Thread for the rest of my S. heros questions

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Arachnoprince
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I have to decide between two sellers of S. heros castaneiceps - seller A has a 5.5" - 6" one and seller B has a full-grown 7" or so one.
With seller A's I get the opportunity to see it grow. I'll actually have time to see it period, as the other one will prolly die soon. (correct?) And because they're not full grown, it could get larger than the 7" one.
With seller B's I'll know for sure it'll get to 7", due to it already being 7", and it's $5 to $20 cheaper.
I guess it's important, then, whether 7" is smaller than average, average, or larger than average full grown length. (?)

Size matters. Opinions, anyone?

Also, which substrates are acceptable? (coco fiber, peat moss, eco earth, vermiculite, sand)
Should it have a cork bark hide? (isn't it just going to burrow?) Should it have some kind of flat rock?
Will temperature and feeding rates affect its lifespan or its final size?
How often should I spray the substrate?
As the whole lid of the cage is wire mesh, should I cover some of it with a cloth? (a damp cloth?)
 

cacoseraph

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i think centipedes are like crocodilians and they keep growing as they get older

while no one can know what something's genetic fuse length is... 7" by no means is end of life size for heros. they *can* achieve 8,9,10" but it likely takes many years and the odds of them surviving long enough to hit 10" are somewhat slim.

if size is important than i would suggest getting the larger one. it most like will still gain size on molts
 

aaandyyy5

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Hi
Im not an expert but I keep and have kept many of these. 7" is definately not full grown. Ive had them over eight inches and Galapoheros had one over 10" I believe. I caught one when it was eight inches and had it for two years only for it to escape. It was still growing and eating well and showed no signs of slowing down. So the 7" one will still live for a while. I keep all my centipedes on a mixture of peat and perlite. A cork bark hide will be a very important thing to have. All of mine hide under them and I have never seen them burrow if they have this available. No rocks necesarry. Temperature will affect the rate at how much your pede will eat which will affect how fast it grows. "Power feeding" it to make it grow faster will decrease it's lifespan. As long as the wire mesh holes are small enough to prevent escapes then a cloth is not necessary. Hope that was helpful.

Thanks
Andy
 

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Arachnoprince
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Size right now isn't important; it's only the final size that matters.

A 7" isn't growing significantly slower than a 5.5"?
(If it is, i'll go with seller A; if it isn't, and it's not going to die within 2 years, i'll go with seller B.)
note: seller A says I imagine it is still growing, but I would expect it to grow VERY slowly at this point.

and thanks, andy, for the info
 

cacoseraph

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well

if size in two years is more important than the bigger one now will still be the bigger one in two years

while yes, the smaller one will have had more length added to it, or grown more in length in that time period the bigger one in the beginning will still be bigger in the end. and the bigger one might have added more weight/volume to itself

see, as i seee it, as centipedes increase in length, their volume is increasing at like, a higher power... so er like, if the rate of cells increasing remains constant than the speed of growing bigger has to slow too at a higher power. ah crap, i wish i could be more clear.

edit:
also, i would say both those sizes are likely adult for the species.

also, for egg laying i would say something that either supports burrows or will make an uncollapsable chamber undersubstrate is much more important than a hide. if visibility is that much more important than getting potential captive hatch babies, then go with a hide and shallow substrate.
 

Drachenjager

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I have to decide between two sellers of S. heros castaneiceps - seller A has a 5.5" - 6" one and seller B has a full-grown 7" or so one.
With seller A's I get the opportunity to see it grow. I'll actually have time to see it period, as the other one will prolly die soon. (correct?) And because they're not full grown, it could get larger than the 7" one.
With seller B's I'll know for sure it'll get to 7", due to it already being 7", and it's $5 to $20 cheaper.
I guess it's important, then, whether 7" is smaller than average, average, or larger than average full grown length. (?)

Size matters. Opinions, anyone?

