Special Care for O. ornatus?

[Akvaan]

I was not aware that those two species range extended that far! A little scary actually, since they're not native. Your logic is totally sound, and you have clearly been doing your research. I wish you the best of luck in all your millipede keeping endeavors!

And thank you for all the assistance in helping my research! I think millipedes are really cool and I don't want to get some and then kill them because I didn't read up enough beforehand. And yeah, it's a bit terrifying that isopods survive in West Texas. There are apparently few places in the U.S. they can't live, with Death Valley in California and the Sonoran Desert in Arizona being two of the short list. Apparently dry and dusty West Texas is moist enough for them though (I guess deep in the ground, much like where the millipedes thrive).

If you have a spineless prickly pear plant or one with really small stickers, it might work in the tank.

How big do those get and do they need much, if any, light? Was considering a succulent or aloe just because of minimal light requirements.

 

[Matts inverts]

The prickly pear get a bit big but you just cut them back. They need a desert full spectrum LED light to grow

 

[marsdex]

A short video showing my vivarium

I have a tank containing O. ornatus millipedes with desert beetles and isopods, as well as live plants. It can definitely be done! Haven't tried springtails in there though.

I'd 100% recommend O. ornatus millipedes! They're so inquisitive and active. I have 3 pretty sizeable ones in there and they get along just fine with the beetles.

It's a 10 gallon and I use Aqueon LED hood for light. It doesn't fit tightly so allows a lot of air flow, and it has an extra slot for another LED strip, which I opted for to help with the succulents. I don't know what species they are... I grew them as cuttings from a friend's garden. But succulents in general are pretty hardy and sturdily rooted - my millipedes love to make massive tunnels but the plants have yet to be moved/damaged. Maybe they took a few nibbles off of them, no harm so far.

The substrate is organic potting soil, Zilla jungle mix, soaked oak pellets, regular play sand, and sphagnum moss. I have another layer of sand on top which I keep dry. The lower levels are kept more moist - I water only directly at the base of the plants or in the corners of the tank because the beetles don't enjoy having wet dirt stuck to their little feets. There's also a water dish available just in case, but it's full of rocks so no one has any issues falling in.

Note, there used to be a lot more sand on top but of course with the 'pedes in there, they like to dig everything up and leave it where they please. Also, I agree the substrate should be deeper, at least the depth of your largest millipede's length. I neglected to do that with this enclosure, but they're all able to completely bury themselves easily, and that's the important thing. If I did it again I'd add more substrate though.

Anyway, there are a handful of Porcellio scaber orange isopods in there. I accidentally introduced them when I added a piece of wood from my isopod enclosure. There are probably about a dozen in there and they're doing perfectly fine as far as I can tell. I have mixed feelings about them living with the millipedes for the reasons others stated above, and I think about removing them, but I like the idea of a "fully bioactive" vivarium. I'll most likely start picking them out if they proliferate too much. This is just to say that yes, you can have isopods in a pretty dry tank as long as they have moist hides, and you'll still see them out foraging fairly often.

I've never kept springtails and didn't want my first time to be in this set-up, so can't help you there. From what little I do know, I think it could be done with a species tolerant of more dry conditions.

Whatever you end up doing, just keep "microclimate" in mind: all these creatures appreciate areas that are more moist or more dry than others so they can self-regulate based on their needs. I have cork hides that are more moist underneath as well as patches of moss I spritz a little dew on, but there are many places to avoid that moisture if necessary (places to climb off of substrate and dry out, or just dry patches of top substrate layer). Include lots of hiding spots! I agree my tank looks a little crowded with all the rocks and bark but they love climbing on and burrowing under it. If you can do this, you can accommodate a larger variety of species in the same enclosure.

I hope this helps because now I feel like I hijacked your thread to brag about my favorite tank

 

[Akvaan]

I have a tank containing O. ornatus millipedes with desert beetles and isopods, as well as live plants. It can definitely be done! Haven't tried springtails in there though.

I'd 100% recommend O. ornatus millipedes! They're so inquisitive and active. I have 3 pretty sizeable ones in there and they get along just fine with the beetles.

It's a 10 gallon and I use Aqueon LED hood for light. It doesn't fit tightly so allows a lot of air flow, and it has an extra slot for another LED strip, which I opted for to help with the succulents. I don't know what species they are... I grew them as cuttings from a friend's garden. But succulents in general are pretty hardy and sturdily rooted - my millipedes love to make massive tunnels but the plants have yet to be moved/damaged. Maybe they took a few nibbles off of them, no harm so far.

