help with young centipede care

Crawly

Arachnopeon
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Dec 21, 2009
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I've tried over the past year on two occasions to raise young cb centipedes ~2" and have failed. Once with two Scolopendra polymorpha and this time with three Scolopendra heros. They just die and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I kept them on dampened coconut fiber mixed with a small amount of vermiculite and also a little sand in small plastic jars with a small water dish (usually a plastic bottle cap). I fed them usually 1-2x/wk pinhead crickets or very small mealworms. I also lightly misted them a couple times a week to keep humidity up. I melted several pin-sized holes in the lid, and a few on the side of the jar before placing the pedes in them. I didn't provide extra heat, and relied on ambient temperatures ranging from 72-76 degrees F.

I didn't find any mold, or other organisms in the substrate that could have been harmful to them.

Has anyone else had similar difficulty with this?

From a more experienced keeper/breeder than myself, what might I be doing wrong?
 

micheldied

Arachnoprince
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Too damp perhaps?
I've never kept these species, but I believe they don't require as much moisture as say, the asian pedes.
 

Galapoheros

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Yeah, sounds like it might have been too damp. If you have a top on and a cap of water, you could practically keep the sub dry, maybe spraying one side now and then, letting a few drops go down to the sub. I wouldn't feel bad about it, it can be a challenge getting them past the first 2 or 3 molts ime. I've had batches where I only lose around 1 our of 10 plings, but other times many more. I have more opinions about it, maybe later and might take some pics, going to bed now though.
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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it's not just ventilation


i raised both those species in no vent rigs just fine. in no or super low vent rigs i only give a squirt or half squirt of water once ever 2 weeks or so. in higher vent rigs you need to prevent the sub from drying out... but that's about it


also, i never give any of my smaller pedes water dishes and rarely give any of my larger ones them


if i get babies (polymorpha. i am a tiger man) this spring i will try to document how i raise them and put together a nice howto on youtube (providing i can get unlocked out of my account by then... *grinds teeth*)
 

Crawly

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Well, from what everyone has replied, it seems that excess moisture has been the culprit. But how often should the substrate be changed in a small enclosure such as a small plastic jar? I had them just over a month and never changed the substrate.

Thanks to everyone for the replies by the way.:)
 

Galapoheros

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Well here's how I've been keeping heros plings. I never have had a problem with polymorpha for some reason, been hard to kill those over here. I have around 25 heros plings in these containers with about a 50/50 mix of coco fiber and sand, I leave the coco fiber a little chunky if I can. I think a little more sand than half might be better. I should prob have a few leaves and/or a small flat rock with them, just haven't done it. I don't put a top on, they can't reach the top, a humidifier is in that room with a timer set to turn on every 30 minutes and running for 30 minutes. The heater is set around 69F. I might put it at 65F for winter since heros go dormant then but I'm compromising with some tropical things I have in the same room and hoping it's OK, hasn't been a problem in the last years. The heros plings just sit there, if one starts walking around and is flat looking, I feed it, then it stops and stays still again. I simply eye-ball the substrate, never letting it completely dry out. I added water yesterday, you can see that the sub is a little dark. I forgot when these were born, ...maybe July(?) Also, another way I have been raising some plings and using heat if I think it's too cool in the room is like you see in the 2nd and 3rd pic. The white cotton-looking material is quilting material you can get in a hobby store, maybe Walmart. I stapled two layers together at the corners to use on both sides of the heater. I cut a piece of glass for the heater to stick on. I don't shove the plastic jars close to the heater with the quilting material, just enough to hold the heater up, that material insulates the heat so it can make it pretty warm. All that may be over-kill but the heat creates a warmer, dry place to go and a gradient to a cool damp place so I think it's working out.





 

Crawly

Arachnopeon
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Dec 21, 2009
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Nice!

I especially like the idea of adding a heat gradient.

The substrate I was using was much damper than what your photo has shown. I'll definitely try things differently the next time I purchase from those and/or similar species.

Thanks a lot!
 

Canth

Arachnolord
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Hey Gala, what material is on the drilled out jar holes? Is it just a fine mesh?
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
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It's a fine metal screen, they are awesome!, great for young stuff like T slings and scorpions. But I only have around 6 or so, I wouldn't mind having around 50. Fruit flies came in them, I emailed the company to see if I could get some of them but didn't get a reply. I bet they cut the hole in the tops after they buy them in bulk and put that screen in, it's just a tight fitting screen, no glue or anything like that. I'm sure you can find them if you look around, I just haven't looked that hard. ....I just looked on the bottom for a brand name, looks like a giant "R" but kind of weird looking.
 

KyuZo

Arachnoprince
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So you do supplement them with heat. for some reasons, i was thinking that you've been putting them through a cooling period over the winter time.

PS, i hope that my last email didn't go into your spam box again.
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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Kyuzo, my stuff goes through a moderately serious cooling period in winter. some of my pedes won't eat for a couple months in a row... stay buried the whole time... and come out just about as fat as they went in
 

KyuZo

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Caco, most of mine do too. I put my smaller ones in a small cabinet where i use a heat mat to raise the ambient air temperature for them because i want them to grow faster. on the other hand, i winter all my juvis and adults. they wouldn't feed for several months. they don't feed as long as the temperatures remain below 70... this includes all the asian species. just as long as they have a moist substrate and a water dish, then they should be okay. i keep mine in plastic shoe boxes with an inch and a half of substrate. they're all sit on top of the substrate.

my frustration with pedes right now is that i've haven't been able to successfully pair them up and breed any one specie. i'm still waiting for some to mature.


Kyuzo, my stuff goes through a moderately serious cooling period in winter. some of my pedes won't eat for a couple months in a row... stay buried the whole time... and come out just about as fat as they went in
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
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So you do supplement them with heat. for some reasons, i was thinking that you've been putting them through a cooling period over the winter time.

PS, i hope that my last email didn't go into your spam box again.
I'll check the mail, yeah I cool all native stuff. I guess I should not have thrown the "heater" thing in in this thread, the pedes in those plastic jars are tropical species, at least I should have mentioned that.
 

Canth

Arachnolord
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I'll check the mail, yeah I cool all native stuff. I guess I should not have thrown the "heater" thing in in this thread, the pedes in those plastic jars are tropical species, at least I should have mentioned that.
Check for my mail too ;)
 

Crawly

Arachnopeon
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Is is necessary to overwinter them, or is that more or less a requirement just for breeding. I would like to breed them eventually, but first I want to be able to raise them.
 

micheldied

Arachnoprince
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Is is necessary to overwinter them, or is that more or less a requirement just for breeding. I would like to breed them eventually, but first I want to be able to raise them.
I was wondering the same thing.
Is the cooling process really necessary?
Especially with the Asian pedes?
I've never had cooling periods for S. Subspinipes Mutilans, and all other species I haven't had for a very long time.
Never had problems though.
Kinda hard to give them cool periods when I'm lying just above the equator.
 

KyuZo

Arachnoprince
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there is no need to cool the asian species, most of them are tropical.
 
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