[Ortho-/Asio-]morpha coarctata

[kuchipatchis]

I have access to some in the wild, and I'm wondering what people think of them in the pet trade? I only rarely see people owning them so I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to capture and breed them, because I'm not sure if they're unpopular because there's not many places to get them, or if its because people don't want them.

 

[chanda]

I have access to some in the wild, and I'm wondering what people think of them in the pet trade? I only rarely see people owning them so I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to capture and breed them, because I'm not sure if they're unpopular because there's not many places to get them, or if its because people don't want them.

As I understand it, Polydesmids are pretty tough to keep alive in captivity - and even harder to breed. I suspect that is why you don't often see them kept as pets. They are difficult to come by (because none of the breeders/vendors are keeping/breeding/selling them), and by the time you pay for the 'pedes themselves (which are typically wild-caught) plus shipping, it can be a pretty hefty chunk of cash to put out for a bug that may just up and die on you in a short time.

If you live in an area where they can be readily found, it might be worth it to give it a shot - as long as you aren't snatching them up in large numbers and depleting the local population. If you are successful, I'm sure people would be interested in learning how you are keeping them - and might even want to give it a try themselves, particularly if you are able to get yours to not only survive for an extended period but also to breed - and successfully raise the young to maturity.

This is the same reason few people keep Solifugids as pets. They're really awesome little arachnids - but keeping them alive for any length of time? Very difficult! I've had two that molted successfully for me - but died shortly after - and one that was gravid when I caught her, but she promptly ate her eggs. I saw them late at night, as she was laying them - but the next morning they were already gone.

 

[kuchipatchis]

As I understand it, Polydesmids are pretty tough to keep alive in captivity - and even harder to breed. I suspect that is why you don't often see them kept as pets. They are difficult to come by (because none of the breeders/vendors are keeping/breeding/selling them), and by the time you pay for the 'pedes themselves (which are typically wild-caught) plus shipping, it can be a pretty hefty chunk of cash to put out for a bug that may just up and die on you in a short time.

If you live in an area where they can be readily found, it might be worth it to give it a shot - as long as you aren't snatching them up in large numbers and depleting the local population. If you are successful, I'm sure people would be interested in learning how you are keeping them - and might even want to give it a try themselves, particularly if you are able to get yours to not only survive for an extended period but also to breed - and successfully raise the young to maturity.

This is the same reason few people keep Solifugids as pets. They're really awesome little arachnids - but keeping them alive for any length of time? Very difficult! I've had two that molted successfully for me - but died shortly after - and one that was gravid when I caught her, but she promptly ate her eggs. I saw them late at night, as she was laying them - but the next morning they were already gone.

thanks, that makes sense!

theyre nonnative, so if i deplete the local population that means no more for me to collect but i dont think it would be an environmental problem. especially since i think theyre recent, like, i go to the area where i see them a lot and have only started seeing them in the past couple months.

maybe ill try to see if i can raise them - i had one that admittedly did die on me but i had some general husbandry errors at the time that ive since learned from and fixed (it was way too wet i was way too paranoid about them drying out), so ill have to see if maybe now with more experience i can make it work.

i was reading about the issues of keeping solifugids last night i think

i wonder what the issue with keeping them alive is. i remember someone sending me a link to a paper about specialized mouthparts in greenhouse millipedes (what i thought it was at the time) and they have specialized mouthparts that make them hard to feed. if thats one of the things making them hard to keep alive, i know mine liked rabbit poop and ate it easily.

it might be an interesting thing to test out, but maybe something i should hold out on until i have more breeding experience if theyre tricky

 

[davehuth]

Hi! I've been trying to keep Orthomorpha coarctata (collected in Florida) since the summer, and have had mixed success. I expected them to be easier because they're Paradoxosomatids – like their easy to keep cousin, the invasive Oxidus gracilis. But it's been trickier. Getting the temperature and moisture/ventilation right seems to be an issue. I did get a few babies to appear but most of the adults died off and I haven't seen the babies near the surface in a while. If you like, I can put you in touch with a friend in Florida who is having more success, just send me a message.