my first centipedes...lol...

martyn

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
4
hello fine folk at arachnoboards....
i did it... i got a few centipedes.... really big buggers too... they must be at least 1.5 inches long!...lol
i'm in ontario canada, been lurking here for a while...and been interested in getting a giant centipede for a long time... i kept tarantulas in the 90s, but that seems like a lifetime ago.
i've always had a massive invert interest... i currently have a small reef 'vase'... but my terrestrial invert collection was nil until today.
we have these red centipedes in the garden and i thought i'd capture a few and try keeping them til i acquired the testicles to try one of those monsters.
they're 'stone' centipedes, lythobiomorpha something something. two of them i took from the same colony, and the third was climbing a wall, while i was collecting... so i grabbed it.
i have them all in a clear one litre container, high sides, lid, few pinholes, a couple of small flat stones and about an inch of moist potting soil i took from one of our houseplants.
i'm still getting used to the speed of them. absolutely amazing speed.
the two from the same colony were smaller and submissive to the single largest specimen.
the largest rearing its head and half its body straight up...
after some social time and grooming that lasted an hour or so, they all split up and dug into the soil, completely ignoring the stones.
there's been a couple posts about these animals and i thought they were a good beginner for me. i'm still doubtful about keeping a big one...
and some questions....
these animals look very healthy.. they came from a large colony so food must be plentiful outside, although what i found was lots of different species of pill bugs, beetle larvae and worms... what do you think they're eating?
i think pinhead crickets would be no problems.... and i'm gonna start a fly culture if you think it's worth it.
i know they're rather feeble attempts but i'm still nervous about them... although i do handle house centipedes when they're crawling across the floor without being bothered, these centipedes still scare me a bit.....
any thoughts?
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
Joined
Dec 25, 2014
Messages
5,842
I grew up with 'normal' 'pedes such Scutigera coleoptrata all around me. I think they are incredibly lovely when I spot those on the walls :)

Never owned one of those medium sized 'pedes like genus Lithobius ones but from what I can see, they seems ok for a bit of 'practice'.

I have a female Scolopendra subspinipes (the classic one, not certain colour "variants") and I can say that, speed talking, yeah she's extremely fast when hunting, but aside for that, pretty 'relaxed' and mostly a pet hole.

What impress me is the intelligence she has, for real. Amazing :kiss:
 
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