new peripatus (velvet worm) update!

[crashergs]

well after KennyG sent me some rotten wood for my peripatus, i never saw my peripatus again! id only see babies that are hanging out on the top together, i thought they might of escaped my enclosure which I kind of doubted since i made it escape proof, so i started ripping apart the rotten wood (which has termite holes all over the wood) and little by little being very very careful, i saw lil tiny babies, so this tells me they do NOT give birth in the substrate, but rather in wood, i setup in their enclosure a multi enviroment habitat, one half very soggy bed-a-beast, the other half dry, and in middle a rotten log, they preffered to get lose in the log, which probably means they like termites, since it could take them days and days before they can reach up to the top and out of the wood, they would need to keep feasting inside the wood.

I started to rip apart more, and finally i found one and i let it out, and OH MY GOD HAVE THEY GROWN, in previous posts on my peripatus here, i photographed them and they were like half an inch, now they are about 2 inches long, they grow fast, im assuming peripatus can survive for about a year 1/2 if, the babies i have hatch are still semi white and grey and ive had them for about 3 months already

its good to know they are still alive and kicking, the babies eat new born crix...

photos below:

 

[CopperInMyVeins]

Wow, that guy is big! Well, obviously what you're doing is working, I would definitely buy some if I didn't already have multiple tanks on top of other tanks in my room. Once I get my act together over here I'll see what I can do. Still never seen a live one in person. You keep them fairly cool though right? It's been in the 80's inside my house lately, I'd probably need some kind of separate refrigeration for them.

 

[crashergs]

yeah, i keep them in temps of 57-62 degrees, youve seen previous posts of these in myriapod right? i had to buy a wine cooler to keep them at appropriate temps,

i talk to a guy in new zealand from time to time to request temperatures where they originate from so i adjust those temps on the wine cooler, its fun... i heard they were very difficult to care for.

 

[CopperInMyVeins]

Yeah, I've seen all your previous posts, and I see how much bigger they are now too. How much did that wine cooler set you back?

 

[crashergs]

i was searching and searching and the least place i looked at was where i work at best buy, i found one at target for an amazing deal at 79.00 dllrs which holds 8 wine bottles. I thought since i get a discount at work, i called the refridgerator department, they said that same one (different brand) was like 120.00 employee cost, so i said forget it, target is wayy cheaper for this particular product, was a good buy and noiseless and energy efficient, it adds about 4.50 dllrs to my electricity bill. the condensor turns on every couple of hours to keep temp at whatever you set it to, its not constantly running it holds temps in there for longggg periods of time

 

[CopperInMyVeins]

That seems pretty reasonable, I've been fascinated by these guys for a long time. Do you have any pictures of one of them actually spraying a cricket with the sticky fluid?

 

[crashergs]

those are hard to get shots, they HATE light, what im doing right now for my research on peripatus in captivity, is getting a high definition wireless camera with night vision and put it inside the housing i set them up with to grab a picture of them hunting, i have seen them however, spray sticky glue at a cricket when it comes too close by to them or if i drop one by them, the glue is amazingly fast!, whatever they spray , that thing is not going ANYWHERE, scientists really need to study that sticky glue, it could be a breakthrough in technology of glues.

im still curious to know what the babies are living off of!, its been told that they feed off remaining parts from the larger peripatus, however I dont see that to be the case, because there are no remaining parts other than hard shells from crickets lets, ive had some babies since day 1 and cannot seem to find out what they live from, just recently i threw in baby babbyyy hardly even seen with naked eye baby, crickets I dont know if they will eat them, the size of those crix is a good food supply for those babies, i will find out if they eat them i have those crix counted at 10, ill check up in about 2 weeks from now and see if there are anyleft.

These species are communal, they sleep together and i have noticed when they are hunting at night (i take out the plastic box around 10:00pm to checkup) they are hunting in pairs, while mom is hanging out with a couple of babies, i see this hunting method a couple of times. its weird.

 

[Arietans]

Those are the most unusual animals. Sorry for my ignorance, but where are they from?

 

[crashergs]

new zealand species.

 

[KennyGee]

wow they have gotten bigger im glad those wood peicies are working out for them

 

[crashergs]

I NEED MORE WOOD KENNY for my rhinoceros beetles!!! and wheres my shipment of worker mites commonnnn KENNY G PIMP.