Is my millipede eating his legs?

Archispiro

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 19, 2007
Messages
4
I bought an Archispirostreptus Gigas a few months ago and noticed a week or so after obtaining him that four of his back legs on one side are missing. He's got a habit of spinning around to chew on them and for a while I thought he was ingesting them. It ran contrary to what I'd heard about them so I observed his behavior over a few more weeks.

It seems that they were simply missing beforehand and he's agitated by their absence, but I'm not certain. No more have gone missing since so it seems to indicate more of an annoyed behavior than anything else. I'm curious as to what people with more experience think of this.

If it's just a reaction to their absence is there anything else I should worry about? Do millipedes regenerate legs or gain replacements in the process of molting? I'm very new to this and I want to make sure he's doing as well as possible.

I don't have any pictures of the legs in question but I do like showing him off :p I realize that others here have more exotic and unusual arthropods but hopefully someone will enjoy seeing him.

Thanks for your advice!

EDIT: On closer inspection, the second photo provides a glimpse of this injury.
 

millipeter

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 8, 2005
Messages
173
Hi,
Normally millipedes do not eat their own legs. They only eat their legs if they are injured maybe to prevent a bigger infection.
The habit of chewing is maybe an extra cleaning of the wound.

Millipedes, as almost every arthropod, can regenerate (step by step) extremities in the process of molting. Unfortunately your AGB is adult and will not molt. But it will not be a handycap for her. She has enough other legs ;)
 

Archispiro

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 19, 2007
Messages
4
Okay, thank you. I'm glad he's not eating them. That's a huge worry alleviated right there.

About gender, can you tell? I'm still iffy on that. I had a friend tell me that he was a male based on the slit on his back but I've also heard that the only way to tell is to flip them upside-down and inspect. I wouldn't know what to look for if I checked so I haven't. I've just been thinking of him as male this whole time.
 

nissan480

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 28, 2006
Messages
262
He's a cute little feller.....thats to bad he wont molt again...


Put him on a piece of glass,or something clear so you dont have to hold him upside down..Look at his seventh segment and if he's a male,you'll see two little stumps,these would be his happy sack's..if there's nothin,then you got a female.

The above info was taken from a website,i have no personal experience with milli's
 

millipeter

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 8, 2005
Messages
173
Sexing is quite easy. You look at the 7th segment (counting including the big headshild/collum). If there normal legs are absent it is an male. The legs of the 7th segment are modified into gonopods for transferring the sperm to the female . You can compare it to the pedipalpus of the spiders.

If there are 2 pairs of normal legs it's an female. In females you have a bigger gap between the 2nd and 3rd pair of legs cause there lie the vulvae.

In this way you can also sex juveniles above stadia 5 oder 6.

Look >HERE< for pictures how it looks like. It's in german: Weibchen=female, Männchen=male. Click on the pics to make them bigger...

Think your one is a female...

PS: Should't be a double post. I was only too slow in typing/translating :?
 

Archispiro

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 19, 2007
Messages
4
I have a different question that just occurred to me--how can I get her to ingest her calcuim powder? She rejects any food that I add it to and this slightly worries me. Are there any tips? I'm considering giving her an apple slice and letting it absorb into the juice but I want to make sure that it'll work.
 

Mr. Mordax

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 22, 2006
Messages
2,301
My three A. gigas routinely clean their legs with their mouthparts. It does look a bit like they're nibbling on themselves, but what you're seeing is probably just millipede hygiene.

For minerals, provide your 'pede with oak leaves and (if possible) rotting hardwood. I suggest baking it for a while to kill any nasty hitch-hikers. You don't need to use calcium suppliment or cuttlebone or similar whatnot.

As for the sexing, the link provided for A. gigas looks like a good one, but I also submitted a picture of my own male's gonopods to the gallery for just such an occasion. If your millipede has regular legs where Joey has his gonopods, then you've got a female.

Hope this helps, and welcome to Arachnoboards! :)
 
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