Some Centipede Questions. New To The Hobby Of Pedes

[Twilight]

I've kept other bugs before like Ts, scorpions, and some other random critters. However, I just recently purchased 2 hong kong giant centipedes and I've never kept centipedes before, just millipedes. Since you guys know a lot, I was wondering a few things. First I would like to say is there anything I should know specifically about hong kong giants and maybe centipedes overall that I don't know, maybe something out of experience.

This is what I do know, please fix if it is wrong, I would love to learn:
-I know that they are extremely fast and vicious centipedes (that is why I bought them)
-Since they are the sub species of the vietnamese I'm thinking that they are extremely poisonous and a bite would mean excrutiating pain?
-They grow to about 10 inches...but I was wondering, what is their minium and maxium? Minium as in most common maxed out length.
-Temperatures about 72-84F and 70 humidity
-Eats arthropodes but will occasionally tackle something else like a mouse or lizard (beware of mouse they all say, I had a T that never had a problem even with a grown up mouse)

These are my questions however:
-Is there anyway to keep 2 in one tank? My biggest tank at the moment is a 50 gallon...4'x1.2'x20" . I've seen some centipedes that live together, can hong kong giants live together okay?
-What is better to heat them, a light bulb or a ceramic heater?
-If I plan to breed, how do I tell which are male and female, like is there a test to show, like put them together? I dunno.

The one about putting two in a tank is very important...please help me there...thanks for any and all input.

 

[crashergs]

you cannot put two in a tank, its difficult to sex centipedes, even if one was female and the other male, at one point they will attack eachother, do not light them, centipedes are nocturnal and will only come out at night, heat them with a heat pad that can be mounted on the side of the tank, since they burrow the heat pad beneath the tank can dry the substrate up quickly (which you need moist substrate, not WET or BOGGY) or could also burn a pede, keep a place for water for pede to drink.

id say mininum a pede would grow (hong kong) 7 inches? max id say about 9 1/2 max?

your pede does not need that much space, a 10 gallon tank will be fine, they need more room horizontally than vertically since they are not much of tree climbers, they prefer deeper substrate, since they will bury them selves and you wont see them for long periods of times at some points in keeping your pede.

 

[Twilight]

7 inches minium??

How come at swifts website it says that it can exceed 10 inch? 7 is small then isn't it...I was hoping for at least a 10 inch one...?

 

[Scorp guy]

7 inches minium??

How come at swifts website it says that it can exceed 10 inch? 7 is small then isn't it...I was hoping for at least a 10 inch one...?

:wall: :? :?

they are extremely fast and vicious centipedes (that is why I bought them)

:wall: :wall: :wall: :wall: :wall: :wall: :wall: :wall:

 

[cacoseraph]

I've kept other bugs before like Ts, scorpions, and some other random critters. However, I just recently purchased 2 hong kong giant centipedes and I've never kept centipedes before, just millipedes. Since you guys know a lot, I was wondering a few things. First I would like to say is there anything I should know specifically about hong kong giants and maybe centipedes overall that I don't know, maybe something out of experience.

This is what I do know, please fix if it is wrong, I would love to learn:

I know that they are extremely fast and vicious centipedes (that is why I bought them)

they're ok. some are cowards and won't eat anything bigger than their head, though. in fact i'd say most of mine are kind of sissies when it comes down to it.

-Since they are the sub species of the vietnamese I'm thinking that they are extremely poisonous and a bite would mean excrutiating pain?

yeah, probably

-They grow to about 10 inches...but I was wondering, what is their minium and maxium? Minium as in most common maxed out length.

there are some common hobby species that don't get too much past 4" like the S. morsitans (possibly what is sold as Egyptian Emerald is morsitans) or S. cingulata. The only thing semipurchaseable in the hobby that would reliably/consistantly grow past 10"bodylength is S. gigantea or S. robusta. It's possible some S. subspinipes or S. heros *might* like supermax past that, but not the average ones.

