Is my 2 year old A.Gigas going to die from this?!

[Stephan Ratliff]

I'm a new Milipede owner and I've had my new A.Gigas that I ordered from ward science for about 24 hours now and he doesn't seem to be moving except for his little legs but he hasn't eaten or anything since I got him.
I noticed what looks to be an injury to his/her carapace, not sure if it happened in transit or if it happened at source location but I noticed it when I unboxed the little guy. I'm including a photo I took of it for reference, would appreciate any advice or information on what I should do or expect.

 

[kjgalaxy]

1) Email ward's with a picture and let them know and request if it dies that he be replaced. If you don't get a response, call them.
2) This looks like an older injury to me (but I'm still learning so if someone more experienced throws in their two cents, go with them). My boy milli has a hideous carapace injury where it split for unknown reasons. It's scarred over after a fashion and he's still kicking, mating, eating. I keep hoping he'll molt someday and get a new carapace. But at any rate, hopefully your milli will be just fine.
3) I'm not surprised the milli hasn't eaten yet. It's just gone through a fair amount of stress. Give it a bit. Place it in its tank, put down food (especially cucumbers), and leave it be for a few days. Monitor every couple days. If it buries itself, don't be surprised if it doesn't come out for a few weeks. If it decides to molt, disruption can damage or kill it--so until you're certain it's okay, you might want to make sure you've only got maybe 4 inches of substrate, but be sure to provide bark or a lightweight hidey hole in that event. Then it's easier to monitor because it's not as likely to disappear from view.

 

[Andee]

I totally agree with minimal stress, no handling, and no bothering if he digs down for a bit. If he molts (which is likely in my opinion especially since the wound looks slightly older yes but looks like he still needs to molt to heal it properly), then just like anything (except maybe roaches and certain isopods) at that stage they are so easy to kill. Try to distract yourself from being to anxious by helping allowing yourself to obsess over something else that is healthy. Idk if honey is recommended for these guys with fresh/healing wounds? That would be a good thing to know.

 

[mickiem]

Welcome to the hobby! You've got some good advice already. I will agree, let him settle in and NEVER dig if he buries himself. His wound does not look fatal to me and I agree it looks like an old wound. Is he laying on his side or is that just how you were holding him? Can you take a photo of him in his enclosure?

Best of luck; relax and be patient.

 

[Stephan Ratliff]

Welcome to the hobby! You've got some good advice already. I will agree, let him settle in and NEVER dig if he buries himself. His would does not look fatal to me and I agree it looks like an old wound. Is he laying on his side or is that just how you were holding him? Can you take a photo of him in his enclosure?

Best of luck; relax and be patient.

The thing that worries me isn't so much the wound as the fact that he has been laying on his side....hasn't moved at all except for wiggling its legs for almost 2 whole days now

 

[mickiem]

The thing that worries me isn't so much the wound as the fact that he has been laying on his side....hasn't moved at all except for wiggling its legs for almost 2 whole days now

What kind of bedding are you using? I'm not worried about that wound but laying on his side is a very bad sign. It could be something in your enclosure. Do you have a clean plastic container? Maybe you could put some slightly damp paper towels in it and see if he does any better there. He could have overheated in transit or he could have been dropped (nearly always fatal). Don't want to alarm you, but that doesn't look good. I hope the best for you. I'm sure the company will make it right, but I'm sorry you have to endure this anguish.

 

[Andee]

I agree, unless he's curled up, doing laying on his side is totally not normal. I would definitely call the company.

 

[Stephan Ratliff]

What kind of bedding are you using? I'm not worried about that wound but laying on his side is a very bad sign. It could be something in your enclosure. Do you have a clean plastic container? Maybe you could put some slightly damp paper towels in it and see if he does any better there. He could have overheated in transit or he could have been dropped (nearly always fatal). Don't want to alarm you, but that doesn't look good. I hope the best for you. I'm sure the company will make it right, but I'm sorry you have to endure this anguish.

He's been laying on his side but has gone from mostly curled to uncurled since I unboxed him,my bedding I use in the tank is half sphagnum peat moss,half cocofiber.
Got some wood chips,calcium powder on their way,amazon order for them was delayed and they should be in today.
Also got a nice long stick in the tank and a skull for him to hide in.
We put in all the stuff out of the container he arrived in inside the tank.

