Why did my centipede die after eating?

[danielaclawson]

Hello friends! So I have a black tip Indonesian centipede and they have been doing GREAT for a while now. I’ve only had them about a month and I can’t be sure he was CB or WC. The animals from the pet store I get are usually CB there. Anyway-

my boyfriend was helping me feed the animals because I had to get surgery and couldn’t stand. He fed the centipede a single cricket and they devoured it. Then 2 days later they were laying there looking dull and sick and I thought they were molting, but today there is literally no movement at all- no antennae movement and all the color has drained their body. I’m pretty sure they are dead. Plus I’m sure they burrow when they’re molting?

I have them in a glass terrarium that has a big hole on the side for air circulation and the enclosure also has a bunch of holes where the panels meet.
I live in Florida and my room is around 79-82°
I was misting them about 2-3 days but always provided a water bowl.
just seems super weird they ate happily and then later seemed sick as heck. Is it possible the cricket was bad…?
Thanks for the advice in advance!

 

[Dry Desert]

Hello friends! So I have a black tip Indonesian centipede and they have been doing GREAT for a while now. I’ve only had them about a month and I can’t be sure he was CB or WC. The animals from the pet store I get are usually CB there. Anyway-

my boyfriend was helping me feed the animals because I had to get surgery and couldn’t stand. He fed the centipede a single cricket and they devoured it. Then 2 days later they were laying there looking dull and sick and I thought they were molting, but today there is literally no movement at all- no antennae movement and all the color has drained their body. I’m pretty sure they are dead. Plus I’m sure they burrow when they’re molting?

I have them in a glass terrarium that has a big hole on the side for air circulation and the enclosure also has a bunch of holes where the panels meet.
I live in Florida and my room is around 79-82°
I was misting them about 2-3 days but always provided a water bowl.
just seems super weird they ate happily and then later seemed sick as heck. Is it possible the cricket was bad…?
Thanks for the advice in advance!

I think the problem was lack of proper ventilation.

Although there is a mesh opening at one end that seems to be mostly covered by substrate.

You need really good cross flow of air movement without causing a draught.

The best type of ventilation is good colder air low level and equally good warm air exit at high level.

This will provide natural air movement with the high level warm air ventilation pulling in the colder air at the lower level vents.

Air flow in enclosures needs good movement otherwise it will become stagnant air at the bottom.

 

[danielaclawson]

Hmmm I think in the picture it looks like the hole is covered with substrate but it is completely open! It does get dry in there which is why I spray every 2ish days. Either way, maybe I’ll knock out a bunch of those glass panels and replace with plexiglass with a bunch of holes in them.

 

[danielaclawson]

Hello friends! So I have a black tip Indonesian centipede and they have been doing GREAT for a while now. I’ve only had them about a month and I can’t be sure he was CB or WC. The animals from the pet store I get are usually CB there. Anyway-

my boyfriend was helping me feed the animals because I had to get surgery and couldn’t stand. He fed the centipede a single cricket and they devoured it. Then 2 days later they were laying there looking dull and sick and I thought they were molting, but today there is literally no movement at all- no antennae movement and all the color has drained their body. I’m pretty sure they are dead. Plus I’m sure they burrow when they’re molting?

I have them in a glass terrarium that has a big hole on the side for air circulation and the enclosure also has a bunch of holes where the panels meet.
I live in Florida and my room is around 79-82°
I was misting them about 2-3 days but always provided a water bowl.
just seems super weird they ate happily and then later seemed sick as heck. Is it possible the cricket was bad…?
Thanks for the advice in advance!

I’ve attached another photo of the ventilation hole since the first one looks like it’s covered by substrate!

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Where did you get that, um, lantern? Do you know what the metal parts are made from? I wonder, since it's a moisture needing species, if harmful ingredients could be leaching out into your substrate. Just a guess, I'm curious what others think.