The substrate is organic potting soil, Zilla jungle mix, soaked oak pellets, regular play sand, and sphagnum moss. I have another layer of sand on top which I keep dry. The lower levels are kept more moist - I water only directly at the base of the plants or in the corners of the tank because the beetles don't enjoy having wet dirt stuck to their little feets. There's also a water dish available just in case, but it's full of rocks so no one has any issues falling in.

Note, there used to be a lot more sand on top but of course with the 'pedes in there, they like to dig everything up and leave it where they please. Also, I agree the substrate should be deeper, at least the depth of your largest millipede's length. I neglected to do that with this enclosure, but they're all able to completely bury themselves easily, and that's the important thing. If I did it again I'd add more substrate though.

Anyway, there are a handful of Porcellio scaber orange isopods in there. I accidentally introduced them when I added a piece of wood from my isopod enclosure. There are probably about a dozen in there and they're doing perfectly fine as far as I can tell. I have mixed feelings about them living with the millipedes for the reasons others stated above, and I think about removing them, but I like the idea of a "fully bioactive" vivarium. I'll most likely start picking them out if they proliferate too much. This is just to say that yes, you can have isopods in a pretty dry tank as long as they have moist hides, and you'll still see them out foraging fairly often.

I've never kept springtails and didn't want my first time to be in this set-up, so can't help you there. From what little I do know, I think it could be done with a species tolerant of more dry conditions.

Whatever you end up doing, just keep "microclimate" in mind: all these creatures appreciate areas that are more moist or more dry than others so they can self-regulate based on their needs. I have cork hides that are more moist underneath as well as patches of moss I spritz a little dew on, but there are many places to avoid that moisture if necessary (places to climb off of substrate and dry out, or just dry patches of top substrate layer). Include lots of hiding spots! I agree my tank looks a little crowded with all the rocks and bark but they love climbing on and burrowing under it. If you can do this, you can accommodate a larger variety of species in the same enclosure.

I hope this helps because now I feel like I hijacked your thread to brag about my favorite tank

Don't feel bad, your tank is gorgeous and the info you've got here is great, especially regarding co-habitation and your substrate mixture. How long have you had that tank with its inhabitants? To be honest, I love the more natural crowded look your tank has going on, it's absolutely stunning. Do the beetles and the pedes make good tankmates?

 

[marsdex]

The tank has been running for over 3 months now It's a lot of fun to watch them all interact... like when a beetle will be trying to crawl cover a millipede while the millipede is moving the opposite direction, creating a treadmill effect Or a millipede is climbing over a group of beetles and they all just stand perfectly still with their butts in the air, waiting for him to pass.

Or how you give them a million places to hide but you wake up one morning and they're all under the same log together.

But I was hesitant to begin this set-up at all, due to care sheets I'd seen listing the recommended humidity as 0-20% for death feigning beetles. Which, where I live in Texas, is laughably impossible. I thought I might have issues with the beetles losing their coloring due to the extra moisture. In their previous enclosure, I'd kept it completely dry. But they actually seem much more active and lively in their new environment!

Interesting to note that the beetles were a bit stupid about the water dish at first. They would get a little splashed and their blue would go away for a few days, but now they mostly avoid the dish or expertly step across the rocks.. I don't know if it's a learned behavior, just something I observed. However, I had to learn to quit worrying so so much about them getting wet because... they'll be fine Just because they come from the desert doesn't mean they melt when they get a little wet, as long as they have places to dry off.

I'd say my largest O. ornatus is one of my most favorite animals I've kept. There are two others in there of the same species but smaller and another morph. Here's a pic of one, in the old tub I had them in. I just thought it was interesting that I got them all at the same time, over the winter I'd barely seen these other two on the surface. I swore I'd probably never see them again, and I even had dreams about them emerging! But one morning after such a dream, I noticed one happily walking around, looking freshly molted. And of course, he spent the rest of the day re-burying himself But the largest of the three has been active on the surface since I received him. I'm not sure if it's because they're from different localities but something I noted.

 

[Matts inverts]

That is super cool. I was going to put diabolical ironclad beetles in with mine and I had one with him but then I decided not to because I had not heard of any one doing it but now I realize it might have worked.