But like I said he hasn't moved from being on his side since I unboxed him,he wasn't burrowed down just laying on top of the stuff.

His little legs move,but his back half more than his front half.
He seemed to wiggle his legs a lot more when i held him and stroked his carapace with my thumb.

 

[keks]

You should read this: http://arachnoboards.com/threads/cavedwellers-basic-millipede-caresheet.263344/ and adjust the setup for your millipede .
What do you feed him?

 

[MossMan]

My millipedes often arrived with scars like that. That's an old wound by the looks of it, I'm more worried about him laying on his side.

 

[Hisserdude]

,my bedding I use in the tank is half sphagnum peat moss,half cocofiber.
Got some wood chips,calcium powder on their way,amazon order for them was delayed and they should be in today.

I'm not sure about the whole wound thing, but your millipedes will die if kept on that substrate. Their main diet is rotten, decaying hardwood leaves and wood, which is what the bulk of the substrate should be made out of, they'll never survive on that substrate mix with just supplemental foods like fruits and veggies alone.

I highly recommend looking around in a wooded area around you for old, decaying hardwood leaves and fallen logs that you can obtain dark brown, really rotten wood from, which you should mix with leaf compost or compost manure and use as the substrate.

If you can't find suitable materials near you, I'd suggest buying pre-made substrate like the composite blend offered here.

 

[Stephan Ratliff]

I'm not sure about the whole wound thing, but your millipedes will die if kept on that substrate. Their main diet is rotten, decaying hardwood leaves and wood, which is what the bulk of the substrate should be made out of, they'll never survive on that substrate mix with just supplemental foods like fruits and veggies alone.

I highly recommend looking around in a wooded area around you for old, decaying hardwood leaves and fallen logs that you can obtain dark brown, really rotten wood from, which you should mix with leaf compost or compost manure and use as the substrate.

If you can't find suitable materials near you, I'd suggest buying pre-made substrate like the composite blend offered here.

Well I did research for a good while before deciding to get one of these things cuz I'm not one to get a pet without knowing how to take care of it. Almost everything I've read even from places like Ward's Science has said that is a perfect substrate for them. Videos from multiple sources said the same. As far as food I have a diet planned of veggies, calcium via powder or egg shells, and dry dog food for protein cuz that's what most caresheets I've read recommend.

 

[Hisserdude]

Well I did research for a good while before deciding to get one of these things cuz I'm not one to get a pet without knowing how to take care of it. Almost everything I've read even from places like Ward's Science has said that is a perfect substrate for them. Videos from multiple sources said the same. As far as food I have a diet planned of veggies, calcium via powder or egg shells, and dry dog food for protein cuz that's what most caresheets I've read recommend.

Ask any good millipede breeder and they'll tell you that rotten wood and leaves are essential to the growth of most millipedes. For adults it may not be as important, but for juveniles it certainly is. Without any rotten wood or leaves, they will slowly starve. Millipedes can die very slowly from poor conditions, it may take weeks, or months, before you notice any fishy behavior, but by then it may be too late.

Those foods you described are good supplemental foods, but the main diet should be rotten wood and leaves.

 

[keks]

Well I did research for a good while before deciding to get one of these things cuz I'm not one to get a pet without knowing how to take care of it. Almost everything I've read even from places like Ward's Science has said that is a perfect substrate for them. Videos from multiple sources said the same. As far as food I have a diet planned of veggies, calcium via powder or egg shells, and dry dog food for protein cuz that's what most caresheets I've read recommend.

Unfortunately this were apparently not the best sites to research . Do what hisserdude recommends you, leaves and rotten wood are as essential as the air to breathe.
I feed Zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, a little bit fish food and I feed crushed eggshells without this skin inside. But this is not the main diet, the main diet are leaves and rotten wood.
In my enclosure I have leaves and wood from beech and oaks, and soil from the wood I'd collected the leaves. Take care that you don't collect ants! This is what happened to me the first time, so I had to to go once more . I also collected much to few of the soil, so I mixed it with growing soil for herbes.
The soil in my enclosures are 20 cm high. They need that to burrow and to eat through.
This all happened a few month ago, and I have pedelings now ^^.
I'm sorry, that you make so bad experience. But now you can make it better. I hope, your A. gigas will get it .

