Velvet Worm Vivarium - Epiperipatus barbadensis

[JoeRossi]

I believe the species you have is different from the Epiperipatus barbadensis in this thread. You have Peripatoides novazelandae, which I believe is a species that does require cooler temps. E. barbadensis care will most likely differ at least in temperature requirements to what you carry, as E. barbadensis can be kept in common room temps.

Yes they do differ and there was never an argument that they were different. I am familiar as well as read the care sheet provided as I stated on Epiperipatus Barbadensis

Although the thread title is there the statement made to user Vyadha from Velvetunderground was, "You may be able to get some Peripatoides" and further dialog developed there after. Hence my introduction into the thread since someone was pondering availability in the U.S.

 

[velvetundergrowth]

Worth mentioning is that E. barbadensis belongs to Peripatidae and P. novaezealandiae belongs to Peripatopsidae. These two families of Onychophoran are surprisingly different in both their physical structure and behavior (some are viviparous, others oviparous, etc). Thus I would expect the husbandry to have nuances depending on the genus and probably even the species. Not that we have much experience in the hobby to work off of XD

 

[AbraxasComplex]

There are a lot of knowledge gaps with this phyllum. As I hopefully import more tropical species I will have to modify and tweak the care sheet for specific varieties.

The ones from New Zealand I feel are a bit more work and less forgiving than the Epiperipatus. I've kept both and a slight increase in temperature in my old home's cellar cold room ended up with me losing the whole batch. They were at 15-18'C and during a heat wave it bumped up to 22'C for a couple weeks. It was enough to stress them. That's why I suggest investing in a wine cooler for any of the species that get imported from New Zealand.

For those following this and are in Europe I am exporting some to Germany for the June Hamm expo. If you would like any, please send me a message.

 

[Cresto]

So, hows the colony doing?

 

[AbraxasComplex]

So, hows the colony doing?

Still going quite strong with lots of juveniles sent out to people in a few different countries.

 

[aBlueberryWaffl]

These are very fascinating creatures. I'm glad you got a colony going and this thread is very informative as well! I like that theres a lot of knowledge sharing here for creatures that are not by any means easy. My 4 year old Cham passed today and he was a lot of time and money. He was worth all of it of course I just have my Axolotl left now but maybe one day I'll verge into the insect world..

 

[Aracknofobe]

Still going quite strong with lots of juveniles sent out to people in a few different countries.

Did you ever find out if it was possible to ship to the US? These guys are incredible looking and would be a welcome addition to my collection and I’m sure a lot of people I know would feel the same!

 

[Arthroverts]

@Aracknofobe, in short, yes, it is possible to ship to the US. If you would like more information, @Cresto, @schmiggle and I have done quite a bit of research on importing this species (and formed the Velvet Worm Club of the USA !), so if you want PM me and we can talk a bit more about it so we don't derail this thread with our correspondence.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[schmiggle]

@Aracknofobe, in short, yes, it is possible to ship to the US. If you would like more information, @Cresto, @schmiggle and I have done quite a bit of research on importing this species (and formed the Velvet Worm Club of the USA !), so if you want PM me and we can talk a bit more about it so we don't derail this thread with our correspondence.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

I am Schmiggle, and I approve this message.

 

[Arthroverts]

I am Schmiggle, and I approve this message.

This message proudly brought to you by Arthroverts.

 

[Cresto]

I also approve this message!

 

[Forest Oasis]

Wow! Hopefully I can get my hands on some of these soon!

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Just an update. All of mine are doing great and I am about to redo their terrarium. So if anyone is looking for some, drop me a message. I'll probably have extras needing new homes.

 

[haydenmae]

I am interested !!

 

[Tleilaxu]

Wow from going to barely hanging on to having enough to sell quite a journey.

Aren't you a bit worried about the small gene pool though? Or have you been importing fresh stock now and again?

I'm so glad to see success in this endeavor

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Wow from going to barely hanging on to having enough to sell quite a journey.

Aren't you a bit worried about the small gene pool though? Or have you been importing fresh stock now and again?

I'm so glad to see success in this endeavor

From what I understand the genetics with invertebrates isn't negatively affected by inbreeding as often as vertebrates. If a harmful genotype enters the gene pool it can be an issue, but if a handful of healthy individuals start off the breeding pool there can be dozens of generations without problems.

 

[chesserichthus]

From what I understand the genetics with invertebrates isn't negatively affected by inbreeding as often as vertebrates. If a harmful genotype enters the gene pool it can be an issue, but if a handful of healthy individuals start off the breeding pool there can be dozens of generations without problems.

