Teeny tiny centipede in millipede enclosure - do I need to worry?

[Leakypede]

I have a happy, healthy, lovely Orthoporus sp. (desert millipede) named Nellie. Occasionally I add garden clippings to her enclosure to add variety to the substrate/her diet. This has introduced a few different little soil critters, but nothing I've been concerned about until now.

Today I found a tiny little centipede in there, orange-brown colored, maybe a centimeter long and millimeter wide. Itty bitty! However, I know that even small ones can pack a bite. I tried to catch it, but I was too slow and it burrowed into the substrate out of sight.

Do you think I need to remove Miss Nellie, toss the substrate and start over (I honestly don't think I'll be able to find it again), or do you think the centipede is too small to bother her? She's housed alone other than her visitors, and hasn't been mated so there are no concerns about it catching and eating any juveniles. I honestly wouldn't mind if it ate some of the Collembolans in there -- they're a little out of control!

 

[jwb121377]

I would change the substrate to play it safe. Better safe than sorry...

 

[Nomadinexile]

I would leave it unless you think you have eggs on the way. But either way is fine.

 

[super-pede]

I used little soil centipedes for mite control effectively.leave it there.

 

[Leakypede]

I ended up leaving the lil' guy in until about five days ago. He happened to be in a place I could pull him out easily (or my ninja-like centipede grabbing skills just improved enough...), so I went ahead and evicted him into my garden out back. Nellie seemed unharmed and unannoyed by him, but since he was accessible I returned him to the wild just to be on the safe side.

 

[J Morningstar]

If there is one there may be more, they will reproduce eventually and eat the baby millies, get it out.

 

[Leakypede]

I'm not sure what baby millies they're going to eat. I have one lone unmated spinsterpede. Nellie the Nun, I call her.

I have found about 5 more of the tiny centipedes; now I just pull 'em out as I find 'em. Nellie seems as content as ever, and the springtail population has gotten a bit less out of hand. But at the same time I don't want the tank overrun with the centipedes. And I'm happy to toss them into my garden, 'cause it sure could use some insect control too!

I did figure out what order they're in, btw: http://bugguide.net/node/view/21/bgimage -- Geophilomorpha. Beyond that they're all too similar for a centipede amateur like me to attempt to identify.

 

[J Morningstar]

If you were trying to breed the millipede it would have been of conciquence. I didn't know it was alone. And the centipede you are refering to is a lot tinyer (usually) than a stone centipede which was what I figured they were.