It is great that you can buy useful soil, here we don't have that.

LOL hisserdude was faster ^^.

 

[Stephan Ratliff]

Ask any good millipede breeder and they'll tell you that rotten wood and leaves are essential to the growth of most millipedes. For adults it may not be as important, but for juveniles it certainly is. Without any rotten wood or leaves, they will slowly starve. Millipedes can die very slowly from poor conditions, it may take weeks, or months, before you notice any fishy behavior, but by then it may be too late.

Those foods you described are good supplemental foods, but the main diet should be rotten wood and leaves.

That's why half of the substrate is coco fiber. Everyone I talk to says they eat that and get the same stuff they get from rotten wood. I was planning on adding some brown, wet rotting leaves but none of that even matters yet if this little guy doesn't pull through. I appreciate ya tryin to help tho

 

[MossMan]

That's why half of the substrate is coco fiber. Everyone I talk to says they eat that and get the same stuff they get from rotten wood. I was planning on adding some brown, wet rotting leaves but none of that even matters yet if this little guy doesn't pull through. I appreciate ya tryin to help tho

To my knowledge, they don't eat cocofiber. Go out to a forest and grab some rotting wood/leaves. If you see small millipedes or pill bugs munching on it, that's a good sign

 

[keks]

To my knowledge, they don't eat cocofiber. Go out to a forest and grab some rotting wood/leaves. If you see small millipedes or pill bugs munching on it, that's a good sign

On diplopoda.de they say that they can't digest cocofiber, and they die when they eat too much because of (a?) bowel occlusion. I don't know if this is right, but
I don't use it, I prefer real soil. Can't be sooo wrong once probably my Tonkinbolus have babies ^^.

 

[Hisserdude]

That's why half of the substrate is coco fiber. Everyone I talk to says they eat that and get the same stuff they get from rotten wood. I was planning on adding some brown, wet rotting leaves but none of that even matters yet if this little guy doesn't pull through. I appreciate ya tryin to help tho

Coconut fiber is basically inedible, and has absolutely no nutrients. It can't be used to feed anything. Rotten wood and leaves on the other hand are full of nutrients.

Take this info from Orin McMonigle's book, "Millipeds in Captivity":

"Quality substrate includes a base and a food component. A base substrate is used for the bottom inch or two and edible substrate is placed on top. The base retains moisture and allows for burrowing. A portion of the food substrates is mixed in so tiny millipeds don't have to travel far without finding food".

He lists compost, coconut fiber and potting soil as base substrates, and rotten wood, decaying leaves and sawdust as food substrates.

So you can keep your old substrate at the bottom, but it is important that another couple inches or so of edible substrate be placed on top, otherwise they'll starve. Honestly, compost would be a better base though, since it actually has some nutrition, but coconut fiber can be used instead.

Really hope the little guy pulls through, keep us updated!

 

[Stephan Ratliff]

Unfortunately he never recovered from his initial voyage.
Leg twitching stopped completely,Rigid body and he definitely smells very dead...
Ward's told me they'll be sending a replacement but that he'll be even younger.
Between now and the time he arrives I'll be changing out the substrate as you guys have pointed out and I found the perfect rotting log to add to the tank.
I just have to cut it in half,any recommendations on sterilizing it?
Last time I added anything I collected outdoors,I ran hot water on it and threw it in the freezer before adding it.
Just making sure that's the best way to do it.

 

[mickiem]

Unfortunately he never recovered from his initial voyage.
Leg twitching stopped completely,Rigid body and he definitely smells very dead...
Ward's told me they'll be sending a replacement but that he'll be even younger.
Between now and the time he arrives I'll be changing out the substrate as you guys have pointed out and I found the perfect rotting log to add to the tank.
I just have to cut it in half,any recommendations on sterilizing it?
Last time I added anything I collected outdoors,I ran hot water on it and threw it in the freezer before adding it.
Just making sure that's the best way to do it.

So sorry. I hope your new one is strong. This is a rough time to ship with the heat where it is. We are going to have 90's tomorrow. Millipedes can't handle much over 80. AGBs prefer 72-76. Good luck!