Will the US front catch up with the European front of the hobby?

[Arthroverts]

Is the forest humus what you collected? It seems that a major difference between European hobbyists and American hobbyists is that y'all use forest humus as the base substrate, while we Americans use more coco coir.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[AuroraLights]

Is the forest humus what you collected? It seems that a major difference between European hobbyists and American hobbyists is that y'all use forest humus as the base substrate, while we Americans use more coco coir.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

Actually, I bought several bags of it for cheap at an invertebrate fair rather than collecting it myself. I've yet to figure out a good pesticide-free collection place in my area, but that's something I'm working on.
You know, now that I think more about it, you could well be right about coir contributing to a difference: I'm in a UK based millipede keepers Facebook group and anytime a new user posts saying they're using cocofibre in their substrate about two or three people will reply telling them to take it out.

 

[Arthroverts]

@AuroraLights, that is the main difference I am seeing now. Most European enthusiasts seem to be using a substrate made entirely out of humus (which is decomposed leaves) and rotting wood, and for the Germans more specifically I often see that they include lichen and moss covered branches. In comparison most American enthusiasts use coco fiber as the base. Hmm.
I think this might call for an experiment...

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[MasterOogway]

@AuroraLights, that is the main difference I am seeing now. European enthusiasts seem to be using a substrate made entirely out of humus (which is decomposed leaves) and rotting wood, and for the Germans more specifically I often see that they include lichen and moss covered branches. American enthusiasts use coco fiber as the base. Hmm.
Arthroverts

This American hobbyist/professional uses strictly decomposing leaves and wood for his millies...

 

[Arthroverts]

@MasterOogway, I have fixed the absolute claims in that post, ha ha.
What species are you keeping, and do you get babies numbering into the hundreds (like in the photo below)? I am not trying to compare, I just want to see if using strictly rotting food materials as opposed to coco fiber has a major impact on the specimens involved, as up to this point I believed that coco fiber only had minor effects on breeding and such.

(Photo Credit: "waldfee" from diplopoda.de)

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[MasterOogway]

We just keep Mardonius parilis acuticonis currently in the IZ. Unfortunately millies usually make relatively poor display specimens because they spend much of the time buried, so we don't have a lot of call to display multiple species. I do get several dozen babies every season out of my groups though, but I'm not strictly trying to maximize output; they are from pairs that are also used in our programming, so they're disrupted and handled a *lot*. If I were keeping only one pair per bin, and not disturbing them, I suspect I'd quickly be over-run with Mardonius; not that they're a particularly challenging species to breed in the first place. Someday I'll take a stab at increasing our millie diversity though and try to get some of the more colorful exciting ones in. Then I could get back to you with more info .

 

[Arthroverts]

I see. And yes, I can attest to their propensity to be buried, ha ha. I have noticed how some of the larger species will hang out on the surface more often though, and that if you have a thriving colony you are bound to have 5-10+ individuals on the surface (with even more visible when supplemental food is offered).

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[MasterOogway]

and that if you have a thriving colony you are bound to have 5-10+ individuals on the surface

Yep; I have ~50 adults in a 36x18 floor space and usually have between 5-15 on the surface. I wouldn't normally crowd that many together in one space, but our needs in the IZ are a little different than a normal hobbyist's, so we don't always do things 'by the book' as it were.

 

[Arthroverts]

That is a lot of millipedes in one enclosure, but I guess if they are all adults and have plenty of food they would be fine. I bet space is limited in the IZ; so many invertebrates, so little space!

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[MasterOogway]

It's less that we don't have space, (I mean, space is ALWAYS limited, but for an insect zoo, I do alright) but that our animals have 'jobs.' They're there to educate and *engage* the public, so sometimes we have to violate some of the rules of husbandry that I would normally recommend to people, or that I would even do myself at home. It's one of the reasons you shouldn't take husbandry lessons from zoo's display exhibits. Our needs are not your needs, as it were, and we have to do things a little differently usually. We need to have that many there so at least some are visible to the public at all times. That being said, we are in there every day doing multiple checks, and they get supplementally fed quite often as well, so nobody goes hungry and we can get away with doing things like that. But, we also don't get any breeding out of that colony because there are so many.

 

[Arthroverts]

O.K, I understand now. No babies also probably due to Mardonius parilis acuticonis's notorious habit of devouring of each other when they molt, ha ha.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[MasterOogway]

Ours are so well fed I actually have never observed cannibalism, but then one probably wouldn't, lol. Most of ours molt pretty well though without incident.

 

[Arthroverts]

@MasterOogway, but all your specimens are adults correct? Juveniles are typically the worst offenders from what I understand.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[MrGhostMantis]

Can you get permits for jungle nymphs too? Or is that only for zoos?

 

[Arthroverts]

@MrGhostMantis, I'm assuming you meant to post that in this thread.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[MrGhostMantis]

Yes.