My new millipede enclosure

Aquarimax

Aquarimax

Arachnoprince
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I placed 5 of my juvenile flamelegs in this enclosure yesterday:

IMG_0081.jpg IMG_0082.jpg IMG_0085.jpg

They kind of disappeared, but I saw one crawling around a few hours ago.

I'm sure as they get larger it will be easier to see them.
 
Aquarimax

Aquarimax

Arachnoprince
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Yep, this is a 10-gallon. My first ever dedicated to millipedes...hopefully there are more in my future...
 
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sr20det510

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Looks good, how did you prep the leaves and substrate?
I've pics of flamelegs and they are very striking!
Do you know how long it takes for them to mature?

Good luck and may nature reward you with lots of baby millipedes when they mature.
 
SDCPs

SDCPs

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Nice setup! Just what they need. The pedes should be mature within 8 months time. Probably sooner. Update us and let me know what the actual time is :)
 
Aquarimax

Aquarimax

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sr20det510 said:
Looks good, how did you prep the leaves and substrate?
I've pics of flamelegs and they are very striking!
Do you know how long it takes for them to mature?

Good luck and may nature reward you with lots of baby millipedes when they mature.
Click to expand...

Thanks! The substrate is ~ 3 inches of coconut fiber (about two bricks) with a top dressing of oak and maple leaves, as well as some maple bark/wood. I "cooked" everything but the coco fiber in the oven at 350 F for 30 minutes or so. I added a few hundred springtails (Folsomia candida) as a cleanup crew.

Flamelegs mature pretty quickly from what I understand...1-1.5 years. They typically breed at around that time, and are not very long-lived..they don't stay around too long after breeding. I am looking forward to babies!

(I got the flamelegs from SDCPs on this forum. He also advised me on the setup.)

---------- Post added 09-11-2014 at 08:25 PM ----------
SDCPs said:
Nice setup! Just what they need. The pedes should be mature within 8 months time. Probably sooner. Update us and let me know what the actual time is :)
Click to expand...
Glad to hear it. I will definitely update you on their maturity.
 
SDCPs

SDCPs

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I "cook" substrate between warm and 200 degrees F on my oven. I think higher might cause problems...whereas lower might keep some bacteria and fungi intact. I think these microorganisms are important to achieve a biological balance. Just for next time perhaps.
 
Aquarimax

Aquarimax

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SDCPs said:
I "cook" substrate between warm and 200 degrees F on my oven. I think higher might cause problems...whereas lower might keep some bacteria and fungi intact. I think these microorganisms are important to achieve a biological balance. Just for next time perhaps.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up on the temperature. It makes a lot of sense to preserve some beneficial bacteria and fungi. Next time I heat up a batch of wood/leaves, I will keep the temps down. For now, I can hope that at least some some good bacteria/fungi hitched a ride with the millipedes and/or springtails.
 
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MrCrackerpants

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I "cook" all of my dead wood and leaves at 145 F and never had any issues. Good luck :)
 
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MrCrackerpants

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Cavedweller said:
Whoa that's so low! How long do you cook them for?
Click to expand...
I say "cook" because I put all of it in very large black garbage bags that are sealed. I plan ahead and have about 6-8 of these. They are the very large construction grade garbage bags you buy at Lowes or the Home Depot. This is enough material to last for the year for all of my living arthropods. I then put these in the hot summer sun (in my back yard) for 3-8 weeks. In my area we have temps of 95-105 for a couple months in the summer. It is high elevation with no cloud cover. I have measured the internal temperature at 145-105 F. This kills anything that is going to give me problems. After there are done "cooking" I periodically take the material out and put it in my enclosures. I always reseal the bags to not let any other invertebrates get in during the fall, winter and spring. I hope this helps. :)
 
SDCPs

SDCPs

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Yeah, the whole point is to kill the larger organisms. So low temps are all that is required.
 
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MrCrackerpants

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SDCPs said:
Yeah, the whole point is to kill the larger organisms. So low temps are all that is required.
Click to expand...
Ya, approximately 145 to 200 F kills all the invertebrates (and their eggs) but does not destroy the beneficial bacteria and fungi.
 
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