Narceus Gordanus Gold Phase poop or eggs?

Madnesssr

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Messages
262
I acquired a sexed pair of
Narceus gordanus Smokey oak gold phase a while back. These 2 are pretty large, almost close to 4” already. I am shocked by how much they poop. I was reading that their eggs are covered by chewed up wood and it looks really similar to poop. I was thinking about changing out their substrate because of the shear volume of poop on the surface, but I am worried that there may be eggs in there. How do I tell the difference?
 

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fried rice

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 25, 2019
Messages
286
I wouldn’t take out the substrate. I also have a narceus gordanus, they are so adorable!
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
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2,462
Unless you are going to literally sit and check every single pellet, I would suggest just putting it all into a bag and wait for a few months to see if any babies hatch out.

Also, if the whole cage is filled with frass change it out with fresh, food-filled substrate. I have learned from personal (painful) experience that you will start to see die-off once it gets to that point.

Hope this helps,

Arthroverts
 

davehuth

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 24, 2017
Messages
278
These are really gorgeous individuals! N. gordanus aren't too difficulat to breed under good conditions, so it wouldn't be surprising for them to lay eggs over a number of months. To minimize disturbance of eggs and fragile pedelings, I often set up breeding millipedes using 2 enclosures over time. After a batch of substrate is converted to frass, I remove the adults to a new enclosure with fresh substrate (I just wait for them to surface at night, rather than digging for them). Then I leave the original enclosure undisturbed with supplemental foods or a thin layer of fresh substrate on the surface. Over the next 6 months to a year, I check for any juveniles that might pop to the surface and carefully transfer them to the new enclosure as well. Once there are no more babies, i can toss the old frassy sub.
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Just remember with such cryptic species like N. gordanus you may still have to sift or dig through the substrate after that time just to make sure you catch all the babies; you can literally pull specimens from the surface for months and still not find all of them since they are so fossorial.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

Madnesssr

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Messages
262
Thanks for all the replies. These two have quickly become my favorites. They stay on the surface a lot which surprised me. I like the idea of transferring them to a new tub verses changing out the substrate. I have continued to toss in more oak and hickory to give them fresh food. I’ll take that route until it gets too close to the lid and then transfer them.
 

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