-Temperatures about 72-84F and 70 humidity

sounds good

-Eats arthropodes but will occasionally tackle something else like a mouse or lizard (beware of mouse they all say, I had a T that never had a problem even with a grown up mouse)

well, eventually a centipede can get injured by a full grown mouse, but pinkies every once in a while is fine for the larger specimens

These are my questions however:
-Is there anyway to keep 2 in one tank? My biggest tank at the moment is a 50 gallon...4'x1.2'x20" . I've seen some centipedes that live together, can hong kong giants live together okay?

there are only a very few species that are communal. the only one i know of for sure is Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans

-What is better to heat them, a light bulb or a ceramic heater?

neither, unless the room you are keeping them is dropping consistently below like ~60-65*F. cents are very sensitive to dehydration, so those type of heaters can accidentily kill them too easily. plus they are not needed like in reptiles.

-If I plan to breed, how do I tell which are male and female, like is there a test to show, like put them together? I dunno.

The one about putting two in a tank is very important...please help me there...thanks for any and all input.

yeah, you basically eyeball the prospectives and if they look 1.1 introduce them into a tank together. if they run away when they meet each other then seperate them... if they start sniffin butts and crawling on each other then maybe try them in a breeding tank together for a few hours to a few days. the male needs like, landscape features to build a smallish sperm web in.
males can look a little thinner in the body and leggier females a little heavier in the body.

there are a few species that have scientific lit. that tells how to sex them. the like, quintessential centipede (first one described by Carolus Linneaus the father of the living organism hierarchy and binomial nomenclature) S. morsitans males have these sort of er, raised edges to the inside of one of the leg segments on their terminal leg. most species it is eyeballing and semi-educated guessing

 

[insect714]

These are my questions however:
-Is there anyway to keep 2 in one tank? My biggest tank at the moment is a 50 gallon...4'x1.2'x20" . I've seen some centipedes that live together, can hong kong giants live together okay?
The one about putting two in a tank is very important...please help me there...thanks for any and all input.

Like Crash said you do not need that much space simply silicone in a divider ( all the way to the top leave no space open)

Insect

 

[Twilight]

Thanks for the replies guys, but I guess it sorta made me feel bad, before I say anything, insect, I really like that icon its pretty cool lol. Anyhow, I guess I mainly bought it cause on swift's website it says it can get to an excess of 10 inches and it is aggressive.

I'm sort of getting mix messages, some people claim that theirs is extremely aggressive and commonly reach at least 8-9"....and you're saying not really and only on average a bit over 4"?

?! help?

I guess I mainly bought it cause swift post it as so, so its really disappointing to hear all that.

 

[Scorp guy]

Thanks for the replies guys, but I guess it sorta made me feel bad, before I say anything, insect, I really like that icon its pretty cool lol. Anyhow, I guess I mainly bought it cause on swift's website it says it can get to an excess of 10 inches and it is aggressive.

I'm sort of getting mix messages, some people claim that theirs is extremely aggressive and commonly reach at least 8-9"....and you're saying not really and only on average a bit over 4"?

?! help?

I guess I mainly bought it cause swift post it as so, so its really disappointing to hear all that.

nobody said "they get 4" might i ask, why your dissapointed, that your not going to have a gigantic man-eating centipede? just because its not going to get huge, doesnt mean you should be dissapointed. If you want body length, venom potency, all that good sstuff, then reasearch more next time.

 

[cacoseraph]

Thanks for the replies guys, but I guess it sorta made me feel bad, before I say anything, insect, I really like that icon its pretty cool lol. Anyhow, I guess I mainly bought it cause on swift's website it says it can get to an excess of 10 inches and it is aggressive.

I'm sort of getting mix messages, some people claim that theirs is extremely aggressive and commonly reach at least 8-9"....and you're saying not really and only on average a bit over 4"?

?! help?

I guess I mainly bought it cause swift post it as so, so its really disappointing to hear all that.

you asked about HKGiants and others, i answered mainly about others

i said S. morsitans and S. cingulata only get to be about 4"

Hong Kong Giants can hit 10", but odds are if you buy one it won't be full size yet and you will have to grow it. they are pretty nervous from what i have read, which should translate as aggression to most ppl... biting and whipping their body around.

 

[Twilight]

Well maybe I misunderstood there a bit about the 4" average part, sorry.

About the rest of your comment, what made you go off and assume I didn't do research before. I did as much research as I could before I purchased it, however, it is hard when you get multiple different kinds of information from one place to another. I mean here alone I got a few different responses and when you put it all together you end up not really knowing whats what. 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.

The only thing I'm sorta bugged about is the shipping...how do you guys buy like one or two centipedes and not pay like $30.00 shipping (not buying it in store because no stores close by sells good centipedes)? I mean from swifty you can get a 10 shipping rate, do other places let you do that?

