Oh man, have I a story for you! (and a question)

AlbinoDragon829

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 29, 2002
Messages
383
For the first time I find myself being glad for paranoia. For the first time a day or so ago, I saw my S. Subspinipes climb up the side of the glass aquarium where the glue that keeps it together is. I marveled in the wonder of the moment, but barely opened the side of the tank so I could give the pede a nudge in the opposite direction.. But this was not the case today! Oh no! After watching it's a wonderful jeff on animal planet (lol) I decided to go catch some ZzZzs early tonight. But before I comitted to it, I decided to check on the pede. Upon entering my computer room where it is, I didn't see it in the tank. No big deal right? These guys do like to completely burrow themselves into the substrate so that you can't see them. So I decided to check for signs of the centipede in the soil (ie: obvious signs of digging, antannae poking out of the substrate, etc.). Nothing turned up. Frantically I checked over and over again because the thought of an S. Subspinipes running around my house at night probably wouldn't allow me too much sleep. Something caught the corner of my eye, and true enough there it was! Crawling on the wall on the way into a spare clothes closet! I grabbed a blunt wooden peripheral that I use to open my attic in the hopes that it would climb onto it and then I put it in the tank. Well, it crawled into my clothes closet, which unfortunately was a mess. DAMNIT, I thought. So I slowly picked up the items of clothing, one by one, hoping that the pede wasn't on it. Sure enough, the pede wasn't. Moments later, it poked it's head out of a T-shirt of mine and so I put the peripheral in front of it and it did indeed crawl on it and I put it back in the aquarium. The aquarium now has a small barbell resting on top of the plexiglass top. I do belive I shall soon invest in a screen top for this baby.

My question is this: Until I get off my lazy derriere to go get the screen top, what can I do? This guy will need some ventilation (there are a few holes drilled in the plexiglass, but not too sufficient). Would putting vaseline on top of the glue work, because I know that vaseline on the side of a cage will keep a tarantula from running up the sides... What should I do?
 

AlbinoDragon829

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 29, 2002
Messages
383
Originally posted by Alonso99
Close call, be careful and keep an eye on it.
Will do. The most important thing is to respect these animals.. Notice I didn't say trust :rolleyes:
 

MrDeranged

He Who Rules
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Jul 16, 2002
Messages
2,001
I don't think that vaseline will work with a pede the way it does with a T. The pede is not "sticking" to the glass in the same way that a T does, but is actually climbing the silicone using the "claws" on the ends of it's legs. Vaseline isn't going to stop that.

Get a locking screen top quick!!!

Scott
 

AlbinoDragon829

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 29, 2002
Messages
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Originally posted by mrderanged
Get a locking screen top quick!!!

Scott
Oh you bet I'll do that for sure. I guess until then I will have to leave a couple of books on top of the plexiglass.
 

ArachnoJoost

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 6, 2002
Messages
530
I would also look out for the bending of the plexiglass, with moisture they seem to bend, leaving room for the pede to escape (I don't have pedes myself, but observed this with my plexiglass tops of T enclosures).
greetz,
Joost
 

AlbinoDragon829

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 29, 2002
Messages
383
Originally posted by ArachnoJoost
I would also look out for the bending of the plexiglass, with moisture they seem to bend, leaving room for the pede to escape (I don't have pedes myself, but observed this with my plexiglass tops of T enclosures).
greetz,
Joost
You hit it right on the bullseye. That is exactly what hapenned and I knew it as soon as it hapenned. The plexiglass caves in just a tad, and the pede would be able to squeeze through and I'll bet my life savings that's what hapenned. Until I get a locking screen top, I'm putting some history textbooks on top of it to keep it at bay.
 
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