| |
contact form
Livestock Invertebrates
Live & packaged food
Enclosures & Packages
Framed Invertebrates 
Products & Accessories
Wholesale Products
TGS Book Shop
Edible Insects
Insect Life Cycle Kits
TGS Species Gallery
Skye's Guide to Keeping Live Insects as Pets
Reptiles For Sale
Caresheets
About Us & Contact
view cart
| |
home :
Caresheets :
5..Giant millipedes...5..Giant millipedesCaring for your Giant MillipedesHousing The cage should be larger than the Millipedes, I prefer a fish tank at least as twice as wide and twice as long as the length of the largest Millipede. All Millipedes are burrowers to some extent and the cage should contain at least 5 inches of a damp mixture of peat and sterilised compost in the bottom. The substrate should be kept damp at all times. Also different species of millipedes can be housed together . HANDLING Handling should be done with care as they can be affected by dehydration and overheating. They may also be damaged if they are close to shedding their skin. Dropping them may also result in their death. Temperature All Giant Millipedes come from tropical or sub-tropical environments and you will need to keep them warm. The best way to heat the cage is to use a heat-mat. The heat-mat should be placed so that half the cage is resting on it and the other half is not. This will create a temperature gradient and allow your pets to find their own favourite spots. Humidity should be maintained at 60% to 80%, so a good misting every few days is essential. Feeding Giant millipedes like to feed on decaying leaf litter, rotting vegetables and fruit variety (not soggy or wet but damp like compost and not mouldy). They are often quite secretive and prefer to dig down under the soil and logs in their container. I feed mine decaying leaf litter which we sell in our on-line shop. It’s a special mix of leaves made up for the millipedes plus strawberries and mushrooms and a good source of calcium supplement. You can buy calcium powder or grind up a cuttlefish, which makes a perfect supplement. Life span and growth rate They are very slow growers but may live up to 10 years. Breeding We are attempting breeding this season and will have some notes here as soon as possible. Licensing You do not need a license to keep any native invertebrates. Warning Some species of Giant Millipedes can excrete defensive fluids from special glands in their bodies. In some cases, these can be very corrosive so care must be taken at all times. Todate, I have not been hurt by any of the Millipedes I have kept. On a final note, Millipedes make wonderful and fascinating pets if cared for properly and I wish you lots of fun with yours. Some interesting facts about millipedes Records and Special Species Number of named species :- about 10 000 Millipede with the most legs :- Illacme plenipes 375 pairs or 750 legs altogether Millipede with the least legs :- Polyxenus lagurus 12 pairs or 24 legs altogether Longest known living Millipede :- Graphidostreptus gigas and Scaphistostreptus seychellarum both at 28cm or 11 ins Longest known Millipede ever :- Arthropleura sp. were up to 1.8 metres or 6 feet long and 0.45 metres or 1.6 feet wide (though there is some discrepency about whether they actually were a millipede) Shortest known living Millipede :- Polyxenus lagurus 2-3 mm long Oldest Fossil Millipede :- Kampecaris tuberculata from Silurian Red Sandstone Cave dwelling species :- Aragosoma barbieri Desert species :- Archispirstreptus syriacus and Orthoporus ornatus Alpine species :- Trimerophorella nivicomes 2 500m above sea level and Trimerophorella niger at 2 800m Arboreal species :- Tachypodiulus niger (The Fast-footed Black Millipede) and Nemasoma varicorne Jumping Millipede :- Diopsiulus regressus Luminous Millipedes :- Mostly in the genus Motyxia (= Luminodesmus) (Polydesmidae) and mostly from California Motyxia sequoiae www.thegreenscorpion.com.au 
© 2012 The Green Scorpion [
| |