 

[Twilight]

you asked about HKGiants and others, i answered mainly about others

i said S. morsitans and S. cingulata only get to be about 4"

Hong Kong Giants can hit 10", but odds are if you buy one it won't be full size yet and you will have to grow it. they are pretty nervous from what i have read, which should translate as aggression to most ppl... biting and whipping their body around.

Yeah I bought CB Babies, mainly cause I wanted to raise them since they are small and have the experience and watch them grow. They should come about 2".....do you think they're active....but I guess a person somewhere said that it just depends on the pede and not the species...

THanks for all the input...I'm gonna raise them and see how it gets...if shipping rates aren't too expensive...I could get more pedes...

 

[BugToxin]

I had one of those for about two years before trading it for something else. She was VERY agressive when hungry, but once she got full she would hide under her cork bark and almost never come out. I would check on her by lifting the bark, and she was always healthy, but not nearly as agressive. My observation would be that it is very easy to overfeed a peede. They will do fine on about two big roaches or two pinkie mice per month. If you perfer crickets, you could probably give it about three really big ones a week. However, if you do plan to try to breed them it might be a good idea to get them good and full before putting them together. Overfeeding probably isn't bad for your pede health-wise, but it does make them less active and "agressive".

Oh, and she was about 8" when I traded her off, up from about 7" when I got her.

 

[Scorp guy]

plain and simple really. i just got rid of my 2" CB HK giant. It was MEAN, FAST, and HUNGRY. It moved almost as fast as my H. mac.

It really isnt too hard to find good advice. if you posted on here, asking for help, i bet you'd have 25 post minimum, telling you what to do. I asked, i got tons of help. And there is good research out there, you just gotta find it.

 

[cacoseraph]

The only thing I'm sorta bugged about is the shipping...how do you guys buy like one or two centipedes and not pay like $30.00 shipping (not buying it in store because no stores close by sells good centipedes)? I mean from swifty you can get a 10 shipping rate, do other places let you do that?

i usually get more than one thing at a time =P

 

[Twilight]

Lol yeah thats why I got 2 hong kongs....however...it isn't always about the money...more about space and where to put them and if I have enough time. Sometimes I only have enough space or so for one at a time...and its sorta hard cause paying for shipping can even cost more than the thing that is being shipped lol.

The pedes are due here tomorrow...and I'm not too well prepared....sigh...and I have work soon too, hopefully I"ll find a way.

 

[Scorp guy]

The pedes are due here tomorrow...and I'm not too well prepared....sigh...and I have work soon too, hopefully I"ll find a way.

why not? weren't you prepared before you got the pede?

 

[cacoseraph]

why not? weren't you prepared before you got the pede?

jesus you've done nothing but harass this poor guy.

for two plings setup should take roughly three minutes. not something he needs to worry about

 

[Twilight]

Some of you guys are ... so mean.....

But you're right though, trust me this is the first time that I have been this unprepared. I guess it's just one thing after another. I figure that tomorrow, hoping that it arrives tomorrow morning and not evening, after it does arrive I'm gonna go shop. My biggest problem so far is finding the right substrate. Again my life kicks in in which when I want to find something, I can't. Believe it or not, 3 local pet stores that use to have stuff, now does not carry the ones that I'm looking for. So tomorrow after it arrives, I plan to go out and get stuff for it.

BTW...i'll also search for this...however, anyone know locally where to get vermiculite? Thanks. Dunno what it really is and if I've ever used it haha.

 

[BugToxin]

BTW...i'll also search for this...however, anyone know locally where to get vermiculite? Thanks. Dunno what it really is and if I've ever used it haha.

2" plings will probably be fine for quite a while in the containers they come in. If not, you can always store them in tupperware containers with itty-bitty holes poked in them temporarily while you get your real setup ready. You can buy vermiculite at most lawn and garden type stores. Some hardware stores cary it, but the big chain stores usually do not. Your best bet is the nursery/lawn and garden.

 

[cacoseraph]

2" plings will probably be fine for quite a while in the containers they come in. If not, you can always store them in tupperware containers with itty-bitty holes poked in them temporarily while you get your real setup ready. You can buy vermiculite at most lawn and garden type stores. Some hardware stores cary it, but the big chain stores usually do not. Your best bet is the nursery/lawn and garden.

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