Centipede housing questions

psychofox

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 24, 2005
Messages
185
Hello all.

I bought my first centipede yesterday, and with it a new terrarium. I do not have many inverts, and each animal I have is a "display animal" (or rather, the enclosures I have are display enclosures, the animals naturally hide most of the time), so I prefer glass enclosures for them. I bought the terrarium knowing that it might not be suitable for the pede (Hey, I can always buy a new scorp and put in it:D ), but I hope it is.

The sliding doors in the front are the only problems. They are two glass plates, and when opened, one slide in behind the other. This creates a small space between the doors when the terrarium is closed, about 2 millimeters. Is that large enough for the pede (which is about 3 inches at the moment) to squeeze through? If yes, how about when it gets bigger?

Can centipedes climb silicone? I have another option, an aquarium which is taller than the adult size of the pede. There is two openings at the top, but If it can't be climbed, there would be no problems with it.

Long text for short questions, but I hope it's okay.

Richard
 

nissan480

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 28, 2006
Messages
262
Why buy a centipede,and not a proper enclosure?????And then say "Ill just get a scorpion" if it doesnt work out!!!!
 

Kid Dragon

Arachnoprince
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Feb 22, 2005
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1,123
Richard,

Think of a centipede as keeping a cobra, they are fast and venomous. You need an enclosure that is tight like prom night. It should be 100% escape proof, as if you were keeping a snake. You want no chance of it escaping. {D
 

psychofox

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 24, 2005
Messages
185
The centipede is currently kept in a secure plastic enclosure, and will be kept here until I have made another one. But as I said, I want my enclosures to look pretty too, and therefore I want to keep it in a glass terrarium/aquarium. The problem is that I want to be sure that the enclosures are escape- proof BEFORE I put my pede in it, and thats why I made this thread.

What I meant with buying a scorpion was that if I am advised not to put my pede in the terrarium I mentioned, then I will buy a scorp for this enclosure instead.

Sorry if I was a bit unclear.
 

Draiman

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
May 9, 2008
Messages
2,819
Hello all.

I bought my first centipede yesterday, and with it a new terrarium. I do not have many inverts, and each animal I have is a "display animal" (or rather, the enclosures I have are display enclosures, the animals naturally hide most of the time), so I prefer glass enclosures for them. I bought the terrarium knowing that it might not be suitable for the pede (Hey, I can always buy a new scorp and put in it:D ), but I hope it is.

The sliding doors in the front are the only problems. They are two glass plates, and when opened, one slide in behind the other. This creates a small space between the doors when the terrarium is closed, about 2 millimeters. Is that large enough for the pede (which is about 3 inches at the moment) to squeeze through? If yes, how about when it gets bigger?

Can centipedes climb silicone? I have another option, an aquarium which is taller than the adult size of the pede. There is two openings at the top, but If it can't be climbed, there would be no problems with it.

Long text for short questions, but I hope it's okay.

Richard
You bought a pet knowing that the enclosure you bought for it might not be suitable? That wasn't very wise.

Anyway, in my experience, centipedes cannot climb smooth surfaces such as glass and plastic, BUT once they get their heads up, they can easily use their fangs and first few pairs of legs to pull the rest of the body up (I have personally observed this). I would still triple-tape those openings just in case though.
 

psychofox

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 24, 2005
Messages
185
Kid Dragon: Thanks for the reply. Yes, I have come to this conclusion myself. I think I will use the aquarium, but I need to make a proper lid for it first.
 

Elytra and Antenna

Arachnoking
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Sep 12, 2002
Messages
2,506
I keep a few centipedes in aquariums and cut a glass sheet to cover the lid and set something moderately heavy on top (actually other cages). A screen lid is over the glass lid to keep the glass from moving side to side when moved by the keeper. Even with weight the glass is not air tight and provides plenty of ventilation for a 10-gallon or larger with any centipede.
 

Matt K

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 27, 2007
Messages
941
Regarding the quote in Elytra and Antenna's post, I would HIGHLY recommend you buy the book he published. It is inexpensive and full of all the info you may need to know to raise a centipede in the enclosure you are looking to set up. It is $16 and can be found here:
http://www.angelfire.com/oh3/elytraandantenna/index.html

...I also like to have a few enclosures that are display quality.
 

bjaeger

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 17, 2008
Messages
571
You can get RubberMaid containers at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or the Dollar Store. They're inexpensive and are usually escape proof (I wouldn't trust the ones at the Dollar Store as they're only a buck and are a little flimsy.).
 
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