Velvet Worm Vivarium - Epiperipatus barbadensis

[Hisserdude]

Wow, learning so much here! I knew they were fragile, but had no idea how sensitive they could be to such minor problems.

I know fully well that it will probably take @AbraxasComplex several years to fully establish his colony, let alone have enough to start selling them, if he can even get them to do well in culture at all, I was just asking for him to keep me in mind if/when he ever has any available in the future, probably far into the future.

Really hope you are successful keeping and breeding these cuties @AbraxasComplex, and I hope you are able to get a stable culture of your species going @wizentrop! Will definitely be following this thread closely! Already know a LOT more than I previously did about these critters thanks to the information posted by you two!

 

[Staehilomyces]

To think that these delicate creatures have survived hundreds of millions of years, and endured multiple mass extinctions, is truly astounding.

 

[VolkswagenBug]

Wow, learning so much here! I knew they were fragile, but had no idea how sensitive they could be to such minor problems.

I know fully well that it will probably take @AbraxasComplex several years to fully establish his colony, let alone have enough to start selling them, if he can even get them to do well in culture at all, I was just asking for him to keep me in mind if/when he ever has any available in the future, probably far into the future.

Really hope you are successful keeping and breeding these cuties @AbraxasComplex, and I hope you are able to get a stable culture of your species going @wizentrop! Will definitely be following this thread closely! Already know a LOT more than I previously did about these critters thanks to the information posted by you two!

Yeah, it's been super informative. There really isn't much information about them.
I think I might try my hand at some planarians or some other kind of worm, because this post has gotten me interested in the non-arthropod inverts out there. I've always liked tiger flatworms, but don't know about too many species of worm.

 

[Tleilaxu]

After reading this, wouldn't it be wise for @AbraxasComplex to buy some more "worms" and try them in larger more sterile containers as suggested, for more stable humidity and other factors?

I have no idea how financially viable that would be, but certainly moving the ones he has now seems like it's not an option.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Currently mine are in very basic containers where humidity is controlled quite well with limited ventilation. The leaves, cork bark, and substrate were sterilized beforehand. The springtails I added could potentially introduce mold, but have done a decent job of reducing it. Plus any sterile environment would have been compromised the moment I fed them a feeder item. Currently the one group that is on the same substrate as the main terrarium will eventually be slowly transferred over to the terrarium a few individuals at a time. The group in the more basic container will remain as a control and back up. As for ordering them in that is not a financially viable option unless people would like to crowd fund me a couple thousand.

 

[Hisserdude]

Currently mine are in very basic containers where humidity is controlled quite well with limited ventilation. The leaves, cork bark, and substrate were sterilized beforehand. The springtails I added could potentially introduce mold, but have done a decent job of reducing it. Plus any sterile environment would have been compromised the moment I fed them a feeder item. Currently the one group that is on the same substrate as the main terrarium will eventually be slowly transferred over to the terrarium a few individuals at a time. The group in the more basic container will remain as a control and back up. As for ordering them in that is not a financially viable option unless people would like to crowd fund me a couple thousand.

Which springtail species are you using...? Please tell me it's just the little silver ones, and not the crazy prolific, bound to stress your VWs out Sinella curviseta?

 

[AbraxasComplex]

I introduced tiny silver and tropical white. The tropical white quickly disappeared. Not sure if they are in the substrate or were eaten. I do have the pink you mentioned, but those are only in the main terrarium and not in large numbers since the conditions are more ideal for the tropical and the silver.

 

[Hisserdude]

I introduced tiny silver and tropical white. The tropical white quickly disappeared. Not sure if they are in the substrate or were eaten. I do have the pink you mentioned, but those are only in the main terrarium and not in large numbers since the conditions are more ideal for the tropical and the silver.

Crap, well if there is enough food, lots of crevices, and a decent amount of bark in the main terrarium, their population will EXPLODE, they do well under a wide variety of conditions, and are very prolific, so prolific I've had to sterilize certain roach enclosures a couple times since they can stress them out due to constant tactile contact. In some setups I'd prefer it if mites were the dominant micro-fauna rather than the Sinella!

Don't get me wrong, they do make pretty good cleanup crews for many invertebrates, but for small, slow breeding/growing, fragile invertebrates, like certain roaches and possibly velvet worms, they can be real pests.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Well they've been in the terrarium for 6 months with no problems yet. That may change with the addition of food and waste from the peripatus.

 

[Hisserdude]

Well they've been in the terrarium for 6 months with no problems yet. That may change with the addition of food and waste from the peripatus.

Yeah, with no added protein, they don't seem to reproduce nearly as much, don't know if dead bodies will get their numbers on the rise, but dog food certainly does!

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Yeah, with no added protein, they don't seem to reproduce nearly as much, don't know if dead bodies will get their numbers on the rise, but dog food certainly does!

Well I just checked and looked under branches and dead leaves. Absolutely no pinks, just tropical whites in the more humid areas and a whole lot of tiny silver ones. So I guess they won't be an issue. I won't add any other springtails in the future for their terrarium just in case.

 

[Hisserdude]

Well I just checked and looked under branches and dead leaves. Absolutely no pinks, just tropical whites in the more humid areas and a whole lot of tiny silver ones. So I guess they won't be an issue. I won't add any other springtails in the future for their terrarium just in case.

Alright, sounds pretty good then, hopefully the tropical whites won't pose a problem either, the tiny silvers are very un-intrusive, and probably won't stress your VWs at all.

 

[Tleilaxu]

Words of wisdom here from @Umbra , and lots of it.

Velvet worms in captivity are indeed very similar to terrestrial flatworms. While the exact requirements (temperature, humidity levels, preferred substrate and hiding spots etc') vary from species to species, I have to agree that these animals are probably some of the most sensitive out there. The comparison to some delicate amphibians is spot on.

