Spamgraveyard
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- May 26, 2020
- Messages
- 4
Hello all.
Today I found one of my A Gigas millipedes limp on the floor of his enclosure. I am afraid he may be dying or already dead and I would appreciate anything that any of you can do to help or at least answer a few questions. First I will attempt to explain the scenario, and I will also answer any questions you may have as best I can. I apologise that this description will be very lengthy, I want to give you a clear and detailed idea of the situation.
I have two of these millipedes, I bought them in january, they are both aprox 20 centimetres in length so not fully grown for their species which I am fairly certain is Archispirostreptus Gigas. At the time they both appeared to be in good health and until today I have had no cause for concern. One is male, the other female. their enclosure is 60 centimetres by 40 centimetres, containing 3-5 inches of substrate composed of coco fiber, sphagnum moss, some soil containing small chunks of wood, a bit of leaf litter. it also contains two plants, one of which died due to lack of sunlight, the other is doing ok. i also included a hollow log of cork bark (aprox 40 cm) and a half-shell of a coconut which serve as hiding spaces. there is a heat pad attached to the back of the tank which is also connected to a temperature regulator, which has a sensor that is threaded through he top of the tank. inside the tank i also included two thermometers in different places to keep track of the temperature myself. i have kept the soil in one half of the tank humid (about 60-80% humidity), but have allowed the other half to be more dry so that the inhabitants can hydroregulate. mould has occasionally been a small issue, but i have always removed it as soon as i notice it.
the tank also contains a colony of springtails and a colony of isopods (not sure exactly what species, some kind of porcellio i think). these colonies have both been thriving, the isopods have increased in number considerably. i have regularly provided fresh food, usually bananas and cucumber which appear to have been favoured by the millipedes. for the first few months i did not see them very often as they always hid inside the cork bark, and i did not wish to disturb them, however i did observe that the food seldom went untouched (i think the isopods also like eating the cucumber). after a few months they became more active, exploring the enclosure a lot more than they had previously. the male in particular was always exploring at night, the female only came out occasionally, but still more frequently than before. i wondered if the increase in activity was due to the increase in temperature resulting from the change in season, but dismissed this because i had monitored and controlled the temperature inside the tank and always had it somewhere between 24-26 degrees c.
recently i had noticed that they have become very inactive. the male had been under the coconut shell for several days, the female i have not seen, i have assumed that she is at her regular place inside the cork bark. i continued to provide food for them which has disappeared by the next day although i am not sure how much is eaten by the millipedes and how much is eaten by the isopods. i always place the food easily within reach of the millipedes so they would not have difficulty finding it. i was not worried during this recent period of inactivity because it was not extremely unusual, and i can kind of see under the coconut shell so i could tell that even though the male had stayed curled up under there, he was still kind of moving around. i had been concerned about one thing, i had not noticed any evidence of moulting from either millipede. i know they are not full grown yet so i was expecting it, but i do not know how frequently they are supposed to moult. they did spend most of their time hidden inside a log where i cant see them so i suppose it is possible they might have moulted at some point. but i have not seen any evidence of it, and i did not wish to go poking around and disturbing them too much.
this evening, at around midnight, i saw that the male was outside of the coconut on the opposite side of the tank. at first i was pleased to see that it was active again, but when i looked at it's head something didn't seem right. I'm not sure exactly what, it was not injured in any way that i could see but i got worried so i opened up the enclosure and gently picked up the millipede. i have not handled them often, only when i put them into the tank and once when i was cleaning some stuff and one of them was in the way. on both occasions they immediately curled up, this time when i picked up the male it's body was limp. it did still curl up after a second, but it's body seemed very weak. it's legs were still moving and twitching just as they always do, but it did not try to walk or anything. i put it back down on the soil in roughly the same place it had been before and closed the tank up. i did check the temperature, it was at 26 degrees c, not at all abnormal. the weather is getting very hot where i live, but i do not think the heat caused this. firstly i have been monitoring the temperature in the tank, it has not risen above 27 degrees c. the room i keep the tank in does not even get that hot, even in the summer. there is a large tree outside the window that keeps sunlight from getting in. additionally i have heard that millipedes burrow when they get too hot, but i have not noticed any evidence of burrowing behaviour in the tank.
obviously i am very worried about this millipede, (i'm also worried about the female but she is out of sight so i don't know how she is doing, i don't want to disturb her if i can help it). i suspect that there is nothing i can do but wait and see what happens, but i would appreciate any suggestions or additional information anyone can give me. i have never kept millipedes before, i was under the impression that it was not difficult. i do not think i have done anything wrong with their setup or care, but again i am open to and appreciative of any suggestions you may have, and even if there is nothing i can do to help this millipede, i would at least like to know why this happened.
many thanks.
small update, after writing all of this out i checked the tank again. the millipede has uncurled, and most of his legs are still active a few are even gripping the ground. however the legs toward the front of the body are all motionless, the antenna are motionless, the head in general is motionless. for the time being i am assuming that he has died and that the activity in the rest of his body is due to his nervous system still being active. i am hoping that the female has not died as well, but even if i do lose both of them i think i will still keep the tank for the sake of the isopod colony. they have proven to be enjoyable pets all by themselves.
nevertheless i am very saddened by what has happened, but i still would like some feedback. if this millipede died because i did something wrong i want to know because my female might still be alive and if so i don't want to loose her too.
