do tonkinbolus dollfusi ever surface lol

[rachmills]

they are soo pretty but i havent seen them at all since adding them to my communal been a month now theres plenty of rotting wood and leaves in the sub and i have a hide buried under ground sorta like a hollow cave in the centre of the tank completely buried but with space inside so i think theyre in there but i would like them to come out a bit more haha

 

[MillipedeTrain]

Hi, I have 4 TokinBolus dollfusi and I see them every night when it gets dark. Maybe you’re just not staying up late enough for them to come out? I see mine at 12am -5am then they go hide again. Dollfusi really like to bury themselves.

Out of curiosity are yours adults, sub adults or babies? ‘Cause I notice only the adults will really come out and the younger ones stay hidden almost all the time and if I do see them as soon as they see my flashlight they run and bury themselves or crawl down a tunnel. They’re VERY photosensitive.

Do you offer fresh fruits and veggies? Maybe you can coax them out to eat at night with some goodies! I feed mine organic fruits and veggies daily and they always come out every night to eat them with my baby Mardonius! (Attached a pic of them to show you.)

 

[rachmills]

ahh i go to bed normally around 11pm if im working then im in bed at like 8pm-10pm damn, mine are sub adults i believe they're quit big but the breeder just said medium-large specimens. so its hard to tell even how old they are. they're in a clear tub with a black lid and the other mills seem to think they're in the shade or something as they're out most of the time (mostly night though) im gonna get some organic carrots and melon and see if they'll come out. thanks for the idea

 

[MillipedeTrain]

ahh i go to bed normally around 11pm if im working then im in bed at like 8pm-10pm damn, mine are sub adults i believe they're quit big but the breeder just said medium-large specimens. so its hard to tell even how old they are. they're in a clear tub with a black lid and the other mills seem to think they're in the shade or something as they're out most of the time (mostly night though) im gonna get some organic carrots and melon and see if they'll come out. thanks for the idea

Yeah if you’re going to bed that early it’s probably why you’re not seeing them because I notice mine like to come out a few hours after the lights go out and it’s all quiet but I always have organic fruit and veggies to eat so they go STRAIGHT for that when they do come out and gobble it up! I ONLY feed organic ever since I tragically lost 4 millipedes to an apple. The apple wasn’t organic and I washed and peeled off the skin really well but it wasn’t enough. Apparently the pesticides can be absorbed inside the fruit of thin skinned fruits like apples, pears grapes especially so I will NEVER EVER EVER feed anything non-organic again! I cried when I found them dead next to the apple. That’s how I lost my flame leg millipedes so yeah I don’t trust anything non-organic. My friend fed her Narceus Americanus colony a watermelon rind and she had 20 millipedes, when she checked on them next 17 dead were dead and only 3 were left alive so the pesticides in it killed them. So I tell anyone everywhere to NEVER feed non-organic even if they think peeling will be enough. It’s just not worth the risk.

But in any case, they will enjoy the treat. Mine really, really enjoy organic carrot peel slices. I get a bowl and I peel off thin strips to give to all my millipedes and I mix it in to organic spring mix I buy in plastic boxes from Walmart but make sure it says organic since the boxes that aren’t organic are super similar to the ones that are. They love it and it has like 10 diff kinds of lettuce or something. I really recommend it!

 

[rachmills]

ahh damn,, im sorry to hear that i had the same thing as you i had 11 ivories (only 2 survivors now) as i fed them store bought cucumbers (i peeled and washed them as instructed) i was so stressed trying to figure out what is killing them but since not feeding them any fruit and veg and upping the leaf litter and rotting wood amounts they are doing amazing and the new mills are doing great too i will buy some organic fruit and veg and treat them a few times a week to it.

we dont have a walmart in the UK or at least not near me but i will try to find an organic mix alternative for them thanks for the reccomend

 

[MillipedeTrain]

ahh damn,, im sorry to hear that i had the same thing as you i had 11 ivories (only 2 survivors now) as i fed them store bought cucumbers (i peeled and washed them as instructed) i was so stressed trying to figure out what is killing them but since not feeding them any fruit and veg and upping the leaf litter and rotting wood amounts they are doing amazing and the new mills are doing great too i will buy some organic fruit and veg and treat them a few times a week to it.

we dont have a walmart in the UK or at least not near me but i will try to find an organic mix alternative for them thanks for the reccomend

Oh no, sorry that happened to you too...yeah simply washing and peeling is never good for non organic and so sad how everyone finds out the hard way.

