Some Centipede Questions. New To The Hobby Of Pedes

[Twilight]

I think...if I can't find vermiculite (btw took me awhile to say it correctly) I'll get peat moss, what do you guys think about peat moss...does it hold a burrow well etc etc?

BTW what is bed a beast made out of because I believe that's what I used before. I tried it once with a reptile, a monitor lizard, and it was really really messy and a big mistake. It was also bad because sometimes while he catches a mouse, some would get stuck on the mouse or into his mouth while he tries to pin the mouse to the ground. My lizard is free roaming in my room so its a lot better. I don't really like him sleeping on my face at night sometimes, but oh well.

i am so anxious I can't wait for my first pedes tomorrow. BTW I talked to a member and he said put them in little jars, I actually find that a good idea as well, I've never really kept my things in jars before, just in tanks and large plastic creature keepers or whatever they're called. My next thing is to get a bunch of communal centipedes...such as S. Militans from what I heard? and keep them in my 50 gallon. We'll see, lol, my boss thinks I'm using the money that I earn to get books for school, little does he know eh? ;P

 

[CopperInMyVeins]

I want an aggressive, large centipede because I'm more into those kind of creatures. I'm disappointed mainly cause I thought I specifically bought one that would get to at least 9" and it would be aggressive and hearing that it doesn't reach any of that expectation leaves me a bit disappointed. If I was to go out and shop for a cute puppy, I would expect to get a cute puppy. So here I'm expecting to get a mean, large centipede, I did quite a bit of research and many people said they are, and that is why I want a mean, large centipede.

I dunno I guess you really can't tell if something is good or bad until you personally have had experience with it. So best thing I can do is see how it is myself. This sorta feels like trying to get a good review of a movie you want to watch, multiple people have multiple opinions. I've watched badly reviewed movies and enjoyed it and have had bad experienced with movies that had good reviews.

You ordered two S. subspinipes, as adults those are some of the largest most aggressive centipedes you can find without spending an arm and a leg, and searching the world over. I have two adult S. subspinipes de haani, and I have to say, I'm anything but disappointed, one is about 8 inches, the other is about 6.5, not the largest in the world, but they're certainly impressive. I'd say they're more skittish than "mean" though. If you want something that will stay out in the open all the time, and attack and kill anything you put in the tank, whether it's hungry or not, centipedes probably aren't for you. They spend a lot of time hiding, and when they're full, they'll back down from even relatively small prey.

Don't get the wrong impression though, they are excellent predators, extremely fast and powerful. One of mine just at an adult Blaberus giganteus the other day, left only the wings, that's pretty impressive itself. As far as setup, you have pedelings, you don't need a 50 gallon tank, get a couple of tuperware containers, and put some moist sterile potting soil in them, and a small water dish, maybe a piece of bark to hide under if the soil isn't that deep. No lights, no ceramic heater, not a lot of setup there. That's my two cents, Good luck with them.

 

[BugToxin]

i wouldn't use just vermiculite for a pede substrate though. these guys love to burrow and just verm won't hold a burrow at all. you could mix it with pesticide/additive free potting soil or coconut fiber, though

i use pretty much exclusively coconut fiber and coconut er, chunks for all my substrate for centipedes

Yes, I agree here 100%. Pure vermiculite would not be a good choice. I like to use a mixture of chemical-free potting soil (an organic mixture of peat moss and compost) plus vermiculite. Other people will use 100% peat, and still others will use a peat/vermiculite mix. They all work just fine and so does the coconut fiber stuff. Pedes actually do need a bit more moisture than T's, so a bit of vermiculite mixed in with peat or soil is probably best unless you go the coconue fiber route which seems to hold moisture well on it's own.

Twilight - You asked about Bed-A-Beast. I think they make a couple of products, but the one that comes in a brick is coconut fibre. It works pretty good as cacoseraph said. I don't use it anymore because it is a tad more of a chore to hydrate the brick before adding it to the tank. I have used it though, and it works great for most inverts that may need a bit of moisture.

Also, jars will work fine and make an easy to make/hard to escape pede container. I like to have something that they can spread out in when they get bigger, like a 10 gal. tank, but some people use really big jars even for adult pedes. For an adult subspinipes though you would need a really big jar, and I would eventually go to a large tank instead. Since your pedes are coming at 2", they should be very happy for several years in a good sized jar.

 

[bistrobob85]

As for me, i'd either use potting soil or coconut fiber... I've always used coconut fiber, even for my own monitor lizard ( varanus exanthematicus ) and it works great.

phil.

