Safe Centipede Cage?

[Jesse James]

My big 8in scolopendra subspinipes decided to come out and say hi lol. But I've had a centipede in the cage i describe for over a year, it would climb on the screen but it never chewed of try to escape it just chilled, the only time it tried to escape was through the silicone corners lol luckily that's not going to budge. I don't go on forums for anything so I thought I would give it a try and see how someone would react to my setup. I've had people say that I'm crazy for that setup. But have had no problems.

 

[shining]

My big 8in scolopendra subspinipes decided to come out and say hi lol. But I've had a centipede in the cage i describe for over a year, it would climb on the screen but it never chewed of try to escape it just chilled, the only time it tried to escape was through the silicone corners lol luckily that's not going to budge. I don't go on forums for anything so I thought I would give it a try and see how someone would react to my setup. I've had people say that I'm crazy for that setup. But have had no problems.

React to your setup? You can't see anything in your picture. Just some redlight, a skull and a centipede.

 

[Jesse James]

React to your setup? You can't see anything in your picture. Just some redlight, a skull and a centipede.

Not the picture, that was just a cool picture i took, I mean the cage because of the height, everyone says to have a very tall top or your dumb and it will escape and you will have to move.lol

 

[Jesse James]

Here's the centipede in that cage I described

 

[Chris LXXIX]

So, he used the vent holes to climb and not the smooth plastic?

I don't know 100% how, but I can guarantee you that, while the height level of my enclosure indeed isn't the proper one, there is nothing that bugger could use for move for help, let's say, his/her climbing.

At least a good 5 times failed hard, falling almost at trying, but on three occasions, as I've said, managed to reach the top

Last time happened 15 days ago, I was sleeping, 6 of the morning, and that bugger woke me up with that sound performed with the head for trying to open the top. I assume the centipede used the holes I drilled, don't know.

The first word I've said (I swear) was "Christ!" just like Gene Hackman in '80 movies, then I watched closely the bugger, ready for everything. Failed... his/her head did not passed under that, still a creepy and somewhat entertaining thing to watch. Unlike T's those aren't scared :-s

 

[shining]

Not the picture, that was just a cool picture i took, I mean the cage because of the height, everyone says to have a very tall top or your dumb and it will escape and you will have to move.lol

Oh. Yeah, it is a cool picture though.

Me personally, I wouldn't feel safe with those dimensions with the size of pede that is in there. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone either.

If you felt it was safe why ask and then disagree when you're told it doesn't seem safe?

 

[Jesse James]

Oh. Yeah, it is a cool picture though.

Me personally, I wouldn't feel safe with those dimensions with the size of pede that is in there. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone either.

If you felt it was safe why ask and then disagree when you're told it doesn't seem safe?

To see what type of people are on this forum, See how they explain things and to decide whether if i have a real question that it will be answered appropriately. It was a forum test and it passed. I was on monsterfishkeepers forum and it's full of DAs, It blew my mind, I got banned because I wanted my oscar to have a fresh whole foods diet and everyone pushed and harassed me to throw pellets in a few times a day and let it be, instead of insects and things the oscar would eat in the wild which they say would be bad for the oscar, which made me believe that forum is full of petco and petsmart employees. lol P.S. I was told that it was safe.

 

[shining]

To see what type of people are on this forum, See how they explain things and to decide whether if i have a real question that it will be answered appropriately. It was a forum test and it passed. I was on monsterfishkeepers forum and it's full of DAs, It blew my mind, I got banned because I wanted my oscar to have a fresh whole foods diet and everyone pushed and harassed me to throw pellets in a few times a day and let it be, instead of insects and things the oscar would eat in the wild which they say would be bad for the oscar, which made me believe that forum is full of petco and petsmart employees. lol P.S. I was told that it was safe.

I'm a member of monsterfishkeepers too and they are some of the most informative people on fish on the internet.

