N. Americanus help! Fungal infection?

billrogers

Arachnoknight
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Jan 18, 2016
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Today while digging in my N Americanus enclosure I found two adults that seem to be sick or something. They are turning a brown color and are very weak (they offered little resistance t me uncurling them)
Here is a pic of their discoloration:
image.jpeg
here is a healthy one next to a sick one:
image.jpeg

What is wrong with them??
 

Hisserdude

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Perhaps they are going to molt soon? Definitely don't want to disturb them if they are, and it is generally a bad idea to dig around in a millipede container for that reason, for if you dug into their molting cell while they were molting you could inadvertently smash them.
 

billrogers

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Yeah, I generally leave them alone, but I was rehousing them. I separated them from the others just in case. Hopefully they are just molting and they pull through.
 

billrogers

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They are still curled up on top of the soil in the quarantine container. How long does it take them to molt?
 

Hisserdude

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Yeah, I generally leave them alone, but I was rehousing them. I separated them from the others just in case. Hopefully they are just molting and they pull through.
I see, hopefully they are just molting then, did it look like they were in cells in the soil when you dug them up?

They are still curled up on top of the soil in the quarantine container. How long does it take them to molt?
No idea, they probably would spend a few days in their cells before molting, so I would give it a while. @ErinM31 probably knows more on the subject.
 

ErinM31

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Sorry I didn't see this sooner! Been checking AB less while out of town at a conference and AB neglected to notify me, grrr. :shifty:

@Hisserdude is right on -- these are definitely going to molt soon (if they have not already by now). At least you disturbed them BEFORE they molted (when they appear discolored) rather than AFTER (when they are pale and fragile and almost certainly would have been killed). Millipedes can spend weeks in a molting cell (probably varies by species and maturity).

What sort of enclosure have you put them in? They need to be kept moist. If they have not yet molted you can put them in a container on a damp paper towel. If they have molted and are pale, LEAVE THEM WHERE THEY ARE! You can place a moist paper towel near them to maintain humidity or, if you have them on substrate, gently mist. I disturbed one of my first millipedes -- a Narceus gordanus -- that was getting ready to molt. Like you, I found it discolored and not moving much and I thought it was dying. I left it on top of the substrate to see if it would recover and that very day, it molted. I gently misted the pale newly molted millipede every day. I think it took a whole week before it uncurled and resumed normal activity -- thankfully non-the-worse for my bungling!
 

billrogers

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I have them in a small Tupperware container on moist sub. One of them molted! How long should I wait to remove it?

On a side note, there are now mites in the N. americanus enclosure. Dang it. I don't think they are grain mites. They are only on and around the vegetables in there. Any plausible suggestions on what to do? If I dry out the cage the millipedes will suffer too.
 

SDCPs

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Perhaps move the millipedes to a new ontainer of substrate. Just scoop up some of the old (underneath the pede) and gently transfer to new container. I wouldn't attempt to dry things out if they're molting!
 

ErinM31

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I have them in a small Tupperware container on moist sub. One of them molted! How long should I wait to remove it?
Awesome! :happy: I would wait until its coloration is normal and it is moving around -- no longer curled up all the time -- as these will indicate that the exoskeleton has hardened.

Sorry for my delay in replying! :embarrassed: I was out of town and then various other things going on this past week. Has the second millipede molted? How are they doing? Don't be concerned if it takes a while before they are ready.

On a side note, there are now mites in the N. americanus enclosure. Dang it. I don't think they are grain mites. They are only on and around the vegetables in there. Any plausible suggestions on what to do? If I dry out the cage the millipedes will suffer too.
Definitely remove the vegetable matter and wait a while before feeding more fresh food or petfood as I have read these are most attractive to mites. Do not dry things out, but do be sure that the substrate is moist and not wet or worse, water-logged. If this eliminates most of them, you may not have to do anything else. I am not too concerned when I see a mite or two in a millipede or isopod enclosure but if there are more than that, then I would remove the millipedes, make sure there are no mites on them, and then bake, replace, or clean EVERYTHING in their enclosure. I had to do this just the other day when I discovered mites all over my Ivory millipede (I don't think they were causing it direct harm but may have been stressing it -- thankfully, it was easy to rinse them all off). The burrowed millipedes that shared that enclosure showed no signs of distress (and thankfully, none had just molted so no casualties of this cage cleaning) but I believed the mites indicative of unhealthy conditions and certainly did not want them spreading (my understanding is that mites are far more harmful to tarantulas than millipedes). I had previously tried to correct over-wet substrate through partial replacement and increased ventilation, but that proved inadequate and thus a total cleaning was in order. I think that in all cases where I have had mites, I either overfed supplemental food items or left them in for more than a day or two. :banghead:

I hope that helps!
 

billrogers

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Awesome! :happy: I would wait until its coloration is normal and it is moving around -- no longer curled up all the time -- as these will indicate that the exoskeleton has hardened.

Sorry for my delay in replying! :embarrassed: I was out of town and then various other things going on this past week. Has the second millipede molted? How are they doing? Don't be concerned if it takes a while before they are ready.



Definitely remove the vegetable matter and wait a while before feeding more fresh food or petfood as I have read these are most attractive to mites. Do not dry things out, but do be sure that the substrate is moist and not wet or worse, water-logged. If this eliminates most of them, you may not have to do anything else. I am not too concerned when I see a mite or two in a millipede or isopod enclosure but if there are more than that, then I would remove the millipedes, make sure there are no mites on them, and then bake, replace, or clean EVERYTHING in their enclosure. I had to do this just the other day when I discovered mites all over my Ivory millipede (I don't think they were causing it direct harm but may have been stressing it -- thankfully, it was easy to rinse them all off). The burrowed millipedes that shared that enclosure showed no signs of distress (and thankfully, none had just molted so no casualties of this cage cleaning) but I believed the mites indicative of unhealthy conditions and certainly did not want them spreading (my understanding is that mites are far more harmful to tarantulas than millipedes). I had previously tried to correct over-wet substrate through partial replacement and increased ventilation, but that proved inadequate and thus a total cleaning was in order. I think that in all cases where I have had mites, I either overfed supplemental food items or left them in for more than a day or two. :banghead:

I hope that helps!
I ended up returning both millipedes, who had both successfully molted, back into their enclosure.

The mites have king of disspeared again. It seems like they were very fond of some rotting cucumber I had in there. The cucumber got eaten and now I don't see mites anymore. With the millipedes I also have a healthy springtails population and a healthy isopod population, so that might help with mites too. I'll need to get some pics of my tank later.
 

ErinM31

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I ended up returning both millipedes, who had both successfully molted, back into their enclosure.

The mites have king of disspeared again. It seems like they were very fond of some rotting cucumber I had in there. The cucumber got eaten and now I don't see mites anymore. With the millipedes I also have a healthy springtails population and a healthy isopod population, so that might help with mites too. I'll need to get some pics of my tank later.
How are the molted millipedes doing? I'm glad to hear that the mites have disappeared! I would wait a while before feeding them fresh produce, petfood or any other perishable food and removing what remains uneaten after a day or two. Springtails and isopods definitely help with cleanup too. :)
 
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