What is your main substrate by the way? I used to have coconut fibre for my very first millipedes I ever kept and they died in cocofibre despite having proper wood and leaves. I hate coconut fibre and many other keepers are finding that it’s a terrible substrate and can kill millipedes, some believe it even impacts small millipedes and there is evidence that coconut fibre pulls moisture from adult millipedes as it dries and that’s why even reptile keepers are starting to turn away from it now. So I don’t use the stuff or recommend it because in my experience it kills millipedes over time...however people who have coconut fibre thoroughly mixed with another type of soil aren’t likely to experience as frequent deaths I find....but I still don’t recommend it.

The substrate I have now consists of pesticide free wasted and baked maple and oak leaves, organic sphagnum and Asian forest moss, organic black earth soil consisting of humus and peat (no fertilizers or pesticides of course!) and grated cuttlebone for calcium. Then I have lots of baked decayed maple wood that is shredded into smaller pieces. All of this is thoroughly mixed up together with a good leaf layer and extra decayed wood on the top because it helps keep the substrate humidity from fluctuating dramatically. I also have a bunch of cork bark hides for them to crawl on and hide in.

Ah sorry my bad though I thought you were in the US! I’m in Washington. I am certain your grocery store will likely have an organic salad mix box of some sort!

 

[rachmills]

its called millipede mulch from spidersworld i cant find the link but it said it has moss, calcium ,bacteria , wood, leaves, i think some peat, i also mix in more oak leaves+rotting wood/bark and some millipede substrate from an ebay seller and sprinkle cuttle bone on the surface once or twice a week

ive heard about coco fibre being bad for millies it seems to be bad for most animals/insects etc. its cheap and easy to produce i suppose but yeah i dont like it either
i wish more breeders advised against non organic food though as its a pretty instant killer i mean i bought the ivories at 7 pound each and lost 9 of them straight away.

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

Oh no, sorry that happened to you too...yeah simply washing and peeling is never good for non organic and so sad how everyone finds out the hard way.

What is your main substrate by the way? I used to have coconut fibre for my very first millipedes I ever kept and they died in cocofibre despite having proper wood and leaves. I hate coconut fibre and many other keepers are finding that it’s a terrible substrate and can kill millipedes, some believe it even impacts small millipedes and there is evidence that coconut fibre pulls moisture from adult millipedes as it dries and that’s why even reptile keepers are starting to turn away from it now. So I don’t use the stuff or recommend it because in my experience it kills millipedes over time...however people who have coconut fibre thoroughly mixed with another type of soil aren’t likely to experience as frequent deaths I find....but I still don’t recommend it.

The substrate I have now consists of pesticide free wasted and baked maple and oak leaves, organic sphagnum and Asian forest moss, organic black earth soil consisting of humus and peat (no fertilizers or pesticides of course!) and grated cuttlebone for calcium. Then I have lots of baked decayed maple wood that is shredded into smaller pieces. All of this is thoroughly mixed up together with a good leaf layer and extra decayed wood on the top because it helps keep the substrate humidity from fluctuating dramatically. I also have a bunch of cork bark hides for them to crawl on and hide in.

Ah sorry my bad though I thought you were in the US! I’m in Washington. I am certain your grocery store will likely have an organic salad mix box of some sort!

You are in the US, so where did you get Tonkinbolus dollfusi? I have not seen any place that has any available.

 

[MillipedeTrain]

You are in the US, so where did you get Tonkinbolus dollfusi? I have not seen any place that has any available.

Hey, sorry just noticed this. I got all my millipedes from my parent’s friend who used to work at a little zoo that closed down several years ago. He took the millipedes and several other inverts when it shut down. Due to health complications with him being in and out of the hospital he ended up having to find homes for all his pets since he couldn’t care for them anymore. So I bought up all the millipedes from him. If you were inquiring because you were wanting some, if mine breed successfully I can let you know.