Scolopendra dehaani - pregnant or moulting?

[Ezzney]

Hiya! Is anyone able to tell whether this chunky lady/gentleman is pregnant or moulting? I haven’t had her for too long so I don’t know the age, but she’s pretty long, and someone told me that they’re sure she’s adult size. Anything specific I could look out for to help me find out…?

Cheers

 

[Wolfram1]

probably just fat from food, but if it is a wild caught female she could be fertilized and lay eggs in time

 

[Ezzney]

probably just fat from food, but if it is a wild caught female she could be fertilized and lay eggs in time

I bought her near the end of January so I’ve had her for almost two months, and though I’ve tried to give her food I don’t think I’ve seen her eating. So… unless their food keeps them fat for a long time, maybe it’s the latter? Someone mentioned that centipedes go off food near the end of their pregnancy, is that true? Also yes he/she is wild caught. And thanks!

 

[Wolfram1]

yea it does, i feed mine about once a month so none of them are that fat but they are quite thick, i doubt yours will eat much anymore whether it is pregnant or not, you can clearly see the tergites are already seperated rather than slightly folded over and overlapping each other, as is normal

there is a theory that getting them too fat will shorten their lifespan, so i try to avoid that, they dont need to be as thick as possible to moult

not sure about the fasting at the end of pregnancy since i haven't bred centipedes yet, perhaps some of the more experienced keepers will chime in about that

in any case i would hold of any more food for now and bother it as little as possible, they are known to cannibalize the eggs if disturbed

mine will hide burrowed beneath some corkbark for months on end, once they emerge from seclusion and become active i will feed them a big roach and usually they go right back to hiding/being inactive

0.0.1 Scolopendra dehaani 'red'

• Wolfram1
• Mar 5, 2025
• 3
• dehaani scolopendra scolopendra dehaani

freshly molted about a month ago
hard to be specific since it was burrowed the whole time, only...

you did look at the other recent posts right? There was one about Premolt of S. dehaani. The great thing about forums is you can search it for older posts that may answer your questions

 

[Brewser]

Rather Rotund
"waiting with bated breath"
Keep A.B. in the Loop.
Best Regards,