First time florida ivory keeper q's: humidity, strange behavior, and moss diet?

[alapides]

Hi guys, I just got 5 florida ivory millipedes about a week ago. They seem to be doing pretty well overall but there are a few things I'm concerned about:

Firstly - I'm not sure I'm getting the humidity levels right. The substrate seems to be drying out on the bottom (see attached pic) and squeezing a handful doesn't feel that moist. Three of the 5 millipedes were hiding under a piece of cork bark earlier, but once I removed them from underneath and misted the enclosure they were moving around and acting normal, and it seemed as if they were sucking water droplets off the walls of the tank. All of this indicates to me that I'm not keeping it quite moist enough in there, even though my hygrometer stays around 80% even without misting (maybe it's broken?). I've attached an image of the top of my tank - originally just a screen, but I taped down a large piece of plastic with chiffon on the ends for airflow. What should I be looking for if the tank is too dry/too moist/too much airflow/not enough airflow? I'd love an expert opinion here.

Secondly - one of my millipedes seems to be stuck in a "pooping position", i.e. its back chute is open. It is moving around and eating as usual but I can't help but feel it's not a good sign (picture included). Any thoughts?

Finally - I have sheet moss aka carpet moss in my tank (bought here: https://www.joshsfrogs.com/fresh-sheet-moss-1-quart.html). The millipedes seem to exclusively be eating the moss and haven't really touched the substrate. I've also fed them bug burger and a tomato but I'm concerned that a 95% moss diet might not be good for them. Could any millipede + moss keepers weigh in?

Thanks everyone!!

 

[coolnweird]

Welcome! Ivories are fairly easy to keep, they were my first millis. Misting is a good way to give them an opportunity to drink, but to moisten the soil you want to pour water straight into the substrate, making sure it's soaking down to the bottom. Personally I'd provide a lil more airflow, but that's not a professional/expert opinion by any means.

As for your buddy with the weird booty, I've observed my millipedes "relaxing" in this way for several minutes, but they eventually retract themselves and close back up. I wouldn't worry unless it seems unable to retract back in for multiple days.

The moss consumption is a non-issue in my opinion, as long as they're passing stool regularly whatever they choose to eat is fine.

That all said, there are many, many people with more experience/knowledge than I have, and hopefully we can get a couple different opinions on this!

 

[alapides]

Thanks so much for your reply! I don't know why just pouring water in the substrate never occured to me. I've read that millipedes don't really need that much moisture (here under 'dieoff problems'), but every time I mist the enclosure they get more active and seem to really enjoy it.

And my millipede did eventually relax and close back up, and now seems fine! I think I'm just watching them a little too closely at the beginning to make sure all their basic needs are taken care of.

Thanks again!