O. ornatus STILL underground after 3 months. Is there something wrong?

mossloft

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 24, 2018
Messages
78
My O. ornatus has been in a chamber in the corner of his enclosure for about 3 months now. It doesn't look like he's molting- I'm not noticing any differences in the color of his exoskeleton, nor any peeling or anything. He's not dead, he'll be in different positions when I check on him throughout the day. I've been keeping the soil moist and there's quite a bit of wood and dead leaves for him to eat, as well as a hole-filled top for ventilation given O. ornatus's preference for ventilated but humid habitats. I haven't dug him up or anything, and I'm not going to. I'm just worried that he's "sick" or something. It's not that he's going out at night- I've been awake at 3 A.M. and checked to see him still there.
 

MadMilli

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
190
Same thing happened with my ivories once and they seemed to just come back up after some time. Luckily you have the ability to watch him through the enclosure, at least he didn’t go somewhere else where you couldn’t see him then you had to worry even more all this time. There’s not much you can do because I personally wouldn’t disturb him, but I wish you luck and just keep an eye on it!
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Several of my millipede species have done the same thing for months on end, only to come up later on "when they feel like it". Also considering you can't check on it more closely without possible disturbing it there isn't much you could do even if a problem is identified.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

mossloft

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 24, 2018
Messages
78
Same thing happened with my ivories once and they seemed to just come back up after some time. Luckily you have the ability to watch him through the enclosure, at least he didn’t go somewhere else where you couldn’t see him then you had to worry even more all this time. There’s not much you can do because I personally wouldn’t disturb him, but I wish you luck and just keep an eye on it!
Thank you!!! It's a big relief knowing that he's not like, definitely dying or something. <3
Several of my millipede species have done the same thing for months on end, only to come up later on "when they feel like it". Also considering you can't check on it more closely without possible disturbing it there isn't much you could do even if a problem is identified.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
Ahhh I'm so glad I'm not alone! Thank you so much for all of the help you've given me over the past few months!
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Happy to be of service. I hope your collection will continue to become what you want it to be!

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 
Top