I will try to give my input without repeating things that were mentioned. Please bear in mind that sometimes people come up with different solutions for keeping similar animals. What I write here is my own experience and might not work for others.

My experience with the setup has been different than @Umbra 's. When I started working with velvet worms, I took what my colleague calls "the dirty approach": an enclosure with as many natural attributes as possible, like live moss, some ferns, decomposing wood, tree bark, real forest soil, springtails and isopods. You get the idea. But as time passed I noticed that the busy enclosure just made things more difficult. There were just too many factors to control, and it was not self-sustained like I envisioned. So I changed my approach and today I am working with minimalistic enclosures. If you saw my posts about how I keep whip spiders then you know what I am talking about. There are no live plants, no moss, the substrate is simple coco fiber, and everything has easy access. Does it work? Well, so far so good.

Water quality is an interesting topic. I found that velvet worms are not very sensitive to it, and tap water can be used with them. However, eventually salts will start to accumulate on the substrate and it has to be changed. Even if distilled water is used, the substrate still has to be changed after some months because of waste buildup. The substrate change will stress the animals. So you want to find the balance between keeping the onychophorans healthy and changing the substrate as infrequently as possible.

Regardless of how difficult it is to pinpoint the right conditions for velvet worms husbandry (I am not even mentioning breeding at this point), I cannot stress enough the fact that they are messy feeders. This is something that potentially can create many problems. Velvet worms leave a lot of leftovers behind, regardless of prey type. Even when I feed them with soft-bodied silverfish they still leave a shrunken corpse. These remains MUST be removed ASAP. They do not harm the velvet worms directly, but they attract trouble. I think everyone who keeps invertebrates will agree that at some point you are going to have to deal with one of two problems: mold or mites. These two usually alternate (although I will say that if you are experiencing both mold and mites in the same enclosure, then you probably don't know what you are doing) and there are ways to decrease their severeness. Generally speaking, in the case of mold it can be done with the help of a "cleaning crew" (isopods, springtails), whereas with a mite infestation you can change the substrate, dry it out or use predatory mites. So far so good, but I will argue that things are a little different when keeping velvet worms. A "cleaning crew" can stress the animals and even cause injuries if they start feeding on the onychophorans hemolymph. You cannot dry the substrate if you have a mite infestation because the velvet worms will die. Predatory mites seem to work for a bit, but when their numbers increase then again this stresses the velvet worms. Quite annoying, right?

For me what works best is to first clean after the velvet worms. I never let any food leftovers stick around for more than a few hours. I still get some mites in there because there is always some obscure leftovers that I missed, and also because of the waste. I found that schizomids are great for keeping the mites under control without stressing the velvet worms. Yes, they are sometimes preyed upon by the young velvet worms (but I don't care). How did I get to keep schizomids? Well, that's another story.

Maybe one day it will be nice to put up a sticky post with all the acquired info about velvet worms husbandry. At the moment I'm afraid it is all experimental, and it would be unfair to lead other people into false hopes that it is easy. That road isn't paved yet.

And @Umbra , maybe we should meet for a chat sometime

@Elytra and Antenna
@wizentrop

I'm tagging and quoting this post due to the reference to keeping schizomids, something I saw mentioned in Orin's book on vinegaroons. If he still visits this site he may find this interesting.


On a more on topic note, I think a thread with pics, along with husbandry information on schizomids maybe useful, and considering the posters positive experience with them for highly sensitive inverts maybe it behooves us to get them circulating into the hobby as well.

 

[ShrapnelShark]

Ah! I've always wanted to hold a Velvet worm! Seeing this has reignited that need XD <3 Really awesome.

 

[VolkswagenBug]

Ah! I've always wanted to hold a Velvet worm! Seeing this has reignited that need XD <3 Really awesome.

That's not a good idea, due to their very sensitive skin. It will likely kill the handled velvet worm or at least severely injure it if you are not handling in a completely sterile environment with sterile gloves on, and even then they could be injured.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

I had a species from New Zealand maybe 20 years ago but I didn't realize how difficult they are to contain or I would have used a totally different enclosure.

 

[ShrapnelShark]

That's not a good idea, due to their very sensitive skin. It will likely kill the handled velvet worm or at least severely injure it if you are not handling in a completely sterile environment with sterile gloves on, and even then they could be injured.

Dang i had no clue,then again this was a love for them when i was a little kid,i ain't no small child grabbing my bugs now xD

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Quick update. A few days ago I placed 3 of the adults in the terrarium. Two have decided to set up a burrow right against the glass. They actually don't create burrows, but the soil had created a pocket and my soil mix is full of pocket producing items. Thankfully they took advantage of a spot I could view them. I also saw one wandering around at 4am when an ambulance woke me up. So they seem to be settling in.

 

[Xafron]

Quick update. A few days ago I placed 3 of the adults in the terrarium. Two have decided to set up a burrow right against the glass. They actually don't create burrows, but the soil had created a pocket and my soil mix is full of pocket producing items. Thankfully they took advantage of a spot I could view them. I also saw one wandering around at 4am when an ambulance woke me up. So they seem to be settling in.

Glad they seem to be adapting to the enclosure so far. Any idea how quickly or slowly these guys reproduce?

Have you managed to get more photos/video of them?

 

[Hisserdude]

Quick update. A few days ago I placed 3 of the adults in the terrarium. Two have decided to set up a burrow right against the glass. They actually don't create burrows, but the soil had created a pocket and my soil mix is full of pocket producing items. Thankfully they took advantage of a spot I could view them. I also saw one wandering around at 4am when an ambulance woke me up. So they seem to be settling in.

Nice, glad they seem to like it so far! Let's hope they continue to do well in there!