Also, which substrates are acceptable? (coco fiber, peat moss, eco earth, vermiculite, sand)
Should it have a cork bark hide? (isn't it just going to burrow?) Should it have some kind of flat rock?
Will temperature and feeding rates affect its lifespan or its final size?
How often should I spray the substrate?
As the whole lid of the cage is wire mesh, should I cover some of it with a cloth? (a damp cloth?)
hmmm define full grown. as long as its not dead its not full grown. the 5" one could be mature as well. I ahve seen these things over 10 and Galapoheros had one that was pushing 10" in captivity... HAD being the key lol
it escaped
so if i were you id get the one YOU like best as of now and factor in price VS size differance.
 

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Arachnoprince
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"I'm sorry, but it is no longer available." - definitely helped me decide. (Now watch, the other one is also going to be unavailable.) :wall:
 
Last edited:

Drachenjager

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well

if size in two years is more important than the bigger one now will still be the bigger one in two years

while yes, the smaller one will have had more length added to it, or grown more in length in that time period the bigger one in the beginning will still be bigger in the end. and the bigger one might have added more weight/volume to itself

see, as i seee it, as centipedes increase in length, their volume is increasing at like, a higher power... so er like, if the rate of cells increasing remains constant than the speed of growing bigger has to slow too at a higher power. ah crap, i wish i could be more clear.

edit:
also, i would say both those sizes are likely adult for the species.
like the 4" ones look really skinny but at 4.5 look fatter then at 5 even fatter ect.
and i agree they grow a good bit after adulthood, untill they die. and size is probably due to amount of food. i have noticed that captives are fatter than wild ones generally , i have however seen some wild ones that looked abou tto pop i think they may have been gravid females tho.
 

Stylopidae

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So much is unknown about these animals...maximum size, lifespan...etc.

Galapoheros claims to have a reliable sighting of a 16 inch pede, and I personally would believe it.

I have my S. h. cf arizonensias on about two inches of substrate and it will burrow if it wants to hide. I'm planning on raising the substrate to around 4 inches tonight.

It's about 7 or 8 inches right now and still has bright, vibrant colors so I'd say it has a long ways to go. I think I'll be able to get it up to 10 inches eventually.

Given the original choice, I'd go with the smaller one although most of my decisions are based upon price.
 

Galapoheros

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I see what you are saying Caco. It's kind of like if you had a cup of water and add another cup of water, you see a big difference in the amount of water. But if you keep adding cups of water, it's harder to see the volume increase with every cup that is added after the previous cup. Right?, something like that?

I was thinking about that story about that 16 inch centipede that old couple at the Snake Farm had. They said it touched from one end of the terr to the other when it was next to the glass. The terr was 16 inches long. They were probably counting the terminal legs and antennae. So "if the story is true", it probably had a body length of around 13 or 14 inches which is still pretty much beyond what I can imagine.
 

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Arachnoprince
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I got three substrates/substrate components today, but I don't know if they're the right things, especially the coconut.

Repti Sand (very fine), moss, and coconut fiber.


The store guy suggested I mix all three - would you agree?
 

cacoseraph

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those look good. i would use something like 3 parts peat, 2 parts coco, and 1 part sand. that should make a pretty decent burrowable substrate. that is the "chunk" coconut husk. i mix that and the more finely ground husk and it works OK for non-webbing burrowers. it works better for webbers.

basically you might still want to find the finer coconut stuff... right now you seem to be missing the kind of "dirt" type stuff that will kind of "glue" everything together.

i think.

i have never worked with sand or that peat stuff before, so i am just going off what i have read and interpolating
 

cacoseraph

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I see what you are saying Caco. It's kind of like if you had a cup of water and add another cup of water, you see a big difference in the amount of water. But if you keep adding cups of water, it's harder to see the volume increase with every cup that is added after the previous cup. Right?, something like that?


ha! yes, that is exactly what i am saying! that is a much more clear analogy.
 

