I'm a Transfer from the Tarantula Board -- MY FIRST PEDE, I need help!

[RugbyDave]

Hey everyone!

First time to this side of the forum
Uh, I'm dave.

Anyways, i want to get a pede. What's a good one to start off with. Clarificiation: I don't want the 'G.rosea' of pedes, and aggression isn't a factor. I don't want to handle the thing, I just want a pretty stable, nice looking, (cheaper) pede just something to interest me by!

Many thanks in advance!

I'll be looking to Swifty or Bill or another online source to buy it, also!

peace
dave

 

[Steven]

my top 5:
1.Peruvian Giant
2.Heros C.
3.Heros A.
4.Subspines "Cherry Red"
5.Subspines Dehaani

(cheaper) pede

mmmm, i don't know what these pedes cost were you from, but here the prices are reasonable, accept i can't find any Heros species here in Europe

greetz

 

[skolopender]

@steven
you arn't the only one - i can't get any heros-species too....

@dave
i think that S. morsitans are really good to start as they arn't as aggressiv and fast as the bigger species !

 

[Wade]

I'd wager that more S. heros will be available as we move into summer. These are a temperate/desert species and are highly seasonal. I think they are collected more often in the warm/rainy season (maybe just a couple months), and not at all in the winter/dry season. The various tropical species have a larger "window" for collection.

For a first centipede, I'd recomend one of the following, which I have kept:

S. subspinipes - This one is fairly large and usually quite aggressive. They are highly variable in both appearance and price. Cheaper ones start at around $15 bucks, but some of the more unusually colored varieties are alot more. Although I wouldn't reccomend it to someone new to inverts in general, if you have some experience with fast and agressive T's you'll probably be OK. Centipedes can't climb smooth surfaces the way T's can, but they are able to use their long bodies to pry lids of their containers. Tall containers are recomended for this reason. They are fairly hardy.

S. polymorpha/S. viridis - These are two very simmilar looking NA species that are VERY hardy and do well in drier conditions as long as they have water source. Smaller than the above, averageing between 3 and 5 inches, but there are som monster 6"+ specimens out there.

There's some other good, hardy species as well, including S. morsitans and S. cingulata (am I spelling that right?) that may be good choices as well, but I haven't any first hand experience with them.

Wade

 

[RugbyDave]

Alright,

thanks for the responses.. i'm going with subspinipes and then my buddy just came into a bunch of cool pedes. he sold them all except for 2. I pick one, he keeps the other. They're pretty rough though, but i've been working with Ts for years and years, so im not too worried...

ive bred my usumbara and had to grab my poec a couple times on an run-for-freedom, and i had a grand ole time taking the eggsac away from one of my crawshayi...

so i'm not too worried about the 'hot' pedes.. these guys are just so beautiful its hard to not want to get into them, you know.

alright,
i'll post pics soon

peace
dave

 

[skadiwolf]

oh wow...this is scary. :/ dave is here too...alas.

okay, well, i am also interested in millipedes and unlike dave, i want something VERY docile and VERY easy to handle.

suggestions guys?

 

[Wade]

Originally posted by skadiwolf


suggestions guys?

Most of the millipedes in the trade are good, such as the African giant blacks (A. gigas), but I couldn't recomend any of the centipedes if you want to touch them. There are some die hards who handle them, but I'm not one of them. Death from a bite is unlikley, but severe pain is virtually guarenteed.

Wade

 

[skadiwolf]

thanks dude. no no, i don't like aggressive and i definitely don't like hots, even mildly hot.

unless they're wings.

 

[RugbyDave]

scary that I'M here, huh?

well, i was talking about centepedes, and youre talking about milipedes... a bit different...

milipedes eat vegetation and leaves and that type of matter.. they're pretty much harmless, except for some staining that you have to wash off. I have a couple of millis... the big ones are cool

centepedes on the hand... wow.. you feed those guys T-food

they're very different in that way!

but good luck if you get a millipede.. they're cool guys.
i like centepedes though.
too bad i dont have enough cash for the peach that Bill's got.. oh man, what a sweet pede that is!!!

pce
dave