Sc. galapagoensis, just sayin

Galapoheros

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Sc. galapagoensis, just sayin

I received these three specimens a year ago, they were around 5 to 6 inches long, small, unimpressive really. All three are 9 to 10 inches long now, roughly 23cm to 25 cm, they look better as they get bigger imo. The individual next to the measuring tape is the one in the middle, I didn't measure the other two but the one on the left seems a little larger, prob around 10 and the one to the far right looks to be 9 inches like the one in the middle. I don't know how long these live, but ...if I have three that are already this large, it sure seems there would be some big monsters out there. I think growth has slowed a lot though, not much with the last molts.



 

catfishrod69

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That is totally awesome! You really need to get some plings from these, as i want some badly.
 

Galapoheros

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Hey Cracker, I thought, "no way they are an inch", but I just measured and the largest is 7/8 inch across, barely over 2cm. OK honestly, I have plings but I'm thinking of growing them before I get rid of any, maybe having them available in the Summer, I just don't know yet, maybe by then I could sex them out. It's just that I didn't want people to get frustrated saying, "Man, why doesn't he sell any!" I would do trades right away for gigantea and hardwickei though hehe. I have a couple of hardwickei born in the US from Kyuzo that he saved from being eaten, but they are too little to sex out.
 

catfishrod69

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I could always airbrush my polymorpha to make it look like a hardwickei :).
Hey Cracker, I thought, "no way they are an inch", but I just measured and the largest is 7/8 inch across, barely over 2cm. OK honestly, I have plings but I'm thinking of growing them before I get rid of any, maybe having them available in the Summer, I just don't know yet, maybe by then I could sex them out. It's just that I didn't want people to get frustrated saying, "Man, why doesn't he sell any!" I would do trades right away for gigantea and hardwickei though hehe. I have a couple of hardwickei born in the US from Kyuzo that he saved from being eaten, but they are too little to sex out.
 

MrCrackerpants

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Hey Cracker, I thought, "no way they are an inch", but I just measured and the largest is 7/8 inch across, barely over 2cm. OK honestly, I have plings but I'm thinking of growing them before I get rid of any, maybe having them available in the Summer, I just don't know yet, maybe by then I could sex them out. It's just that I didn't want people to get frustrated saying, "Man, why doesn't he sell any!" I would do trades right away for gigantea and hardwickei though hehe. I have a couple of hardwickei born in the US from Kyuzo that he saved from being eaten, but they are too little to sex out.
Ya, I could tell they were thick from the picture above.

Good to know you will trade for gigantea as I have a bunch of extras laying around ; )

How many plings do you have? You don' t have to answer that question. : )
 

Androctonus_bic

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I just can to say... congratulations!
That monsters are wonderful!
Nice picture... good luck with pedelings and of course with them!
Cheers
Carles
 

Galapoheros

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Thanks, I'll post pics and more info later in this thread, they still have to molt one more time before they look "normal".
 

Galapoheros

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OK here are some pics. Normally I would have left them in the original chamber the female created but I could barely see isopods in the bottom and I don't trust those doooods when it comes to molting inverts so I transferred them to a deli container. The first pic is the rock they were under before I removed it, the second is a pic I took right after removing the rock. What seems to be different about this sps is that the babies stay under for an additional development stage compared to say, Scolopendra heros. As far as I could see and remember seeing(it was really hard to see in there so a second observation would help a lot), there was the pineapple lifesaver nymph stage, then the next stage was completely white with a small head, looking much like Scolopendra heros at this stage that I'm most familiar with. The next stage had some color with individuals having a light brown/yellowish head. This is the stage most young individuals like Scolopendra heros would leave and go out on their own. But not this species, they stay together in the chamber at this stage without the mother because ...they ate her, ...revenge of the plings! It's more evidence that it is normal for the babies to consume the mother, the babies seem specialized in doing so. More to support that is the fact that I counted 156 babies, that's a lot. It makes sense though that a female would have many if they only had a brood one time. The eggs are notably small also, the smaller they are, the more she can hold while on her back. I'm interested in seeing if gigantea and viridicornis are the same in all these respects, I wouldn't be surprised. The next pics I plan to post will be after they molt to what would be considered "normal" looking pedes.







 
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Cavedweller

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Man those guys are gorgeous pedes! (The fat, squishy babies less so)

Think they'll get a little bit bigger or are they done?
 

Galapoheros

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I do think they will get bigger but I think the growth will be slower for these three. But if these are this big, it makes sense to me that there are bigger ones that would blow my mind out there somewhere. It's one reason I'm tempted to keep many of them, I would like to see monster ones pop up over time.
 

tmcv

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Galapoheros my friend, I envy you!!!!! The Scolopendras here dosn't want to breed hahahaha!!! The TºC is fine, moisture is fine, feeding is fine.... who knows!!!

Amazing animals, and I agree with you, monster ones are amazing!!! There's a viridicornis here with 28cm, and very agressive, seems like a chinese dragon!!!!
 

catfishrod69

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156 Babies, holy crap! Thats insane. I for sure am looking forward to getting a few from you.
 

zonbonzovi

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Congrats, man! That's very exciting news, esp. that they produce so many. I hope you do hold some back and keep the line going...too many species have slipped away that we thought would always be available:(
 

Galapoheros

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Thanks, it's good news for anybody that's been wanting one, what's that ......15 people haha. There just aren't very many pede people. I know there are more out there than it would seem of course, this is only one site and many people out there don't even mess around with computer stuff much. I've been waiting to post again, I was going to post when they molted again but they are taking a while. I know there are at least a few people breeding hardwickei here, it just a matter of time for those. Honestly I'm not too interested in Sc. gigantea anymore since I have these, these were my first choice but I certainly would also like to get gigantea. I expect these to look much different after they molt again. Hey tmcv, it'd be nice to see a pic of that 28cm you have in the lab there, is that the biggest one there?
 
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