about one hobbyist's system. Would love any and all info. Thanks!

 

[Dry Desert]

Interested to hear how others manage genera like Tylobolus or Paeromopus in captivity. How do you as a keeper get colder temps? The Paeromopus angusticeps I am keeping seem quite happy in my basement for now, but will need some sort of system to cool things down for the hot Philadelphia Summer. I bought a couple of four inch fans I could rig on the top of the enclosure (a ten gallon) but I have no idea how this would affect stress. Honestly, not sure where to begin, despite having read about one hobbyist's system. Would love any and all info. Thanks!

When I worked in Saudi Arabia back in the 80,s there was a basic cooler that was termed " The Desert Cooler " . They may even be in the States. It consisted of a fan ,a pump and a filter . There was a water reservoir making up the base, with a water pump in, a spray bar at the top, and a filter from top to bottom, an air fan was then mounted at the back of the filter. When in operation the water was circulated around the system, down through the filter with the fan's air movement cooling the water. Same principle as a car's radiator. As mentioned, probably common in the States. Seemed to work well in the height of summer in Saudi.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

When I worked in Saudi Arabia back in the 80,s there was a basic cooler that was termed " The Desert Cooler " . They may even be in the States. It consisted of a fan ,a pump and a filter . There was a water reservoir making up the base, with a water pump in, a spray bar at the top, and a filter from top to bottom, an air fan was then mounted at the back of the filter. When in operation the water was circulated around the system, down through the filter with the fan's air movement cooling the water. Same principle as a car's radiator. As mentioned, probably common in the States. Seemed to work well in the height of summer in Saudi.

Sounds like a relatively sophisticated version of what many people in North America call a "swamp cooler". Basically just evaporative cooling - there are a ton of DIY designs using this basic notion to get a lot of wet surface area in front of a fan. Works great in dry-ish climate, but is less effective in more humid environments, so it'll depend on how humid a Philadelphia basement gets in summer. A quick and dirty version would be to put a fan in front of a bucket of water and suspend some thin absorbent fabric above the bucket, hanging down into the water and wicking water up - basically you'd be making it so the fan is blowing directly onto wet cloth, if that makes sense. It would be even more effective if the air from the fan couldn't escape around the fabric but was forced to go through it, so if you enclosed the fan and bucket in a box with a hole behind the fan for air intake and one in front of the fabric for outflow you could get a pretty effective cheap AC (at least provided the relative humidity isn't already at 90%).

 

[goliathusdavid]

Sounds like a relatively sophisticated version of what many people in North America call a "swamp cooler". Basically just evaporative cooling - there are a ton of DIY designs using this basic notion to get a lot of wet surface area in front of a fan. Works great in dry-ish climate, but is less effective in more humid environments, so it'll depend on how humid a Philadelphia basement gets in summer. A quick and dirty version would be to put a fan in front of a bucket of water and suspend some thin absorbent fabric above the bucket, hanging down into the water and wicking water up - basically you'd be making it so the fan is blowing directly onto wet cloth, if that makes sense. It would be even more effective if the air from the fan couldn't escape around the fabric but was forced to go through it, so if you enclosed the fan and bucket in a box with a hole behind the fan for air intake and one in front of the fabric for outflow you could get a pretty effective cheap AC (at least provided the relative humidity isn't already at 90%).

This is a really fascinating idea, and as you wrote, significantly more simple. Not totally clear how this would transfer to an enclosure however... you're clearly producing cold air but not sure how it is getting to where it needs to. Would you be willing to clarify this?
Also what are people's opinions on fans near or above enclosure on low settings with consistent misting? This seems like the simplest solution to me, but obviously do not want to stress or in any way harm the animals... thank you to all for your input!

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

This is a really fascinating idea, and as you wrote, significantly more simple. Not totally clear how this would transfer to an enclosure however... you're clearly producing cold air but not sure how it is getting to where it needs to. Would you be willing to clarify this?
Also what are people's opinions on fans near or above enclosure on low settings with consistent misting? This seems like the simplest solution to me, but obviously do not want to stress or in any way harm the animals... thank you to all for your input!

This is something you would set up to globally cool the entire room - you wouldn’t want fans aimed directly at the animals.

 

[Arthroverts]

Wine coolers or modified chest freezers would work best if only wanting to cool a small number of enclosures as opposed to the whole room.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Dry Desert]

Wine coolers or modified chest freezers would work best if only wanting to cool a small number of enclosures as opposed to the whole room.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

Good idea, the wine coolers, bottle coolers, probably best as they have the full length glass front opening doors. Mind you quite expensive, even if you manage to purchase second hand, not something I would recommend though. Second hand refrigeration is a no no.( ex engineer ).

 

[Arthroverts]

I know from talking with friends who have kept Peripatoides novaezealandiae that there are some good, inexpensive wine coolers out there, somewhere in the range of $50-$100. A chest freezer (which could be modified similarly to what is done to grow ultra-highland Nepenthes) can also be had for a little more and with some tinkering to get the temperature right it would be suitable for everything from Paeromopus to Californiulus to Ariolimax to Mimobdella to maybe even the large Madagascan Zoosphaerium and the more sensitive polydesmids.

Definitely not an undertaking for the casual enthusiast though to be sure.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

P.S @goliathusdavid, Pacific North West Tylobolus that have been kept in captivity have been bred at standard room temperatures without problems, making a cooler terrarium for them unnecessary.

 

[goliathusdavid]

I know from talking with friends who have kept Peripatoides novaezealandiae that there are some good, inexpensive wine coolers out there, somewhere in the range of $50-$100. A chest freezer (which could be modified similarly to what is done to grow ultra-highland Nepenthes) can also be had for a little more and with some tinkering to get the temperature right it would be suitable for everything from Paeromopus to Californiulus to Ariolimax to Mimobdella to maybe even the large Madagascan Zoosphaerium and the more sensitive polydesmids.

Definitely not an undertaking for the casual enthusiast though to be sure.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

P.S @goliathusdavid, Pacific North West Tylobolus that have been kept in captivity have been bred at standard room temperatures without problems, making a cooler terrarium for them unnecessary.

Thank you! This is extremely helpful. I've been looking at some of the more inexpensive new electric coolers as an option, though a basement seems to be doing the trick for now. More a question of the new home the Paeromopus are moving to with me next year. I appreciate the help!
It's interesting that you mention Zoosphaerium, in my opinion one of the ultimate codes to crack. While temperature would definitely be a key in their cultivation, I don't think we'll see successful keeping until we have a better understanding of their swarming behavior and how they are affected by seasonal factors. So much of this is unknown compared to other species - even Orthoporus we have a pretty good understanding of, we're just unable to breed them for the life of us

 

[goliathusdavid]

Anyone think a modified one of these could work for a ten gallon Paeromopus tank? Trying to plan for when they enter a facility I'll be working with next year.

 

[Madnesssr]

After losing most of my Tylobolus offspring last year due to a 86F temp spike in my office, I moved mine into our master bedroom closet. It has 2 vents and is close to the thermostat. So it is the coldest area in the house. It stays below 74 in there where my office gets up to 78+ every afternoon.

 

[goliathusdavid]

After losing most of my Tylobolus offspring last year due to a 86F temp spike in my office, I moved mine into our master bedroom closet. It has 2 vents and is close to the thermostat. So it is the coldest area in the house. It stays below 74 in there where my office gets up to 78+ every afternoon.

I've been wondering if a small closet (or as I wrote above a large electric cooler) would work. Though ventilation would be a little trickier for the second.