Got my new millipedes!

[Elytra and Antenna]

Did you have a clutch of pinklegs that Peter (bugsincyberspace) sold?

Yes!! The book looks awesome. Good job. I will be buying one ASAP. : )

Possibly yours but nothing recent. Thanks! The Floridobolus pictured within appears to be the type specimen of a new species.

 

[Cavedweller]

Ooh, that looks fantastic! I will definitely be purchasing that book in the near future when I'm less broke!

My plants and substrate arrived today, and I just finished setting up the big, fancy pede tank. Once the bugs have settled in a bit I'll take some photos. The sheet moss I got isn't looking too good, but I'm gonna try misting it frequently and see if I can save it. I know I should have waited for the plants to take root, but I was worried about the pinkleg escaping, so I wanted to get him into the more secure tank as soon as possible.

While transferring the pedes I discovered that the coir in their temporary tank was massively waterlogged (that's what I get for trusting one of those little analog stick-on hygrometers). My digital thermometer/hygrometer has arrived as well so I'll be feeling much more confident about the readings. I'll also poke a finger into the soil once in a while to make sure it's not too soggy (I have a hydroton drainage layer which should help).

I'm still pretty nervous about screwing up, but that's probably just new pet paranoia.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

Possibly yours but nothing recent. Thanks! The Floridobolus pictured within appears to be the type specimen of a new species.

Cavedweller's is the same size as mine (5-7 inches) and it is from Peter. I wonder if they are from you. : )

---------- Post added 01-09-2013 at 09:49 PM ----------

Ooh, that looks fantastic! I will definitely be purchasing that book in the near future when I'm less broke!

My plants and substrate arrived today, and I just finished setting up the big, fancy pede tank. Once the bugs have settled in a bit I'll take some photos. The sheet moss I got isn't looking too good, but I'm gonna try misting it frequently and see if I can save it. I know I should have waited for the plants to take root, but I was worried about the pinkleg escaping, so I wanted to get him into the more secure tank as soon as possible.

While transferring the pedes I discovered that the coir in their temporary tank was massively waterlogged (that's what I get for trusting one of those little analog stick-on hygrometers). My digital thermometer/hygrometer has arrived as well so I'll be feeling much more confident about the readings. I'll also poke a finger into the soil once in a while to make sure it's not too soggy (I have a hydroton drainage layer which should help).

I'm still pretty nervous about screwing up, but that's probably just new pet paranoia.

Good luck. You will do fine. I have learned a lot from screwing up. Today I found EARWIGS!! in my AGB enclosure. This is bad...very bad. How did they get in there? ::

 

[Cavedweller]

Whoa! Forget to sanitize a log or something? I picked up a piece of limestone I'd been planning to stick in the tank (ended up not having room) and evicted two earwigs that had been living in the holes in the rock.

Speaking of sanitizing, I've been boiling the leaves I put in my tank, but I'm worried that might degrade their nutritional value or something. Should I be freezing the leaves instead, or does boiling work?

---------- Post added 01-09-2013 at 08:44 PM ----------

Here's a shaky cell-phone photo of the final tank.

I'll get better photos once I can borrow a camera. I've got some pilea, creeping fig, and moss in there. I'm a bit worried about the moss, but only time will tell how it turns out. Also pretty sure I saw an ant after I put the plants in (they came from Josh's Frogs). Hopefully a single ant won't be too problematic.

The pinkleg and one of the florida ivories have been exploring, but the other ivories haven't come out of hiding yet.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

Can anyone clarify the size the Dendrostreptus macracanthus (Giant Glossy Black Pinkleg Millipede) is sexually mature? I have some at 6-7 inches. I am keeping them in the typical optimum conditions. Any suggestions are welcomed.

 

[Cavedweller]

Elytra and Antenna's book says that they don't reach adulthood until they're 4 or 5 years old, so you may have another year or two to go. It does also say that mating is rarely witnessed, though, so maybe it's already happened if you're lucky.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

elytra and antenna's book says that they don't reach adulthood until they're 4 or 5 years old, so you may have another year or two to go. It does also say that mating is rarely witnessed, though, so maybe it's already happened if you're lucky.

thank you! : )

 

[Cavedweller]

Best of luck in your breeding attempts. If you ever succeed in breeding them, you better let me know!

 

[MrCrackerpants]

Best of luck in your breeding attempts. If you ever succeed in breeding them, you better let me know!

Yes, I will let you know. : )

 

[3skulls]

I'm wanting to get into millipedes more and more each day. Thanks for sharing!!

Edit**
Book is on the way

 

[Cavedweller]

I'm wanting to get into millipedes more and more each day. Thanks for sharing!!

Edit**
Book is on the way

Excelleeeent. Always happy to make a convert.

It's a bit frustrating seeing all the cool species that the Euro hobbyists get that the US crowd can't (and at better prices ;_, but there's still lots of cool species we can get. I hope by making the hobby more popular we'll be able to make the rarer species more common in the US.

I dream of a myriapodtopia where armies of fans breed legions of millipedes of every species imaginable. I shall do my best to contribute to this noble goal, slowly building my humble collection in plastic shoeboxes, snatching up rare species whenever they're available, but I can't do it alone!

Which book did you get? Orin's Millipedes in Captivity?

 

[3skulls]

That's the one.
I have a few locals that I found but never see any for sale at the shows.

I'll have to save up and put an order in soon.

 

[Cavedweller]

Sweeet. Any idea what you'll get?

Oh yeah, now that AGBs are rare and expensive, I would assume millipedes would be hard to find at shows.

I've been a bit disappointed by the limited amount of species available from most bug dealers. Bugsincyberspace is the only one I found with a decent selection. If anyone knows other good places, please let me know!

 

[3skulls]

Not sure yet. I would love some ABGs but don't have the money right now.
The more people that have them, the better in the long run. How long have they been banned?

Found this the other day.
http://wardsci.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_IG0013478

I also saw the ken the bug guy has a few species.

 

[moghue]

Not sure yet. I would love some ABGs but don't have the money right now.
The more people that have them, the better in the long run. How long have they been banned?

Found this the other day.
http://wardsci.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_IG0013478

I also saw the ken the bug guy has a few species.

Those are the ones I have from wards. I'm pretty sure they are AGB's but if not they are still very cool. I thought AGB'S were just banned from being imported you can still have them and sell them.

 

[3skulls]

Yes just banned from importing.

 

[Cavedweller]

Hm...a look at Wardsci says it's "Thyrophygus or similar". Google says Thyropygus is an asian genus. So no AGB I guess, but still a pretty cool pede. It would be great if we could find more info on them.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

An Update on my Dendrostreptus macracanthus: I started with 5 babies. I had 4 make it to 6-7 inches and I witnessed mating. My only male died yesterday. We shall see.

On a positive note, I noticed 8-10 baby Trigoniulus macropygus (Flameleg Millipede) yesterday and my only male of this species died a while ago.

 

[Cavedweller]

Aw man that sucks that your pede died. Good luck with the babies.

I've noticed a trend that sometimes males seem to die shortly after mating. Is there any literature on this phenomenon or am I just full of it? It would explain why male AGBs sometimes cost more than females...

 

[MrCrackerpants]

Aw man that sucks that your pede died. Good luck with the babies.

I've noticed a trend that sometimes males seem to die shortly after mating. Is there any literature on this phenomenon or am I just full of it? It would explain why male AGBs sometimes cost more than females...

I don't know about the literature but this is the fourth time a male has died and the external genitalia was very large (swollen?) and whitish. Maybe others can explain this.