Unwittingly Bought a Pregnant Scolopendra Alternans, Now bearing eggs.

Aidsmcgee

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
5
In the wake of grief that struck upon the death of my mighty full grown Scolopendra subspinipes, I went and ordered another centipede from the online petstore which I usually shop, this time a Scolopendra alternans. I asked for their smallest available specimen, and received a centipede smaller than I had even expected, about 3 inches in length.

Today, about 4 months after receiving this beautifully colored but rather young centipede, I noticed it overturned at the bottom of the plastic container in which it is housed, and carrying what I am almost certain sure are live eggs.

Im wondering what it is I have to do in terms of care requirements now that this centipede is bearing eggs. Does it still need food or standing water? Will it remain at the bottom of the container the whole time? What about when the eggs hatch, will it surface then?

How long do I have until these eggs hatch? they've been there for less than a week, because I saw it about a week ago and there were no eggs present.

What do I do when they hatch? What special requirements do the pedelings have? When do I need to separate them from each other and their mother?

Any suggestions for what to do when they hatch? I don't think I can find many people in real life who would want them. Would it be difficult to sell them for money? I'm thinking i might have to give them away to someone on here or similar for free. Definitely don't wanna waste them by killing or worse releasing them.

I'm very excited to undertake this unexpected turn in my invert hobby, but would appreciate any and all advice

-Eli
alternans with eggs.jpg alternans with eggs 2.jpg
 
Last edited:

Scolopendra1989

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
54
Okay there is not a lot of literature discussing pedelings, but I'll do the best to try and help you. Separate mother from child and children from each other IMMEDIATELY after they hatch; I'm sure you're aware of how unsociable and psychotic some pedes will get.
Provide small prey items for the pedelings and proceed as you would with a normal adult.
As for the water you may want to provide slightly more than usual and control the temperature very closely.
The mother and babies will function better at an optimum temperature gradient.
Btw, what type of container do you use and have you had any trouble with this particular S. Alternans?
Hope I can help!
 

Scolopendra1989

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
54
Oh, and keep the babies on peat moss feeding about 2 crickets a week (either pre-killed or very minuscule crickets).
 

Aidsmcgee

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
5
Im using a cheap plastic screw on lid container from wally world with tiny holes drilled in near the top and on the lid. I dont think the pedelings will be able to climb the roughly 6 inches of smooth plastic to reach the holes, i know the mother cant (and wouldn't be able to slip through even if she got there). but the design of the container might make extracting the pedelings a pain.

I have some long tweezers i hope to try and use to extract them. I was thinking that once hatched I could just dump the whole container into a large smooth plastic bin so that the mother abandons her clutch in panic, and the babies separate from the mother and one another for easy collection.

I've done a little more research since posting and it seems the young have a pretty small survival rate. I may keep 5 or 6 to try and raise myself and euthanize or give away the rest (Hopefully I can find someone online who will take them all off my hands because I hate having to euthanize my pets). Maybe If I can't find a taker I can put the ones I don't want to personally raise in one container, in lieu of euthanasia, then natural selection can give me the baddest of the brood to raise myself.
 

billrogers

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 18, 2016
Messages
216
Im using a cheap plastic screw on lid container from wally world with tiny holes drilled in near the top and on the lid. I dont think the pedelings will be able to climb the roughly 6 inches of smooth plastic to reach the holes, i know the mother cant (and wouldn't be able to slip through even if she got there). but the design of the container might make extracting the pedelings a pain.

I have some long tweezers i hope to try and use to extract them. I was thinking that once hatched I could just dump the whole container into a large smooth plastic bin so that the mother abandons her clutch in panic, and the babies separate from the mother and one another for easy collection.

I've done a little more research since posting and it seems the young have a pretty small survival rate. I may keep 5 or 6 to try and raise myself and euthanize or give away the rest (Hopefully I can find someone online who will take them all off my hands because I hate having to euthanize my pets). Maybe If I can't find a taker I can put the ones I don't want to personally raise in one container, in lieu of euthanasia, then natural selection can give me the baddest of the brood to raise myself.
If worst comes to worse, and you're willing to ship the pedelings, you can post an ad on here that whoever wants them can have them if they pay for shipping. That way the pedelings have a home and you aren't out any money.
 

WeightedAbyss75

Arachnoangel
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Messages
921
Im using a cheap plastic screw on lid container from wally world with tiny holes drilled in near the top and on the lid. I dont think the pedelings will be able to climb the roughly 6 inches of smooth plastic to reach the holes, i know the mother cant (and wouldn't be able to slip through even if she got there). but the design of the container might make extracting the pedelings a pain.

I have some long tweezers i hope to try and use to extract them. I was thinking that once hatched I could just dump the whole container into a large smooth plastic bin so that the mother abandons her clutch in panic, and the babies separate from the mother and one another for easy collection.

I've done a little more research since posting and it seems the young have a pretty small survival rate. I may keep 5 or 6 to try and raise myself and euthanize or give away the rest (Hopefully I can find someone online who will take them all off my hands because I hate having to euthanize my pets). Maybe If I can't find a taker I can put the ones I don't want to personally raise in one container, in lieu of euthanasia, then natural selection can give me the baddest of the brood to raise myself.
As long as you pack well, I am 100% positive you will have no problems getting lines of people from the forum signing up for a free pedeling ;)
 

Stugy

Arachnolord
Joined
Apr 21, 2016
Messages
649
Wow! I'll definitely be on the waiting line to get a pedeling! Though such small creatures must be quite hard to care for in terms of getting them food... I'd totally get one anyways :p Good luck with the eggs!
 