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Arachnoprince
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If you get a large one (8"?) how long can you expect it to live? (caco, you said, I guess, it should live a long time. How sure are you?

Also, how confident are you (anyone) that large ones (8"?) aren't growing waaay slower than smaller ones?

see, I know I'm getting the best deal if I get a larger pede, but I'm worried it'll feel... used. I won't get the experience of having it grow, and thus it won't really feel like my pede. Thoughts?

:worship:
 

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Arachnoprince
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If you get a large one (8"?) how long can you expect it to live? (caco, you said, I guess, it should live a long time. How sure are you?

Also, how confident are you (anyone) that large ones (8"?) aren't growing waaay slower than smaller ones?

see, I know I'm getting the best deal if I get a larger pede, but I'm worried it'll feel... used. I won't get the experience of having it grow, and thus it won't really feel like my pede. Thoughts?

:worship:
Sorry, let me clarify that previous post, I know I've already gotten answers to similar questions. The situation is I'm planning on going for the very large one (8-9") and I just wanted confirmation that it's not going to die on me soon, and that it hasn't stopped growing. (It seems odd to me that those are both the case, but it seems they probably are; I just want to make sure again before I make this major purchase.)

tahnk yew
 

Drachenjager

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Sorry, let me clarify that previous post, I know I've already gotten answers to similar questions. The situation is I'm planning on going for the very large one (8-9") and I just wanted confirmation that it's not going to die on me soon, and that it hasn't stopped growing. (It seems odd to me that those are both the case, but it seems they probably are; I just want to make sure again before I make this major purchase.)

tahnk yew
there is just no way to know . i wold guess they would grow faster with more food and slower with less food, faster with steady warm temps and slower with cool spells. If you want one to grow with you get a small one about 3" or so then you can get used to it and know what to expect before it gets where it can bite like a big one lol
 

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Arachnoprince
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there is just no way to know . i wold guess they would grow faster with more food and slower with less food, faster with steady warm temps and slower with cool spells. If you want one to grow with you get a small one about 3" or so then you can get used to it and know what to expect before it gets where it can bite like a big one lol
well, i'm definitely not getting a 3" one. it's a 5-6", a 6-7", or an 8-9". but i might only be able to get the 5-6" one.
as long as you don't think that an 8.5" will grow astremely slowly and die soon, that's still my first choice. again, thoughts?
 

Drachenjager

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well, i'm definitely not getting a 3" one. it's a 5-6", a 6-7", or an 8-9". but i might only be able to get the 5-6" one.
as long as you don't think that an 8.5" will grow astremely slowly and die soon, that's still my first choice. again, thoughts?
dude id buy the big one if they guarantee its that size body length
 

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Arachnoprince
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I finally got it today from Hatari Invertebrates. It's even way better than I expected. It came on time and well-packaged, it's exactly what I ordered, and it seems very healthy.
It's about 6 3/4" body length, and in real life it seems bigger than I expected a 7 -incher to be. It has all the legs and both antennae and everything; it looks shockingly perfect. As far as I can tell its behavior is also perfect - it went into the cage calmly but quickly, and ran around for a while, but not in a disturbingly crazy way. It's under the cork bark now, not buried, and doesn't freak out when I lift the log.
It kind of explored the burrowability of the substrate (coco husk chunks and moss) and I got the impression it's a little too chunky. (I can add more moss later when I get tired of seeing it. :rolleyes: ) How bad is it to not have excellent burrowing conditions for a pede but to give it a cork bark log?
Also, I don't think I'll ever need to turn on the heat pad, living where I am, but at what temperature do you think it's necessary? And I know humidity is a big deal - what kind of water dish/spraying schedule would work for it?
And, this is pushing it for someone who claims he knows enough about pedes to actually have one... but how much do you think they should be fed? I'd like to feed it as much as possible without significantly shortening the lifespan.

I'll get some pics eventually, I'm too lazy to do it right now. Just you wait!
 
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