Feeding your oscar feeder insects/fish (from a trusted source) and fresh veggies isn't bad for them, it just means your have to really pay attention to the nutritional contents and how much they are receiving. The easiest thing would be to feed them high quality pellets and fish food. Even then you'd want to pay attention to what's in them and vary it. Oscars are really prone to hole in the head and their diet as well as size of tank and filtration play a big part.

Enough about fish..

If you feel safe with your pede in that size of enclosure carry on.

 

[Ceymann]

To see what type of people are on this forum, See how they explain things and to decide whether if i have a real question that it will be answered appropriately. It was a forum test and it passed. I was on monsterfishkeepers forum and it's full of DAs, It blew my mind, I got banned because I wanted my oscar to have a fresh whole foods diet and everyone pushed and harassed me to throw pellets in a few times a day and let it be, instead of insects and things the oscar would eat in the wild which they say would be bad for the oscar, which made me believe that forum is full of petco and petsmart employees. lol P.S. I was told that it was safe.

Crickets and natural foods bad for the oscar? no, however pellet food is extremely nutrient and protein dense, way more so than crickets, and to be honest a good pellet food ( if it eats it) would actually be more desirable due to its nutrition. I have queen anthias in my reef that wont eat anything but thawed frozen mysis shrimp, they always spit out the pellets I give them even though the pellets would provide a ton more nutrition than a thawed mysis shrimp that is 80% water.

 

[Jesse James]

I'm a member of monsterfishkeepers too and they are some of the most informative people on fish on the internet.

Feeding your oscar feeder insects/fish (from a trusted source) and fresh veggies isn't bad for them, it just means your have to really pay attention to the nutritional contents and how much they are receiving. The easiest thing would be to feed them high quality pellets and fish food. Even then you'd want to pay attention to what's in them and vary it. Oscars are really prone to hole in the head and their diet as well as size of tank and filtration play a big part.

Enough about fish..

If you feel safe with your pede in that size of enclosure carry on.

Ask one of the administrators to unban me please. username OscarCichlid2

 

[shining]

Ask one of the administrators to unban me please. username OscarCichlid2

Hahahaha. After I remember my password I could throw a line but depending on what you did they may not bite.

 

[Vanessa]

There's a lot of floor and wide space of course. Now the centipede is under the cork bark, where burrowed, is out mostly for eat when he/she's hungry... but I saw the bugger climbing, I saw that creepy trying to open the top with the head, I saw that nasty munching with forcipules the plastic, overall... I saw his/her antennae (part of those) out of the enclosure, LOL.
That bugger changed my life.
Jesus Christ I hope/pray that my sort of "Mafioso's" deal will continue: a B.dubia when out, always. No bites/escapes raptures in exchange

And, here you are, trying to convince me to add one to my list of friendly neighbourhood inverts.
I have the utmost appreciation and respect for these awesome beings, but under no circumstances am I going to be dealing with that. I laughed at the above, right after the chills I got died down.
I'll stick to my sweet beginner tarantulas and my dainty little gentleman scorp.

 

[Python]

I'm not normally a pede keeper but I have had them in the past. In my experience, if they can reach the entrance, they will convert it to an exit. I bought a subspinipes and when it came in, I cracked the lid on the cup it was in and a nanosecond later I had a rather curious and excited string of legs making laps around my neck. Needless to say, I was a bit concerned. Long story short, it became very intimately acquainted with most of my upper body and upon attempting to explore the lower half of my anatomy, it bit me three times on the back. Apparently when I tensed up as I tried to pass my belt on the way down, it's head got pinched a little and it explained to me that if it was going to suffer discomfort then I would as well.

That said, I've seen what few pedes I've had use the silicone in the corners of a tank as a ladder to get to the top. I always used heavy screen tops that were weighted down with as much as I felt comfortable putting on top of the screen. I've also been in the rather touchy position of having one climb the corners and get between the lid and the rim of the tank on that little ledge. That was a head scratcher. I don't remember how I got it down from there.