Aidsmcgee

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
5
how does one pack a pedeling for shipping? i got my T's in a condiment cup with a paper towel in it, will this setup suffice for shipping the alternans pedelings? people will just pay the shipping via paypal up front? how much does it cost to ship? I assume i need a little more than a postage stamped envelope with a condiment cup stashed in it. can anyone with more experience shipping/recieving baby inverts give me the lowdown on what they usually do in terms of packing and shipping?
 

Stugy

Arachnolord
Joined
Apr 21, 2016
Messages
649
how does one pack a pedeling for shipping? i got my T's in a condiment cup with a paper towel in it, will this setup suffice for shipping the alternans pedelings? people will just pay the shipping via paypal up front? how much does it cost to ship? I assume i need a little more than a postage stamped envelope with a condiment cup stashed in it. can anyone with more experience shipping/recieving baby inverts give me the lowdown on what they usually do in terms of packing and shipping?
I just received my first ever shipment with some desert species (Parabuthus schlecteri and Sicarius). Just get a deli cup for example, surround the insides and bottom with paper towel or something similar, add the pedeling, mist it for humidity, pack it up with some tape and box (with medium of course just in case the package is tossed around or something) and send it. I probably made it sound very complicated but I tend to do that. :) For shipping it depends on what shipping company you will use to ship and what kind of shipping will you use (1-day, priority, etc.) and the receivers area.
 

Hisserdude

Arachnoking
Joined
Apr 18, 2015
Messages
2,453
One important thing you should know, be absolutely sure to NOT BOTHER THE MOTHER while she is carrying the eggs, or she will probably start eating them on the spot.

That's all. :)
 

Hisserdude

Arachnoking
Joined
Apr 18, 2015
Messages
2,453
Oh, and shipping should be fairly easy, just get a deli cup, fill it with moist toilet paper/paper towel, stuff the pede in, then put it in a box filled with newspaper or something similar for cushioning and ship it out. :)

You could use a small flat rate or small Priority box, depending on how many pedes you want to ship, the priority one is bigger.
 

Stugy

Arachnolord
Joined
Apr 21, 2016
Messages
649
Oh, and shipping should be fairly easy, just get a deli cup, fill it with moist toilet paper/paper towel, stuff the pede in, then put it in a box filled with newspaper or something similar for cushioning and ship it out. :)

You could use a small flat rate or small Priority box, depending on how many pedes you want to ship, the priority one is bigger.
What Hisser said lol. QQ I suck at saying things simple! :shifty:
 

shining

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 15, 2011
Messages
755
Also, you may want to tape the lid of the deli cup to prevent it from popping open or give way to an adventurous pedeling or shift in packing during transit.

I'm sure you'll have no problems finding homes for them on here. Price them to sell and do deals on bulk orders. I for one would gladly take a few off of your hands.
 

Scolopendra1989

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
54
Im using a cheap plastic screw on lid container from wally world with tiny holes drilled in near the top and on the lid. I dont think the pedelings will be able to climb the roughly 6 inches of smooth plastic to reach the holes, i know the mother cant (and wouldn't be able to slip through even if she got there). but the design of the container might make extracting the pedelings a pain.

I have some long tweezers i hope to try and use to extract them. I was thinking that once hatched I could just dump the whole container into a large smooth plastic bin so that the mother abandons her clutch in panic, and the babies separate from the mother and one another for easy collection.

I've done a little more research since posting and it seems the young have a pretty small survival rate. I may keep 5 or 6 to try and raise myself and euthanize or give away the rest (Hopefully I can find someone online who will take them all off my hands because I hate having to euthanize my pets). Maybe If I can't find a taker I can put the ones I don't want to personally raise in one container, in lieu of euthanasia, then natural selection can give me the baddest of the brood to raise myself.
That whole 'baddest of the brood' sounds pretty cool but I sincerely hope they all survive and you can find them homes. Their mother looks great and I'm sure those pedelings will be beautiful.
 

SDCPs

Arachnolord
Joined
Feb 8, 2012
Messages
659
One important thing you should know, be absolutely sure to NOT BOTHER THE MOTHER while she is carrying the eggs, or she will probably start eating them on the spot.
Man, that is savage. It sounds like you found out the hard way :confused:
 

Aidsmcgee

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
5
UPDATE!

It's been a month and a half, since posting this thread, and the pedelings have fully taken shape, are a few millimeters long, and respond very actively to the light from my flashlight I use to view them in my poorly lit bedroom where they stay. They are white and becoming less and less transparent as time goes on. The mother is still clutching and protecting them, even carefully putting strays back in the bundle with the others.

I'm concerned about the mother, who hasn't eaten since the beginning of august and i'm a little bit worried she might die from starvation soon, she doesn't seem very lively, like shes conserving energy, but I think she will make it.

I'm still thinking the best way to separate the pedelings from the container would be to remove some of the substrate, and carefully dump it into a large plastic container where i would capture the mother and then recover the pedelings from. I sure hope they wont be too delicate right at the point where they leave their mother, because I'm worried about waiting any longer than that, they have no food and their mother is probably very hungry.

I plan to keep 10 to raise myself, and attempt to sell the rest (for shipping costs plus a few dollars for the trouble) on here. In terms of housing for the pedelings I will keep, I'm thinking small rectangular tupperware containers that ill keep in a 10gallon glass terrarium, so as to keep it nice and tropical for them all winter. Flightless fruit flies might be one of the only viable options for feeding them, as i feel that newborn dubias from my colony are too large and hide too much/burrow in the dirt. Ill probably source these on ebay or something. Im concerned about putting air holes in the containers while making it impossible for them to escape, I might have to buy some fine mesh screen and hot glue it to the air holes, but im cheap so tempted to make a few hundred pinholes in the top of each tupperware.

If anyone has any ideas on separation from the mother's container, feeding, housing, and care please let me know.
 
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