Vinegaroon vs Giant African Millipede?

[AnEndlessCold]

I'm planning on getting a new pet soon, and I'm having trouble deciding between these two. I found an ad for two adult Archispirostreptus gigas that are around 8". I don't know specifically what species the vinegaroon would be, I'd probably get it from an upcoming expo in my area. Any opinions either way?

 

[Jurdon]

As someone with a vinegaroon, I say go for the A. gigas. Not that I don’t love my vinegaroon gal, it just seems like everyone who’s ever owned a gigas is a diehard member of the AGB fanclub, and if I had the chance I’d definitely wanna see for myself what all the hubbub is about. Also, comparing the two, when set up properly I’d reckon you’d see the millies more. I could be wrong on that front though.

 

[AZCeptipede]

AGBs have rabbit sized poop so be ready to get that onyouro hands!

 

[Smokehound714]

better hope those pedes didnt come from a specific person facing prison time atm.

Anyway, cant go wrong with a giant african pede, those are awesome. BTW, dont remove the poop if you plan on breeding them, otherwise you'll fail. You'll also need rotting oak heartwood and dry leaves, mix them with a bit of coco. without the adults feces, the babies wont be able to digest lignin and will starve to death.

 

[Wesley Smith]

better hope those pedes didnt come from a specific person facing prison time atm.

Anyway, cant go wrong with a giant african pede, those are awesome. BTW, dont remove the poop if you plan on breeding them, otherwise you'll fail. You'll also need rotting oak heartwood and dry leaves, mix them with a bit of coco. without the adults feces, the babies wont be able to digest lignin and will starve to death.

Also they encase the eggs in fecal pellets so you would likely be throwing away the babies!

 

[Wesley Smith]

As a millipede keeper I have to suggest getting the A. Gigas, though I’ve heard they aren’t a starter pede. That’s not to say they’re difficult, just really expensive to accidentally kill if you mess something up having not kept them before. I haven’t kept A. Gigas so I can’t really speak on their difficulty but I personally would definitely go with them.

 

[AnEndlessCold]

better hope those pedes didnt come from a specific person facing prison time atm.

Anyway, cant go wrong with a giant african pede, those are awesome. BTW, dont remove the poop if you plan on breeding them, otherwise you'll fail. You'll also need rotting oak heartwood and dry leaves, mix them with a bit of coco. without the adults feces, the babies wont be able to digest lignin and will starve to death.

Oh should I not use any springtails then?

 

[InvertsandOi]

Oh should I not use any springtails then?

Springtails will only help, and are actually pretty essential for Millipede enclosures to keep mold in check.

I keep a vinegaroon and have multiple A. gigas. My A. gigas are my all time favorite. Not necessarily because of their behavior or personalities or anything like that. I just have a huge passion for Millipedes and they are the biggest. Their huge size just makes them so fun to keep. As with most Millipedes, they aren't hard to keep, but you have to know what you're doing. The substrate is essential. There's a good generalized millipede care sheet at the top of the myriapod forum.

As for the vinegaroon, they're great too. In my opinion the best arachnid for handling. Super gentle and harmless, especially considering how crazy they look. They are diggers though. If you want them to be happy (please excuse the anthropomorphication), they need to be able to burrow, so you basically end up with a pet hole most of the time. When they do come out to explore though, it can be pretty exciting. Millipedes burrow too, but my adult A. gigas tend to stay at the surface. Not sure how typical that is though.

I will say too that A. gigas are pretty hard to find in the U.S. these days. You may not get an opportunity to get them again any time soon. You will have plenty of chances to buy a vinegaroon.

Good luck!

 

[AmphibianAddict]

I'm planning on getting a new pet soon, and I'm having trouble deciding between these two. I found an ad for two adult Archispirostreptus gigas that are around 8". I don't know specifically what species the vinegaroon would be, I'd probably get it from an upcoming expo in my area. Any opinions either way?

I’d go for the millipedes. I used to have a vinegaroon, but I eventually got rid of it. It seemed like a really great pet! Until I got it, once I did it didn’t really ever do anything that exciting and once the original suprise factor of how cool this little guys look is gone, you’re left with an I entertaining and aggressive pet... OH YEAH DID I MENTION MINE WAS LIKE SUUUUPER AGGRESSIVE, LIKE HE WANT TO END MY LIFE SOO BAD!!!!!!

 

[InvertsandOi]

I’d go for the millipedes. I used to have a vinegaroon, but I eventually got rid of it. It seemed like a really great pet! Until I got it, once I did it didn’t really ever do anything that exciting and once the original suprise factor of how cool this little guys look is gone, you’re left with an I entertaining and aggressive pet... OH YEAH DID I MENTION MINE WAS LIKE SUUUUPER AGGRESSIVE, LIKE HE WANT TO END MY LIFE SOO BAD!!!!!!

Weird how they can have such different personalities like that. My vinegaroon is super gentle. I have an emperor scorpion on the other hand that is EXTREMELY aggressive. She will attack anything that comes near her. That species is supposed to be pretty docile.

 

[AmphibianAddict]

Weird how they can have such different personalities like that. My vinegaroon is super gentle. I have an emperor scorpion on the other hand that is EXTREMELY aggressive. She will attack anything that comes near her. That species is supposed to be pretty docile.

Yeah, Their disposition is one of the reasons I got that species...