Misting as a water source?

tyrel

Arachnobaron
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Can misting be used as an alternative to supplying a water dish? It seems that when centipedes are kept in jars or deli cups there is no room for a dish, so I assume they get their drinking water from drinking droplets left by misting. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Bonus question: Could a vinegaroon be supplied water in a similar way?
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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i can't think of any of my centipedes that have waterdishes that don't fill them up and/or bury them anyways. i hydrate via misting and feeding

dunno about goons
 

tyrel

Arachnobaron
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i can't think of any of my centipedes that have waterdishes that don't fill them up and/or bury them anyways. i hydrate via misting and feeding
Thanks Caco. You have no idea how awesome you are. ;)
 

cacoseraph

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Thanks Caco. You have no idea how awesome you are. ;)
actually i have not only a shirt, but a TATTOO of me ON me


heh, just kidding



also, one HUGE thing... all my centipedes are kept in fairly low ventilation containers... this prevents the substrate (and thus the centipede) from drying out *too* fast. if you have a high ventilation cage i imagine you would have to water every 3-5 days or something like that. (i water every couple few weeks)
 

tyrel

Arachnobaron
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also, one HUGE thing... all my centipedes are kept in fairly low ventilation containers... this prevents the substrate (and thus the centipede) from drying out *too* fast. if you have a high ventilation cage i imagine you would have to water every 3-5 days or something like that. (i water every couple few weeks)
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I've already set up some naturalistic 2.5gal enclosures for them, but after the mite and feeding problems I've been having with my flatrock scorpion, I've been considering rehousing my collection into simple deli cups and jars. What do you do when mites and mold show up in your low ventilation enclosures? How do you go about preventing them?
 

cacoseraph

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Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I've already set up some naturalistic 2.5gal enclosures for them, but after the mite and feeding problems I've been having with my flatrock scorpion, I've been considering rehousing my collection into simple deli cups and jars. What do you do when mites and mold show up in your low ventilation enclosures? How do you go about preventing them?


i try to feed so that my bugs are interested in finishing all that i give them... i try not to have fat slobs (after all, *i* am all the fat slob i can stand).

when mites get too bad i recage and try to keep things drier. the annoying thing with grain mites (typically what we are talking about when we say mites) is that they go into <forgot> mode and stick to your pets' exoskeletons and are much more resistant to desication when they do that
 

Galapoheros

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I get the feeling a lot of burrowing arthropods get a lot of moisture from humidity and condensation. I've had some pedes for two years with no water dish. When it starts drying out and I stop seeing condensation on the sides through the plastic below the substrate line when the temp goes down at night, I'll mist and resaturate a little trying to make sure I don't over do it. I found that term you were looking for again Caco, I have a hard time remembering it too. It's "hypopus" stage. I bet two reasons the mites keep popping up in cages is because of infested crickets, roaches ...whatever, and also, I read that in the hypopus stage, they can survive for many months. So they are still on your animal in the hypopus stage just waiting for a better environment to walk out into when you think you've gotten rid of them all. I read they can stay in the hypopus stage for up to 7 months (even when dry). I have kept Vinegaroons like this too in fish bowls 3/4ths full of substrate. One stayed under for 9 months.
 

cacoseraph

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hypopus. right.


that makes me think that if you are going to switch sub you should do it *before* any kind of drying out efforts are made
 

Mr. Mordax

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Bonus question: Could a vinegaroon be supplied water in a similar way?
I don't know if you posted on the "other arachnids" forum (I don't hang out there much), but I have a vinegaroon that's been water-dish free since December to no ill effect. Every few weeks, when her substrate looks dry, I'll dump in a buch of water to replenish the moisture supply (she's on coco fiber).

Seems to be doing OK like this -- I took her out for a demo last night and she seemed all happy and explorative like a good little bizzare creature, and her under-cork cave seemed more humid than the surroundings.
 

Arachnomaniak

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Most of my centipedes get their water through misting. I sometimes catch them drinking from condensed water when they are out and about.
Same with the vinegaroons I've kept... Often times if they find droplets of water on the side of the containter etc they'll use their "claws" to grab it and bring it to their mouths.
 
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