Today I found one of my A Gigas millipedes limp on the floor of his enclosure. I am afraid he may be dying or already dead and I would appreciate anything that any of you can do to help or at least answer a few questions. First I will attempt to explain the scenario, and I will also answer any questions you may have as best I can. I apologise that this description will be very lengthy, I want to give you a clear and detailed idea of the situation.
I have two of these millipedes, I bought them in january, they are both aprox 20 centimetres in length so not fully grown for their species which I am fairly certain is Archispirostreptus Gigas. At the time they both appeared to be in good health and until today I have had no cause for concern. One is male, the other female. their enclosure is 60 centimetres by 40 centimetres, containing 3-5 inches of substrate composed of coco fiber, sphagnum moss, some soil containing small chunks of wood, a bit of leaf litter. it also contains two plants, one of which died due to lack of sunlight, the other is doing ok. i also included a hollow log of cork bark (aprox 40 cm) and a half-shell of a coconut which serve as hiding spaces. there is a heat pad attached to the back of the tank which is also connected to a temperature regulator, which has a sensor that is threaded through he top of the tank. inside the tank i also included two thermometers in different places to keep track of the temperature myself. i have kept the soil in one half of the tank humid (about 60-80% humidity), but have allowed the other half to be more dry so that the inhabitants can hydroregulate. mould has occasionally been a small issue, but i have always removed it as soon as i notice it.
the tank also contains a colony of springtails and a colony of isopods (not sure exactly what species, some kind of porcellio i think). these colonies have both been thriving, the isopods have increased in number considerably. i have regularly provided fresh food, usually bananas and cucumber which appear to have been favoured by the millipedes. for the first few months i did not see them very often as they always hid inside the cork bark, and i did not wish to disturb them, however i did observe that the food seldom went untouched (i think the isopods also like eating the cucumber). after a few months they became more active, exploring the enclosure a lot more than they had previously. the male in particular was always exploring at night, the female only came out occasionally, but still more frequently than before. i wondered if the increase in activity was due to the increase in temperature resulting from the change in season, but dismissed this because i had monitored and controlled the temperature inside the tank and always had it somewhere between 24-26 degrees c.
recently i had noticed that they have become very inactive. the male had been under the coconut shell for several days, the female i have not seen, i have assumed that she is at her regular place inside the cork bark. i continued to provide food for them which has disappeared by the next day although i am not sure how much is eaten by the millipedes and how much is eaten by the isopods. i always place the food easily within reach of the millipedes so they would not have difficulty finding it. i was not worried during this recent period of inactivity because it was not extremely unusual, and i can kind of see under the coconut shell so i could tell that even though the male had stayed curled up under there, he was still kind of moving around. i had been concerned about one thing, i had not noticed any evidence of moulting from either millipede. i know they are not full grown yet so i was expecting it, but i do not know how frequently they are supposed to moult. they did spend most of their time hidden inside a log where i cant see them so i suppose it is possible they might have moulted at some point. but i have not seen any evidence of it, and i did not wish to go poking around and disturbing them too much.
this evening, at around midnight, i saw that the male was outside of the coconut on the opposite side of the tank. at first i was pleased to see that it was active again, but when i looked at it's head something didn't seem right. I'm not sure exactly what, it was not injured in any way that i could see but i got worried so i opened up the enclosure and gently picked up the millipede. i have not handled them often, only when i put them into the tank and once when i was cleaning some stuff and one of them was in the way. on both occasions they immediately curled up, this time when i picked up the male it's body was limp. it did still curl up after a second, but it's body seemed very weak. it's legs were still moving and twitching just as they always do, but it did not try to walk or anything. i put it back down on the soil in roughly the same place it had been before and closed the tank up. i did check the temperature, it was at 26 degrees c, not at all abnormal. the weather is getting very hot where i live, but i do not think the heat caused this. firstly i have been monitoring the temperature in the tank, it has not risen above 27 degrees c. the room i keep the tank in does not even get that hot, even in the summer. there is a large tree outside the window that keeps sunlight from getting in. additionally i have heard that millipedes burrow when they get too hot, but i have not noticed any evidence of burrowing behaviour in the tank.
obviously i am very worried about this millipede, (i'm also worried about the female but she is out of sight so i don't know how she is doing, i don't want to disturb her if i can help it). i suspect that there is nothing i can do but wait and see what happens, but i would appreciate any suggestions or additional information anyone can give me. i have never kept millipedes before, i was under the impression that it was not difficult. i do not think i have done anything wrong with their setup or care, but again i am open to and appreciative of any suggestions you may have, and even if there is nothing i can do to help this millipede, i would at least like to know why this happened.
many thanks.
small update, after writing all of this out i checked the tank again. the millipede has uncurled, and most of his legs are still active a few are even gripping the ground. however the legs toward the front of the body are all motionless, the antenna are motionless, the head in general is motionless. for the time being i am assuming that he has died and that the activity in the rest of his body is due to his nervous system still being active. i am hoping that the female has not died as well, but even if i do lose both of them i think i will still keep the tank for the sake of the isopod colony. they have proven to be enjoyable pets all by themselves.
nevertheless i am very saddened by what has happened, but i still would like some feedback. if this millipede died because i did something wrong i want to know because my female might still be alive and if so i don't want to loose her too.