What centipede should I get?

Aron W

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 4, 2019
Messages
95
Hi I’m new, I am hoping to purchase a centipede. Anyone got suggestions?

Least venomous, least aggressive. Things like that

(I don’t know much about them)
 

Teds ts and Inverts

Arachnobaron
Joined
Nov 10, 2017
Messages
504
Hi I’m new, I am hoping to purchase a centipede. Anyone got suggestions?

Least venomous, least aggressive. Things like that

(I don’t know much about them)
I started out with Rhysida longipes. Not overly intimidating, and not very venomous either. They do burrow a lot, so you may rarely see it. I know I rarely see mine, haha.
upload_2019-6-4_22-18-3.jpeg

upload_2019-6-4_22-18-27.jpeg
Scolopendra polymorpha is another one to look into. Their venom isn’t that bad, and from what I’ve heard, they are fairly easy to care for. Hope this helps! :)
 

NYAN

Arachnoking
Joined
Dec 23, 2017
Messages
2,511
Hi I’m new, I am hoping to purchase a centipede. Anyone got suggestions?

Scolopendra polymorpha and viridis are some good candidates. Both are small, not very potent, easy to care for, insexpensive and fairly easy to find.

The care for both is pretty much the same. First you need an escape resistant enclosure. Both of these species are fairly small, however some polymorpha variants can reach 5-6 inches. Depending on the size you can probably use a small locking and gasket sealing food container or tub. The gasket seal aspect is what you want as it makes escapes very unlikely. After you get the enclosure, make some air holes in it.

For the furnishings, you want to give them a couple inches of substrate. I like mixing sand, coco fiber and river rocks. For polymorpha you want to keep the substrate pretty dry, at least on the top. The lower layers can contain more moisture so that the pede can choose the amount it wants. You can also offer more moisture under a hide. Offer both species a water dish and something to hide under. I like cork bark a lot.

Heating and lighting isn’t necessary in case that wasn’t known. You can feed them an appropriately sized prey item weekly or bimonthly. It really depends on the pede.
 

Aron W

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 4, 2019
Messages
95
I started out with Rhysida longipes. Not overly intimidating, and not very venomous either. They do burrow a lot, so you may rarely see it. I know I rarely see mine, haha.
View attachment 310649

View attachment 310650
Scolopendra polymorpha is another one to look into. Their venom isn’t that bad, and from what I’ve heard, they are fairly easy to care for. Hope this helps! :)

Thank you for answering, I have been considering a polymorpha.

Scolopendra polymorpha and viridis are some good candidates. Both are small, not very potent, easy to care for, insexpensive and fairly easy to find.

The care for both is pretty much the same. First you need an escape resistant enclosure. Both of these species are fairly small, however some polymorpha variants can reach 5-6 inches. Depending on the size you can probably use a small locking and gasket sealing food container or tub. The gasket seal aspect is what you want as it makes escapes very unlikely. After you get the enclosure, make some air holes in it.

For the furnishings, you want to give them a couple inches of substrate. I like mixing sand, coco fiber and river rocks. For polymorpha you want to keep the substrate pretty dry, at least on the top. The lower layers can contain more moisture so that the pede can choose the amount it wants. You can also offer more moisture under a hide. Offer both species a water dish and something to hide under. I like cork bark a lot.

Heating and lighting isn’t necessary in case that wasn’t known. You can feed them an appropriately sized prey item weekly or bimonthly. It really depends on the pede.
Thank you very much. This is much needed information
 

RTTB

Arachnoprince
Joined
Dec 4, 2016
Messages
1,771
All of the aforementioned are excellent recommendations.
 

Aron W

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 4, 2019
Messages
95
Scolopendra polymorpha and viridis are some good candidates. Both are small, not very potent, easy to care for, insexpensive and fairly easy to find.

The care for both is pretty much the same. First you need an escape resistant enclosure. Both of these species are fairly small, however some polymorpha variants can reach 5-6 inches. Depending on the size you can probably use a small locking and gasket sealing food container or tub. The gasket seal aspect is what you want as it makes escapes very unlikely. After you get the enclosure, make some air holes in it.

