Plant question.

[Oasis Inverts]

We were wondering if you can put venus fly traps, and other bug eating plants in with millipedes? I thought there was a topic about it a while ago, but can't seem to find it.

 

[Trace]

I wouldn't recommend it. Venus fly traps are very delicate plants and a large millipede stomping all over it all the time would quickly kill it. Each individual fly trap (leaf) can only close a certain amount of times before it dies, so anytime something touches it and no food is caught it is a waste of energy reserves. Unless you can get real creative and set them somewhere where the millipedes couldn't touch them.

 

[Bayushi]

also all carniverous plants require alot of humidity, probably more than your centipede's do... so by having them in the enclosure you might be inviting a mite infestation

 

[Oasis Inverts]

Thanks! Guess it's me and Joe running around the room with fly swatters....oh what a fun game....lol!

 

[Navaros]

I can't think of any carnivores that would be good in a pede tank besides possibly some terrestrial utricularia species. If the pedes don't kill the plants, the high nutrient levels of the substrate (from decaying food and waste) woulld. You could possibly mount a Pinguicula on a wall of the tank.

 

[Crunchie]

out of interest is it fruit flies you're having a problem with?

 

[thedreadedone]

out of interest is it fruit flies you're having a problem with?

if it is fruit flies, then maybe consider a mantis? I have kept mantis and millipedes together before - but only with BIG millipedes, and only 1 mantis

 

[Oasis Inverts]

Yup, nasty little Fruit flies. We even have some rollie pollies in there, and they help, but not enough. We also have snails, worms, and tiny eastern centipedes...so they all pretty much do there job, but I hate opening it up with one or two little buggers flying in my face. Now we added some moss, and now we have a whole list of other flying things....little and big blood suckers, moths, and things I can't even name!


Wish I would have thought about mantids, I just hatched out a nest of them and let them go! Oh well, maybe I'll see a few and will put them in for a week or so, see how they fair.

 

[J Morningstar]

I have an almost perfect soloution to your problem. Find an ordinary house spider and put it in with your millipedes. As long as the species of spider is small and whispy it will not do a damn thing to your millipedes and eventually when it has spiderlings (yea you do need to find a fertilized female one for this, but every one I have tried has reproduced) they will take care of your fly problem. I have done this with a lot of spiders from my house and it has done wonders.
Once in a great while I am sure you will loose a spider to getting squashed in the lid of the tank but it is a small price to pay for some thing that cost you nothing.