Shy millie or illness

[GailC]

I got my very first millipede today, actually I got 2 of them. They were sold as giant millies so I'm not exactly sure what they are yet. My female is 9 inches and very active, eating well, she even lets me hold her and will walk up & down my arm.
My male is around 6-7 inches (haven't been able to measure him yet) he ate a little when I first got him home but has been curled up since then, its night here now and he still is coiled but his head is showing and his legs are moving. When I was sexing him at the petstore he was kinda limp and let me uncoil him with no resistance.
Since this is my first millie and I don't know what to expect I thought I would ask whats going on with him? Could he be getting ready to shed or is he just shy/scared? I also need help with maintening heat, right now I'm using an under tank heater but it's not enough, can I use a red bulb for extra night heat?

 

[NiGHTS]

Well, if they are African Giant Black Millipedes, they tend to stay curled up most of the time. When I brought home my first AGB, it stayed curled for about 24 hours before even coming out to explore and eat. Even now, there's times when that same pede only comes out of her coconut shell house about once a week. I guess they make up for their huge size by being lazy bums.

The thing that concerns me though is that the male let you uncurl him so easily. I've found its usually a struggle to get AGBs to open for sexing (I would recommend letting them uncurl on their own...it makes things easier all around). Limpness is also another thing that generally isn't good in millipedes. ...but just how limp are you talking?

As for heating...normally room temperature is just about right. Unless you're snowed in or something, you shouldn't even need a heat source this time of year. The one thing to watch with bottom heaters is that it dries out the bottom layers of the substrate, which is exactly the opposite of what would happen in nature. So when the pedes retreat into the soil looing for moisture, they find dryness, which is not good. So if you really need additional heat, I'd suggest going with a light above the cage. I don't believe that that red light is visible for millis...so that should be alright. Just watch the heat level. Those things can cook.

 

[J Morningstar]

Hi Waldo and welcome.
First off you do not ever use an undertank heater with millipedes. They burrow to cool off and excape the heat of day. The only place a heat pad should be used is on the back or side of the tank, above the substrate.
Secondly if the millipede let you unroll him at the store it was probably suffering and distresed. Not if it opened slowly of it's own accord but if you sort of uncurled it, it was almost definitaly not well. It should have resisted a lot, then most likely pooped on you. If you aquired them from a pet store they most likely didn't care for it properly and it will need time to recover.
Third room temps are fine for giant African Black millipedes the only time you need a heater is under 70-65 degreese F.
Use the search on this site and read all you can before another day passes so you will not have the milli troubles of other "newbies"
J

 

[GailC]

Thanks for the advice, I'll ditch the UTH today and get a heat lamp. I live in North Idaho and its already down in the 40's at night, it was 56 in the house this morning. I was up around 1:00 am and the male was eating so I feel better.

When I said limp, I mean really limp. When I first picked him up I thought he was dead but I saw his legs wiggle, he didn't resiste at all when I uncurled him, the female on the other hand really fought.I also noticed that his "skin" looked dry and dull, this morning he looks much better,nice and shiny.

At the petstore they were being kept in small critter keepers with dry orchid bark and no food. I think they were having a hard time selling them because I got the male for free.

I did do reaserch before I got them, they weren't an impulse buy but I will continue to research ther care. Thanks again :worship: