Unexpected Baby Chichobolus spinigerus

[coolnweird]

Hi all! I received an adult C. spinigerus as a freebie a few months back. I did my research, I'm using millipede substrate with lots of decomposing hardwoods and leaves, and providing produce scraps occasionally. The original millipede seems to be doing fantastically. However, this morning I found 10-15 babies, measuring around 3-5 mm, munching on some cucumber. Upon further inspection, there's more burrowed in the substrate. So far all I've done is stretch a pantyhose over the top to prevent any rouge escapees.

I did not plan for this, and I have some questions. The freebie I got must have been a gravid female, as this species is not parthenogenic to my knowledge. Is there anything special I need to do to provide for the babies? How quickly will they grow, and how should I go about rehousing them into something bigger when the time comes?

Thanks in advance, I appreciate any guidance!

 

[jacob m greenwood]

You don't have to anything different husbandry wise other than always make sure that there is moisture in the sub at all times being smaller they are more prone to desiccation than their adult counterparts. i have Narceus americanus babies from last October that are about an inch long now so id say you wont have to rehouse them for a year or two but that also depends on what temps ur keeping them and genetics. when rehousing them just put the old sub in with the new sub in the new enclosure not much else to it, don't throw any of the old dirt away incase theirs eggs in the fecal pellets or incase u missed a baby. have fun with ur new colony i sure did when i got my surprise babies and still do now, i cant get enough of the development cycle.

 

[coolnweird]

You don't have to anything different husbandry wise other than always make sure that there is moisture in the sub at all times being smaller they are more prone to desiccation than their adult counterparts. i have Narceus americanus babies from last October that are about an inch long now so id say you wont have to rehouse them for a year or two but that also depends on what temps ur keeping them and genetics. when rehousing them just put the old sub in with the new sub in the new enclosure not much else to it, don't throw any of the old dirt away incase theirs eggs in the fecal pellets or incase u missed a baby. have fun with ur new colony i sure did when i got my surprise babies and still do now, i cant get enough of the development cycle.

Thank you! Sorry if this is a noob question, but do they just breed indefinitely? How do you keep the colony manageable, I'm in an apartment and can't really just let it get bigger and bigger.

 

[jacob m greenwood]

well since you only have one mature adult she can lay more eggs but eventually she's gonna stop, so i wouldn't worry about them growing out of control anytime soon, you can always sell on any individuals to other hobbyists in your area if you think you have too many. even if you had hundreds you could have them in a deep plastic tub and it wouldn't take up that much space especially if you use stackable tubs. think about it the more you have the more activity you can observe and the more enjoyable it is to keep them, at least thats the way i see it.

 

[mickiem]

It takes the babies a few years to reach maturity so you have some time to figure it out! but you will be overrun if you let them breed with each other.

 

[coolnweird]

It takes the babies a few years to reach maturity so you have some time to figure it out! but you will be overrun if you let them breed with each other.

Awesome, thanks for the insight. I'll probably end up selling/trading/giving most of them away once they they get a bit bigger. There's a few local exotics shops that might be interested. I'm not familiar with the breeding habits of millipedes, but am I correct in thinking they won't breed until they reach their adult size? Aka, as long as I sell them off before they get 3-4", I shouldn't have any more babies pop up?

 

[mickiem]

That's about right. They start breeding as sub adults. It would be fun to trade for other species. They are fun to keep!

 

[Marika]

You could also separate males from females before they start breeding.