Ivories running around alot

kjgalaxy

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So I have a communal tank and have several different millies of the roughly the same size in there. Scarlets, Ivories, bumblebees, immature olive gigas, etc. My ivories are constantly running around the tank and climbing. I'm thinking maybe something in the tank's conditions are making them unhappy. I'm getting some heaters to bring up the heat, and I keep the soil damp but not moist. Typical are temp is around 76 right now. I put in a variety of different foods--cucumbers, spinach, occasional fruit, and pangea gecko food (think fruit smoothie), oak leaves and fermented sawdust. So any suggestions about why the ivories are constantly running around? The others typically come out at night but the ivories are out and running all the time. I'm thinking maybe I need to make the soil closer to wet and bring up the heat a little. Any other suggestions?
 

mickiem

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I don't have a communal tank, but my iviorys are always more active than the rest
 

kjgalaxy

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Okay, good to know. I had read that sometimes if millies are running around constantly, there might be something wrong with the tank. I know my Sonorans like it a little drier than the others and I just read that they need a bit more ventilation, so wondered if I was overlooking a need for the ivories.
 

pannaking22

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The ivories I used to keep were a very active lot as well. Some days they'd be in hiding, but there would typically be at least one either resting on the surface or running around whenever I looked.
 

ErinM31

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So I have a communal tank and have several different millies of the roughly the same size in there. Scarlets, Ivories, bumblebees, immature olive gigas, etc. My ivories are constantly running around the tank and climbing. I'm thinking maybe something in the tank's conditions are making them unhappy. I'm getting some heaters to bring up the heat, and I keep the soil damp but not moist. Typical are temp is around 76 right now. I put in a variety of different foods--cucumbers, spinach, occasional fruit, and pangea gecko food (think fruit smoothie), oak leaves and fermented sawdust. So any suggestions about why the ivories are constantly running around? The others typically come out at night but the ivories are out and running all the time. I'm thinking maybe I need to make the soil closer to wet and bring up the heat a little. Any other suggestions?
That sounds perfect to me -- I definitely wouldn't heat the tank! Damp should be good, but you might try making just a corner a bit wetter to see if they prefer it.

I hope they're all doing well! I confess this is one of the species I am still trying to figure out. :confused:
 

kjgalaxy

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Well, I opted to put a small heater on the tank. It's just a little 7W heater with a thermostat. I've brought the temp up to about 76 (The tank is a 5 gallon glass). I'm seeing more activity from the other millies and the ivories have calmed down a bit, interestingly. The feather and the Euryurus colored train millipede have moved to the front of the tank. I already figured I'd need to move the feather out. the Euryrus is being more active than I've seen in a long time, but I'm still concerned it may be too warm. I'm going to go get a small cage for the feather and Euryurus tomorrow. I might turn the temp back a bit to 74, though with night time, it'll probably drop to that.
 

ErinM31

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Well, I opted to put a small heater on the tank. It's just a little 7W heater with a thermostat. I've brought the temp up to about 76 (The tank is a 5 gallon glass). I'm seeing more activity from the other millies and the ivories have calmed down a bit, interestingly. The feather and the Euryurus colored train millipede have moved to the front of the tank. I already figured I'd need to move the feather out. the Euryrus is being more active than I've seen in a long time, but I'm still concerned it may be too warm. I'm going to go get a small cage for the feather and Euryurus tomorrow. I might turn the temp back a bit to 74, though with night time, it'll probably drop to that.
From my experience, 74 or 76F should be just fine. Feather millipedes need fungus to eat, so you might want to put it in its own enclosure with fresh wood -- not baked or anything. Euryurids do best in damp decayed wood substrate. While individuals do not live terribly long relative to the larger Spirobolids, they reproduce readily and so it is easy to maintain a colony. :)
 

kjgalaxy

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Okay, I'll leave them in. I've been putting wood in with fungus on it and I put mushrooms in though I've never seen the them on the mushrooms. I currently only have one of each. I'm not going to get more until I get a proper cage set up. This one has some wood, and some wood mixed in with the substrate, but I need to get a a cage set up exclusively for them. do you know how cold they can tolerate? Is 66 okay for them?
 

ErinM31

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Okay, I'll leave them in. I've been putting wood in with fungus on it and I put mushrooms in though I've never seen the them on the mushrooms. I currently only have one of each. I'm not going to get more until I get a proper cage set up. This one has some wood, and some wood mixed in with the substrate, but I need to get a a cage set up exclusively for them. do you know how cold they can tolerate? Is 66 okay for them?
Yeah, I've never had feather millipedes show any interest in mushrooms nor yeast. So long as there's wood with fungus on it (the moldy type -- I don't think they eat the mushroom type), I think it should be fine.

I honestly don't know the low end for these species but I would think that 66F should be fine. I've not set up any of my millipedes with supplemental heating and have the thermostat set for 68F. This is my first winter with millipedes (and tarantulas and roaches)! :wideyed:
 

kjgalaxy

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Yes, this is my first winter with the millipedes, and I now have two crested geckos. I got some Dubai roaches to feed to the geckos, but they seem uninterested, so now I have a small container of roaches to care for. And I'll be getting my fish tank set up soon
 

ErinM31

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Okay, I'll leave them in. I've been putting wood in with fungus on it and I put mushrooms in though I've never seen the them on the mushrooms. I currently only have one of each. I'm not going to get more until I get a proper cage set up. This one has some wood, and some wood mixed in with the substrate, but I need to get a a cage set up exclusively for them. do you know how cold they can tolerate? Is 66 okay for them?
I was reviewing my issues of Invertebrate magazine and found an article on Ivories by Orin McMonigle and he said that Ivories are fine with temperatures from 65-85F. 66F would definitely be too cold for the Bumblebee millipede as they need at least 72F. I expect -- based in part on their range -- that both the Euryurus and feather millipede will be fine with 66F at night. I don't know about the others.
 

UltimateDracoMeteor

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Aug 26, 2016
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So I have a communal tank and have several different millies of the roughly the same size in there. Scarlets, Ivories, bumblebees, immature olive gigas, etc. My ivories are constantly running around the tank and climbing. I'm thinking maybe something in the tank's conditions are making them unhappy. I'm getting some heaters to bring up the heat, and I keep the soil damp but not moist. Typical are temp is around 76 right now. I put in a variety of different foods--cucumbers, spinach, occasional fruit, and pangea gecko food (think fruit smoothie), oak leaves and fermented sawdust. So any suggestions about why the ivories are constantly running around? The others typically come out at night but the ivories are out and running all the time. I'm thinking maybe I need to make the soil closer to wet and bring up the heat a little. Any other suggestions?
Ivories are incredibly active and I can often see mine standing up showing her belly to me on the window. Your pedes sound perfectly fine.
 

Marika

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Feb 7, 2016
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My ivory pedelings have been way too active lately. I noticed that they are escaping through the air holes in the lid :eek:. I've found some alive and some dead, I even found one dangling from my hair one morning. o_O They seemed to calm down a bit when I increased humidity in their enclosure and I also need to add more leaves.
 
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