S. Polymorpha
- Thread starter Canfire
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- Jan 5, 2005
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- 8,325
this is a simple utilitarian brooding or general centipede setup i use a lot
zoom
the substrate is reconstituted coconut fiber, WELL packed in. the centipedes will actually make an underground chamber to brood in sometimes. i believe this setup is pure coconut fiber but what i have taken to doing since then is the built-in-burrow container.
http://venomlist.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13384
this works especially well for brooding as the centipede goes into the built in chamber to brood as long as you have set it up well enough for these rather stupid animals to find
zoom
the substrate is reconstituted coconut fiber, WELL packed in. the centipedes will actually make an underground chamber to brood in sometimes. i believe this setup is pure coconut fiber but what i have taken to doing since then is the built-in-burrow container.
http://venomlist.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13384
this works especially well for brooding as the centipede goes into the built in chamber to brood as long as you have set it up well enough for these rather stupid animals to find
- Joined
- May 21, 2005
- Messages
- 1,282
If you want your setup to look nicer, you can add a leaf on top of the substrate 
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phil.
. phil.
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2004
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- 2,104
HAHAHAHAH...i don't know why but I found that extreeeemely funnyIf you want your setup to look nicer, you can add a leaf on top of the substrate
phil.
Maybe it's because I'm guilty of it for just that reason loloh, and my container for my S. polymorpha looks very similar to the one above except I used peat moss as a substrate and don't have a lid (i don't advocate this). It's shaped a little different though, it's about 6" wide (pede is about 3") and 7" tall. towards the top it slopes sharply inwards for an inch or so and then goes up straight vertical again for another inch effectively making the top more than far enough out of range for the length of the pede. Although, I was up at 3-4AM last night and it was wandering it's container and has now grown long enough that it caused me some concern that it might be able to levitate a little bit and get a grip on the top edge and pull itself out. It's still a bit out of range for it but needs to be addressed before it molts again.
Moist substrate, centipedes desiccate real easily. Dry sand set-up will kill them in hours or a day in my experience.
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2005
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this makes taking wc centipedes home difficult sometimes. i found in the summer i have to have umbrellas to shade my pack or most centipedes didn't survive the trip home. luckily i perfected my techniques primarily with stone centipedes and geophilomorpha and learned my lesson before losing any polymorpha like that.
an interesting note: i just found a Scolopocrytops underneath a wood panel when the ambient air temp was like 55*F with a wind chill that was VERY noticeable! the lopo was able to move pretty quickly for that low a temp. of course Scolopocrytops spinicaudus ranges up into ALASKA so these are much cooler temp centipedes than Scolopendra polymorpha, i think. of course i guess i did find baby polymorpha that looked like they were doing ok in similar conditions
another thing i do is make sure the dirt is moist if not basically wet in the container i take WC home in. scorps i will back in grass but that would mostly kill centipedes due to dessication.
A good remedy I would use is include alittle moist substrate in the containers before leaving the house to collect. But yes, I would ride my bike sometimes to areas I know where to collect them with backpack in tow including waterbottle, lunch, and collecting containers. But have come back with most of my S. polymorpha if not all lost due to the heat (both juveniles and monster adults). Very disappointing experience.