Where are the Peruvian giants?

BugBoyX

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
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122
I've noticed a lot of people who either have or are getting Peruvian giants. Where are you people getting your pedes? I think they're great looking pedes and I'd love to get one, but I've really never seen them for sale anywhere. I think Invertepet was taking preorders for some, but that's the only place I've seen them. Not to get tooo nosy, but for those of you that do have them...how much did you pay? I'd imagine they're rather expensive. Are they worth it? Are they a really that good a pede that laying down some serious cash for one is a good investment (well as good as an investment as buying a pede can be ;) )? Are they hardy or are they something that really should be gotten by ony the real "experts" of the pede keeping community? :?
 

Steven

pede-a-holic
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Feb 18, 2003
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Hey, i've been searching for about 3 years now for the "real" Gigantea from Peru (because Peru has closed his borders for exporting animals about 4 years ago).
The latest years many subspecies of gigantea are beeing sold as true giganteas (species found in the countrys around peru)

The only legal way for you to get an Peruvian Gigantea would be buying a species from a collector who has the pede for more then 4 years, or some kaptive bred little ones (young giganteas may look very similar to other gigantea species!, so be sure you've seen the mother!)
i'm not going to support the other way, so,....

Forgive me if the above isn't correct, that's what i've been told by several dealers and on other centipedeboards!

Please coorect me if i'm wrong, or give me also all the info you get about PERUVIAN Gigantea's

I'm awaiting my giganteas from a friend , he's gonna get them from another guy he knows, and that guy from another german friend,..... you know the story ;)
pictures are beeing send to me as the species arrive in Germany, from Germany they will be send to Belgium

So i'm still hoping i'm gonna get the "MASTER scolopendras" at my home by may03

greetz
 

Mister Internet

Big Meanie Doo Doo Head :)
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Aug 5, 2002
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I have had several in-depth conversations with Dr. Rowland Shelley about this... those of you who read the "millipede" group at Yahoo know who he is... anyway, he submitted the latest scientific type description for S. gigantea... I have a copy of the paper, and the range listed for gigantea is actually very limited in Peru... what we know as "Peruvian Giants" or "Peruvian Gigantea" may not actually be gigantea at all... they may be S. galapagoensis, another large-bodied Scolopendra with a fairly wide distribution across Peru... it's impossible to know until we send one of these specimens to get professionally ID'ed, but it seems to be a possibility...
 

Steven

pede-a-holic
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Feb 18, 2003
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4,022
the latest scientific type description for S. gigantea... I have a copy of the paper
ehm, euh, euh, could you send me a copy of that paper, please?

Could you help me to find a reliable database with all scientific know scolopendra species???? i've already made a site about scolopendra's, (4 years ago) but with wrong information, i'm going to make a new scolopendra site and could use all the help i can get, you can see the old version here:

http://www.scolopendra.s5.com (sorry only dutch version)

greetz
 

Philth

N.Y.H.C.
Old Timer
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Jan 4, 2003
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2,719
This is by far my favorite centipded. Ive had it for about five years now. Its much cooler than my Puerto Rican Giant , becuase its always out. Its a pretty bug. I only paid about 40 bucks for it , but thats when they were avalible. Iv'e seen one for like 250 at a store around here not to long ago. It was a large one. Good luck finding one.
 

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BugBoyX

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
122
Keep us informed on the Peruvians, I'm sure there's quite a few people here (or at least one :) ) who's interested in them...even if there not the actual S. gigaintea....the posssible S. galapagoensis are really cool looking pedes as well (from what I've seen of pics of them) and would work just as well for me on a "pet" pede point of view. Also any new pedes from south america would be great...getting a little tired of seeing more S. supspinensis(sp?) subspecies type pedes....something really different would be great.
 

invertepet

Arachnolord
Old Timer
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Oct 4, 2002
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608
My source(s) still indicate Peruvian centipedes are coming.

bill
 

seaniboy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 3, 2003
Messages
9
If you find one from germany its probably a true gigantea. Of course its still illegaly smuggeld but the german government tend to look thru the fingers with this matter. But i dont support this activity.
 

invertepet

Arachnolord
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Oct 4, 2002
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608
Just as a disclaimer, we absolutely will not be involved with any smuggled livestock. These will either be verified legal quota centipedes, or nothing.


bill
 

Steven

pede-a-holic
Old Timer
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Feb 18, 2003
Messages
4,022
Hey, thanx for the info about the German gouverment!
i was wondering how it came that you can only find in Germany all the species you can't find elsewhere across europe!!!

it gives me a whole other opinion about german invertdealers!!!

greetz
 

phoenixxavierre

Arachnoprince
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Oct 9, 2002
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Borders dividing countries on other continents (other than NA) are very different than the borders here in the US. You won't see a ton of border control in south america or africa. Because of the lax border control, many species are shipped from one country that is closed to trade to one that is not. An importer may be told that something on the exporters list was collected within legal boundaries, but in actuality the collectors are bringing in many species from surrounding countries on the same continent to a central area for the exporter to ship out. Generally, it is children who are sent out collecting. Country boundaries are not paid much heed in non-US countries, at least not by the collectors doing importing/exporting. That's part of the reason why accurate locale and range data is so difficult to obtain.

Just figured I would toss that in. We can certainly TRY to keep in the know, but many times the info we are provided with is less than accurate and provided simply to make an easier sale for the exporter. Smuggled invertebrates are far from apparent, especially when so little is known about their range. Even when someone claims an animal is captive bred, it may not be. So when it comes down to it, we are going on the word of the exporter, which may not necessarily be as accurate as we'd like it to be. After all, if someone has an illegal animal to sell, he's not going to be broadcasting it to everyone and their brother, unless he falls into the dumbest criminals category. And then there is the case of ignorance regarding the species or the actual area collected. The exporter may very well not know this info or merely tell you what you want to hear.
 
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