For the furnishings, you want to give them a couple inches of substrate. I like mixing sand, coco fiber and river rocks. For polymorpha you want to keep the substrate pretty dry, at least on the top. The lower layers can contain more moisture so that the pede can choose the amount it wants. You can also offer more moisture under a hide. Offer both species a water dish and something to hide under. I like cork bark a lot.

Heating and lighting isn’t necessary in case that wasn’t known. You can feed them an appropriately sized prey item weekly or bimonthly. It really depends on the pede.
Hey. Haven’t been on this thread in a very long time. I haven’t gotten a centipede yet, but I was wondering how bad a bite from a polymorpha is. Some websites say it’s only as bad a wasp or hornet sting, and others say it could be fatal. I’m kinda confused about it.
 

NYAN

Arachnoking
Joined
Dec 23, 2017
Messages
2,511
Hey. Haven’t been on this thread in a very long time. I haven’t gotten a centipede yet, but I was wondering how bad a bite from a polymorpha is. Some websites say it’s only as bad a wasp or hornet sting, and others say it could be fatal. I’m kinda confused about it.

Read some bite reports here:

 

Teds ts and Inverts

Arachnobaron
Joined
Nov 10, 2017
Messages
504
Hey. Haven’t been on this thread in a very long time. I haven’t gotten a centipede yet, but I was wondering how bad a bite from a polymorpha is. Some websites say it’s only as bad a wasp or hornet sting, and others say it could be fatal. I’m kinda confused about it.
I only put ‘funny’ not to make fun of you, but I’d think that a S. polymorpha bite would only be fatal to a baby that just came out of the womb. So, no, a S. polymorpha bite isn’t fatal, and feels a bit like a wasp sting. :)
 

Aron W

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 4, 2019
Messages
95
I only put ‘funny’ not to make fun of you, but I’d think that a S. polymorpha bite would only be fatal to a baby that just came out of the womb. So, no, a S. polymorpha bite isn’t fatal, and feels a bit like a wasp sting. :)
I didn’t figure it was fatal, I know most pedes aren’t deadly I was just giving examples of what I’ve read
 

Teds ts and Inverts

Arachnobaron
Joined
Nov 10, 2017
Messages
504
I didn’t figure it was fatal, I know most pedes aren’t deadly I was just giving examples of what I’ve read
I’m fairly sure that the only Scolopendra sp. that is responsible for a fatality is S. dehaani, and the victim was only 7 yrs. old, and it bit her on the head.
 

Aron W

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 4, 2019
Messages
95
I’m fairly sure that the only Scolopendra sp. that is responsible for a fatality is S. dehaani, and the victim was only 7 yrs. old, and it bit her on the head.
I’ve read about that one! It’s pretty sad.

Read some bite reports here:

Hey, another question I had is, do they burrow much? I want to be able to see it at least some. I really don’t want a “pet hole”

I started out with Rhysida longipes. Not overly intimidating, and not very venomous either. They do burrow a lot, so you may rarely see it. I know I rarely see mine, haha.
View attachment 310649

View attachment 310650
Scolopendra polymorpha is another one to look into. Their venom isn’t that bad, and from what I’ve heard, they are fairly easy to care for. Hope this helps! :)
Another species I’m thinking about is ethmostigmus rubripes. Are they much different than polymorpha? More/less aggressive or venomous?
 

AddisonH

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 28, 2020
Messages
16
In regards to it being fatal is most likely through allergic reaction (very rare). There is a video on youtube of a guy letting a smaller S. Polymorpha bite him and it didn't seem to hurt him too bad.
 

NMWAPBT

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 23, 2010
Messages
190
For a first species I recommend scolopendra cingulata, scolopendra polymorpha, scolopendra virdis, and ethmostigmus trigonopodus. Most centipedes are pet holes unfortunately. The only pede in my collection that stays out is my alipes grandidieri.
 
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