 

[danielaclawson]

I forgot which store I got it at but it was sold as a terrarium- I’ve had it for years and have had live plants with high humidity loving tarantulas in here before they need upgrades . No rusting on the metal, and no peeling paints or anything like that. Never had an issue with animals acting sick in this enclosure, even though I’ve housed some for months/years in all my time keeping introverts in this without anything strange happening. What’s really weird to me is that the little guy was thriving, devoured that cricket with no issues, then two days later it was a goner. I’d THINK that if it was something poisoning them, they’d refuse food, would be lethargic, etc.
I’d probably think it was something like you mentioned had I not already kept more animals in this before so… it’s strange to me

 

[Desert scorps]

The enclosure definitely needs more ventilation, and i’m honestly surprised it didn’t escape through that small space in between the panels considering they’re great escape artists. Anyway, I’d like to add that crickets aren’t really a good diet, especially for a main food source, and especially for pedes. Those pet store crickets are known to carry all sorts of nasty stuff, including sicknesses, parasites, etc, and pedes seem to be more sensitive to it than the average invert. I’d recommend using a different type of feeder since you never really know what those pet store crickets are carrying.

 

[danielaclawson]

Thanks for the recommendation of the crickets! The pet store I got them from feeds crickets as staple so I just went with what they said. And as far as the escape thing, thankfully it was too fat to get through those cracks haha. So for ventilation, HOW much ventilation do they need? I’ve literally seen videos of people keeping them in Tupperware with holes pinched on the sides, but this thread gives me the impression they need like…. A whole screened top or something like that.

 

[Desert scorps]

Thanks for the recommendation of the crickets! The pet store I got them from feeds crickets as staple so I just went with what they said. And as far as the escape thing, thankfully it was too fat to get through those cracks haha. So for ventilation, HOW much ventilation do they need? I’ve literally seen videos of people keeping them in Tupperware with holes pinched on the sides, but this thread gives me the impression they need like…. A whole screened top or something like that.

Gotcha haha. As far as how much ventilation, It completely depends on the species & their care requirements. So of course more ventilation for species that need it dry, and less for species that need it humid. It also depends on where you live as well, I live somewhere with very “dry” air so I have to take that into account. Ideally, you should have good cross ventilation near the surface of the substrate. I like to do 1-3 rows of holes on every side of the enclosure; near the substrate surface. The amount of rows and holes in each row depends on the centipede’s requirements, as well as the size of the enclosure. I also like to add a few holes near the top just to promote more air flow up there since the main airflow is down low.
You don’t necessarily want a screen lid or anything like that, since it won’t hold in any humidity at all. Any humidity in there will be lost through the screen lid very quickly.
The reason for the lower ventilation is because centipedes are very prone to fungal / bacterial infections etc, so the constant airflow near the surface of the substrate prevents the growth of those while at the same time still allowing the enclosures to hold some humidity for the centipedes without getting “stagnant”.

Here’s a picture of my Scolopendra sp. “White Legs” enclosure for reference. This species likes it on the drier side so this is quite a bit more ventilation than I’d do for species from more humid areas. I have maybe 4-6 holes on the lid as well.

 

[danielaclawson]

Gotcha haha. As far as how much ventilation, It completely depends on the species & their care requirements. So of course more ventilation for species that need it dry, and less for species that need it humid. It also depends on where you live as well, I live somewhere with very “dry” air so I have to take that into account. Ideally, you should have good cross ventilation near the surface of the substrate. I like to do 1-3 rows of holes on every side of the enclosure; near the substrate surface. The amount of rows and holes in each row depends on the centipede’s requirements, as well as the size of the enclosure. I also like to add a few holes near the top just to promote more air flow up there since the main airflow is down low.
You don’t necessarily want a screen lid or anything like that, since it won’t hold in any humidity at all. Any humidity in there will be lost through the screen lid very quickly.
The reason for the lower ventilation is because centipedes are very prone to fungal / bacterial infections etc, so the constant airflow near the surface of the substrate prevents the growth of those while at the same time still allowing the enclosures to hold some humidity for the centipedes without getting “stagnant”.

Here’s a picture of my Scolopendra sp. “White Legs” enclosure for reference. This species likes it on the drier side so this is quite a bit more ventilation than I’d do for species from more humid areas. I have maybe 4-6 holes on the lid as well. View attachment 446291

You are absolutely awesome. Thank you SO much for the suggestions and photo! Will definitely change some things up the next time around

 

[Desert scorps]

You are absolutely awesome. Thank you SO much for the suggestions and photo! Will definitely change some things up the next time around

No problem! if you have any more questions let me know, i’m happy to help!