 

[cacoseraph]

As for me, i'd either use potting soil or coconut fiber... I've always used coconut fiber, even for my own monitor lizard ( varanus exanthematicus ) and it works great.

phil.

one thing i have noticed about coconut fiber. it works pretty good for burrowing by itself. but it works great with a like, "structure additive". i have used shredded cyprus bark and the "chunked" coconut husk and they both seem to work pretty well. i mix the shredded cyprus with teh powdery/small particle size coconut fiber at ~1:6 cyprus:coco and i mix the chunked husk to the small particles ~1:2 chunkowder <-- lol, it made a smiley

just powder seems to only work for more than a couple months if i am using it with something that can web it in place.

btw, i PACK the substrate in... the harder you pack it while wet/moist the better it will hold burrows when it dries out a little. like, i pack it so hard i have broken containers and cages from pressing to hard... that is to give you an idea

oh, and i totally agree that some kind of jar or small jug is more than adequate for the plings at the ~2" size. all my collection is is jars, jugs, and tuppewares

 

[Twilight]

FINALLY GOT MY FIRST CENTIPEDES EVER!!! YAYYYYYYYY!!!! :wall:

I'M SO HAPPY I LOVE SHOPPING FOR BUGS THEY ARE SOOOOO COOL!!!

Alright...ehem....(calming down)....

Well, as you can tell, I just got my pede. I'm at home and I wished the delivery guy would at least attempt to push the very visible doorbell to allert me, instead he puts it on the steps, in plain view, and runs for it....luckily I was near the window and, seeing him leave, opened the door to find the package.

I'm totally thrilled with my centipedes, they look totally awesome and the first thing I did was dump their jars into the bigger jars. I then fed them each one small cricket. One seemed to walk over it and grabbed it quickly while the other one waited in hidding and quickly nabbed and constricted the cricket (rhymes) and ate it. I noticed one big thing though, they're in another world while they eat, totally ignoring my shaky hand while I attempted to hold the jar steady above my head so I can look underneath and see it eating. From what I saw, one pede is more active then the other, while the other is more into hiding. But we'll see. Here are some pics...also need some advice...thank you for all your help btw!

Here's how they came in, pretty well packed, but I didn't expected any less from Swifty though. I took the small containers that they came in and put it in that bigger plastic container that the smaller ones are in. BTW their measurements are 6" in diameter in the middle and it came already with a big of peat moss I think. What do you guys think? Should I get more peat moss or is this okay for the time being and what about the jar size, is that alright?

Here's one of the little jars with the pede inside, just arrived.

Here's pictures of the pedes...in my opinion...totally awesome looking

I'll post picture of the container in a moment...tell me what you guys think of the setup....btw...how do you guys keep the temperature up because my house is like 70-85 but can sometimes get to 65F or even lower maybe...but rarely.

 

[Twilight]

Here is the jars...this is a continuation of the top post. Tell me what you guys think:

 

[bistrobob85]

Nice looking little sc.mutilans . Where are you located and where is your dealer located? It seems like no dealer want to deal with canadians...

phil.

 

[Twilight]

Actually they're hong kong giants

Are they though? Shrug thats what I bought from Swift...tell me if they aren't.

 

[bistrobob85]

Sorry about the mistake, hehe. Oh well, they are tough, yeah. Just give them good humidity and lots of substrate and they'll do fine.

phil.

 

[BugToxin]

Actually they're hong kong giants

Are they though? Shrug thats what I bought from Swift...tell me if they aren't.

I'm not enough of an expert to say for sure, and even if I was I would likely need a much better picture to positively idenfify a pede species. However, I suspect that they are what Swifty says they are.

Pedes often (if not always?) go though different color stages as they mature and look completely different in terms of coloration when they are adults then when they were plings. Look through the past myriapods threads to find pictures of pedes with plings and you will see what I mean. Swift is one of the best in the business, and likely bought these from a trusted source or had one of his own specimins lay the eggs.

As for the containers, they look ok but only for temporary housing. You need a tall glass or plastic jar with a screw top lid that the pede can't reach. Pack it with a LOT more substrate than you have in there now, and give them a flat piece of cork bark to hide under. I also provide a small water dish, and have seen every one of my pedes drink from one. Other people just keep the substrate on the very-moist side and mist regularly, but I perfer to add a dish as well and not mist. When the substrate gets a bit dry I will pour water into the corners of the enclosure and stir up the substrate a bit with a long paintbrsh shaft. If you do provide a water dish (which I reccomend), you can expect the pede to sometimes knock it over by burrowing under it. Just clean it off and fill it back up.

 

[Scorp guy]

They are HK giants. I got some from swift as well, they looked exactly alike.

 

[Stylopidae]

Old CD spindles make great housing for pedelings...I use the ones wal-mart usus in their photolabs...if you talk to the manager he should be able to hook you up. Their trash is your treasure. They only need to be modified by a hacksaw.

 

[Twilight]

Thanks for all the inputs I'm learning a lot. Thanks a bunch

I was wondering, how do you keep the container warm at night and during the cold seasons?

 

[cacoseraph]

Thanks for all the inputs I'm learning a lot. Thanks a bunch

I was wondering, how do you keep the container warm at night and during the cold seasons?

i don't. i'm a pretty big believer in letting my bugs experience seasonal variations.

they can safely get down to 60*F, and in fact it seems like some species do better down around 60-70