First pede

[Sean]

Ok i have alwayz had animals from fish to dogs to T's to reptiles and im planning on expanding my collection of animals, i want to get my first scorp and pede now i already have an idea of what scorp to get but im wondering what u pede guys would recomend as a first pede???centepede's are all agressive i know and i have heard there has been 1 reported death from one...so which would u recommend as a first and which would u not recommend?? thanks in advance

Sean

 

[Code Monkey]

Scolopendra polymorpha has mild venom, only gets about 5", and is often recommended as a good beginner pede. However, haven gotten into pedes mildly last year, I can say that even the most aggressive and hot among them is really nothing if you educate yourself before hand.

Since they lack the climbing abilities of Ts, if you choose housing which is taller than they are long and have a secure lid you will never have to worry about an escapee. They have been known to scale the silicone sealant on aquariums, hence the need for a secure lid.

Although described as aggressive, which they are, this is really only when they're feeding or being disturbed. Most of the time they're just sitting there or calmly doing a walkabout of their cage. The only time you see them really freak is at feeding time or if you've taken it upon yourself to pester them.

With a pair of tongs for cage maintenance and an appropriate container (don't use Gary's shallow shoe box type housing as a model ), you won't have problems with even a large S. subspinipes (the one with a child's death attributed to it). I had a large Vietnamese giant (a subspinipes) as my first adult pede and never had any problems with it as it related to me (though being wild caught, it never really thrived in captivity and it died on my earlier this year ).

I've still got my Chinese redhead (believed to be a subspinipes subspecies) that I raised from a tiny pedeling and I love the thing. I would say it's more important that you get a pede that meets your requirements in terms of size, habits, and care rather than worry about things like venom and aggressiveness.

 

[deifiler]

I've one centipede - an Alipes fan tail

I think it makes a good beginner, mine rattles it's tail as primary defense warning sound rather than going straight for the bite

I guess that makes good criteria for a beginner species