First, I confess that I have been quietly stalking this feed for a LONG time. @AbraxasComplex, I cannot express my appreciation for your generosity in sharing what you've learned from your successes and initial mistakes!
As far as concern for a small gene pool, problems usually aren't easily notable until several generations have accumulated sufficient loss of heterozygosity to negatively affect offspring. Did I see that you said you're roughly on generation 3 (my possibly-flawed recollection)? Given your founder population size (roughly 17 presumably unrelated individuals--again, just my recollection--please correct if needed) I don't think that you would have developed sufficient homogeneity in the genome to be easily observed morphologically.
Of course, the caveat here is that your population comes from an island where it is quite possible that there was little genetic diversity in the first place. If that's the case, it is quite possible that the founder event (the presumably small population that eventually evolved into the species that we see today) resulted over time in a purge of maladaptive alleles. In that event, one could assume that the population is fairly-well interbred to begin with, and has been left with a less-diverse gene pool, but a gene pool that works despite its diversity limitations. We see a similar genetic event and result in the histories of many big-cat species.
In my personal experience with fruit flies (NOT velvet worms), I bought a single culture that I propagated weekly for about 4 years. It did pretty well for about the first 2 years, but after that, fecundity diminished precipitously. While I didn't do a gene analysis, given that all other controllable variables were similar, I attributed the drop in fecundity to interbreeding and a founder effect.
Now, if we're going to try to compare that to vertebrates, it should be pointed out that in the latter case, generational times are usually a LOT longer, hence it would take more time to see a comparable deleterious effect of inbreeding because evolution paces with number of generations rather than absolute time. That said, we, as humans, tend to be much more adept at assessing morphological differences among conspecific vertebrates than conspecific inverts, so we may just be biased such that we could appreciate such deleterious effects earlier (after fewer generations of inbreeding) among verts than inverts.
I'm sorry if I have bored anyone--this was the first time that I felt I had anything of relevance to add.
Grace,
JDC

 

[Grayman1984]

First, I confess that I have been quietly stalking this feed for a LONG time. @AbraxasComplex, I cannot express my appreciation for your generosity in sharing what you've learned from your successes and initial mistakes!
As far as concern for a small gene pool, problems usually aren't easily notable until several generations have accumulated sufficient loss of heterozygosity to negatively affect offspring. Did I see that you said you're roughly on generation 3 (my possibly-flawed recollection)? Given your founder population size (roughly 17 presumably unrelated individuals--again, just my recollection--please correct if needed) I don't think that you would have developed sufficient homogeneity in the genome to be easily observed morphologically.
Of course, the caveat here is that your population comes from an island where it is quite possible that there was little genetic diversity in the first place. If that's the case, it is quite possible that the founder event (the presumably small population that eventually evolved into the species that we see today) resulted over time in a purge of maladaptive alleles. In that event, one could assume that the population is fairly-well interbred to begin with, and has been left with a less-diverse gene pool, but a gene pool that works despite its diversity limitations. We see a similar genetic event and result in the histories of many big-cat species.
In my personal experience with fruit flies (NOT velvet worms), I bought a single culture that I propagated weekly for about 4 years. It did pretty well for about the first 2 years, but after that, fecundity diminished precipitously. While I didn't do a gene analysis, given that all other controllable variables were similar, I attributed the drop in fecundity to interbreeding and a founder effect.
Now, if we're going to try to compare that to vertebrates, it should be pointed out that in the latter case, generational times are usually a LOT longer, hence it would take more time to see a comparable deleterious effect of inbreeding because evolution paces with number of generations rather than absolute time. That said, we, as humans, tend to be much more adept at assessing morphological differences among conspecific vertebrates than conspecific inverts, so we may just be biased such that we could appreciate such deleterious effects earlier (after fewer generations of inbreeding) among verts than inverts.
I'm sorry if I have bored anyone--this was the first time that I felt I had anything of relevance to add.
Grace,
JDC

 

[LialaOkami]

@Arthroverts Can you please PM me with info on the Velvet Worm Club of the USA? I've been fascinated with the animals for quite some time and am hoping to acquire some in the future if I'm able to!

Edit: I forgot to add: I literally just made this account after reading this thread and wanting to learn more about the logistics of acquiring the animals in the US :3

 

[me and my Ts]

@Arthroverts Can you please PM me with info on the Velvet Worm Club of the USA? I've been fascinated with the animals for quite some time and am hoping to acquire some in the future if I'm able to!

Edit: I forgot to add: I literally just made this account after reading this thread and wanting to learn more about the logistics of acquiring the animals in the US :3

Me too! @Arthroverts