Larger begginer species.

[BobBarley]

Another two reasons that S.dehaani are good beginner pedes:

1. They are pretty sturdy, as long as you start with a healthy enough specimen. They will survive high humidity as well as total dry outs.
2. They grow very fast.

I still feel the 3 main cons outweigh those:

1. Their super volatile temperament
2. Their ridiculously painful bite (not had one, but love reading the reports!)
3. Their burrowing nature

Talking of humidity and stuff, I don't see the need to keep them all that humid seeing as they burrow, and have in fact had mycosis problems, though that was more due to poor ventilation (but maybe temperature plays a role in that too). I kept a WC adult in a kritter keeper for 2 and a bit years (which is considered good going by some) and that dried out pretty often.

They do sometimes die inexplicably, as happens with almost every species, but seem to survive better than most.

Meh, polymorpha makes a better beginner IMO, because most locales thrive in dry conditions. They’re not as volatile, and nowhere near as potent. The only downside is that they aren’t as large...

 

[screbel]

Scolopendra polymorpha would most likely be your best bet. They have mild venom, and can be pretty large.

Key word: “can”

Not all polymorpha locales are large. If you’re solely looking for large pedes, avoid all California locales of polymorpha (they are generally small with 4” BL being the largest I’ve seen). Most Arizona locales are large (can reach 4-5” BL or more) except for desert locales such as Phoenix polies. Some of the largest polymorpha locales are New Mexico locales and west Texas locales (said to reach above 7” but I’ve never seen any hard evidence of any above 6” BL)


Feel free to dispute me on any of this, especially the size of polies. I’d love to see concrete evidence of 6”+ polies.

I had a polymorpha that was close to 8 inches, i miss her

 

[Staehilomyces]

Body length or with terminals/antennae?

 

[screbel]

body length it was 7 inches, biggest poly i ever had

 

[Scoly]

I had a polymorpha that was close to 8 inches, i miss her

That's a belter!!

 

[BobBarley]

I had a polymorpha that was close to 8 inches, i miss her

Interesting body design... (@Curiosipede take a look)

What locality was that and where did you get it? The head reminds me of SoCal aztecorum but the body shape/terminal legs scream polymorpha.

It’s big for sure, but do you have any photos of it next to a ruler?

 

[Curiosipede]

@BobBarley this would be what i recognize as rio grande poly. Whether or not thats actually where its from is beyond me. But this is what the cf used to be called. Biiiiiig poly. Preeeetty poly. Lol. Wouldnt mind one or two of those myself honestly.

 

[BobBarley]

@BobBarley this would be what i recognize as rio grande poly. Whether or not thats actually where its from is beyond me. But this is what the cf used to be called. Biiiiiig poly. Preeeetty poly. Lol. Wouldnt mind one or two of those myself honestly.

I have some from Albuquerque that definitely don’t look like this.

 

[Greasylake]

this would be what i recognize as rio grande poly. Whether or not thats actually where its from is beyond me. But this is what the cf used to be called. Biiiiiig poly. Preeeetty poly. Lol. Wouldnt mind one or two of those myself honestly.

My family lives on the U.S.-Mexico border and my mom grew up close to the Rio Grande, and I don't think any of them have ever seen any kind of pede. I can ask though to just to double check.

 

[screbel]

she died a couple months ago, i had her for close to 3 years... i say she because it was huge, idk if it was or not lol, i bought this centipede from sam floyd, he always has some great species for sale. No clue where he bought it from but i only paid $25 for it.

 

[screbel]

im looking to buy another centipede

 

[BobBarley]

she died a couple months ago, i had her for close to 3 years... i say she because it was huge, idk if it was or not lol, i bought this centipede from sam floyd, he always has some great species for sale. No clue where he bought it from but i only paid $25 for it.

Interesting, thanks for the information!

 

[BobBarley]

@screbel Any photos of her next to a good size reference? I really want solid evidence.

 

[RTTB]

That is a huge S polymorpha if verified.