As far as I'm aware, there is no such thing as an escape proof enclosure when it comes to pedes. Seal them in all the way around and I believe they could just osmosis their way right on through the sides, but I could be wrong.Take a lot of care when dealing with these little guys though. They can teleport and they can ooze through the tiniest of cracks. They are nothing to turn your back on.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

And, here you are, trying to convince me to add one to my list of friendly neighbourhood inverts.
I have the utmost appreciation and respect for these awesome beings, but under no circumstances am I going to be dealing with that. I laughed at the above, right after the chills I got died down.
I'll stick to my sweet beginner tarantulas and my dainty little gentleman scorp.

Ah ah ah yes, that was on purpose for joking, that's why I used the "angelic" smilies

 

[Ceymann]

And, here you are, trying to convince me to add one to my list of friendly neighbourhood inverts.
I have the utmost appreciation and respect for these awesome beings, but under no circumstances am I going to be dealing with that. I laughed at the above, right after the chills I got died down.
I'll stick to my sweet beginner tarantulas and my dainty little gentleman scorp.

Wise choice, definitely not an invert to get just to "have" it stress involved dealing with them outweighs pleasure of ownership. However if you really find them captivating and "have to have it" yeah go for it, but be careful.

 

[Vanessa]

Not the picture, that was just a cool picture i took, I mean the cage because of the height, everyone says to have a very tall top or your dumb and it will escape and you will have to move.lol

You know, I might LOL as well... if it weren't for all the bans in place across Ontario because of irresponsible people owning venomous creatures. I might find it far more amusing if an escaped (relatively harmless) Emperor Scorpion didn't make top news in Ontario, prompting even more bans to be put in place. I would laugh a lot more if it weren't for the fact that I know of someone who lost their dangerous centipede due to being irresponsible.
Losing a creature like that doesn't just put you at risk - it puts everyone at risk. Depending on how built up your neighbourhood is - an escape could mean that a beloved pet, belonging to a neighbour, is killed or a young child is hospitalized. And as a result, you can expect bans to follow - meaning that you ruined it for everyone else both locally and beyond.
If people are telling you that you need a better setup - why is it, exactly, that you refuse to believe them? Why are you so adverse to erring on the side of caution, even if it might seem a bit excessive in the preventing an accident? Maybe it's the fact that I work in Big Oil, but I see nothing wrong with erring on the side of caution when it might prevent an accident.
All that tells me is that you know less than they do.

 

[KevinsWither]

Honestly with centipedes you should be really careful. Those buggers could easily kill just about any urban animal you find normally in the neighborhood. For me, a safe cage means having the the setup be a little more comfortable for the centipede and keeping watch on it. One of my mantids escaped its cage and I saw it on a window, alive a few days later.

 

[Python]

I like an animal that keeps me on my toes and pedes certainly fit nicely into that category. The bigger ones are impressive to watch and the smaller ones zoom around like they're on crack or something. I don't really know why I never got into them more but I have a feeling I'll be getting some.

Switching gears for a moment, @Jesse James, you say you were banned from another forum for posting, for lack of a better term, test questions? Why would you come here and do the same thing if the outcome was so negative the first time? For that matter, why would you want to get unbanned if the experience was so negative? IMHO test questions on a forum with tens of thousands of discussions is a bit unwarranted. A few minutes worth of reading can tell you everything you need to know about the people who participate in those discussions. Just my own opinions that are worth nothing more than what you paid for them but maybe something to think about.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

it bit me three times on the back.l

For real?

Three bites from S.subspinipes in a row? IMO that's a record my man :-s

Tell me more. There's a bite/s report? If not, mind you explain, please? -- for the sake of science, of course

 

[Python]

There was a bite report several years ago. Not sure if it's still there or not. I'm guessing it was dry bites because it never hurt, but it was swollen for about 6 months and itched a pretty good bit. I did get some ugly looks at work and the boss made a new rule about unpacking animals at work. From then on I had to wait till I got home to check my mail. I will admit I was quite concerned for awhile though. I'll see if I can find the bite report and post a link for you.

Found it... http://arachnoboards.com/threads/scolopendra-subspinipes.254/