Scolopendra hardwickei Escaped...!

Najakeeper · Jan 4, 2015

This little [insert favorite curse here] escaped on me today right after these photos!

Looked at the cricket box to catch one for a second and he was gone! In a room filled with venomous snake cages and related items. So many hideyholes, your mind would explode. 5 hrs later in the dark, I saw him coming under a huge cobra enclosure and snatched him. As punishment, he is sucking on a large cricket

. He is one of the 4 I bought as tiny clings. Lost one to a cricket and this is the best eater of the three so I am happy.

The days excitement I guess!

Camden · Jan 4, 2015

Glad you got er back. it's a pretty little thing.

Elytra and Antenna · Jan 5, 2015

Did you get him that size or has he grown? How many molts and how long if he was a hatchling?
Good catch.

Najakeeper · Jan 5, 2015

Elytra and Antenna said:
Did you get him that size or has he grown? How many molts and how long if he was a hatchling?
Good catch.

He was about half that size on 10/17/14 when I purchased him. Never seen a molt as he molts and eats burrowed. He is growing rapidly. His siblings are a bit slower than him as they eat half as much.

Galapoheros · Jan 5, 2015

I was able to get few babies as people lost interest and dropped out of the hobby. One was having a hard time molting so I tried to knock it out to remove some exo, but I was bitten! Weeeeeedoggy!, that hurt. My finger was swollen for day but it was back to normal in a couple of days. I had one get out too, unfortunately I finally found it dead in my bed after about 2 weeks.

problemchildx · Jan 5, 2015

What's the max size on this species? I love the halloween look.

Najakeeper · Jan 31, 2015

problemchildx said:
What's the max size on this species? I love the halloween look.

25cm max I would say.

Here is a very cool feeding video of my trio:

dactylus · Feb 1, 2015

I'm glad that you were able to snag the escapee! It would be nice to see these available in the USA market for a reasonable price...

sercan · Feb 6, 2015

Maşallah tesbih gibi canlı

Gail · Feb 6, 2015

Forgive my ignorance as centipedes have never been something I studied much - but is there something significant in that each segment is a different color except in that one spot - the third orange band from the head - it is two segments worth of orange. Just a fluke or does it signify something which an uninitiated like myself wouldn't know? :

:

zonbonzovi · Feb 7, 2015

Gail, although hardwickei can be slightly variable in where the orange and black occur this seems to be common. I'm not sure what the evolutionary signifigance is but I suspect this is just a dominant characteristic "chosen" by Ma Nature.

Najakeeper · Feb 7, 2015

I was super psyched when I noticed one of mine with back to back orange bands, then I checked the other two and saw that they also had it, then googled the species name and all photos had it... I also don't know the reason but it may just be a freak mutation that resulted in a highly dominant trait.

Gail · Feb 8, 2015

Najakeeper said:
...then googled the species name and all photos had it... I also don't know the reason but it may just be a freak mutation that resulted in a highly dominant trait.

Exactly what I found - every photo I saw had it in the same place - glad it wasn't just me not knowing about some super secret 'pede code or something...

Najakeeper · Dec 17, 2015

So I am thinking maybe I am not the best person for centipedes

.

About 11 months after the 1st incident, I opened his cage to take this photo:

In my rush to get back to work, I left a small crack on the cage door and he was gone when I came back home.

My snake room has hundreds of hiding places like under the cages, books, supplies, boxes etc. etc. so I thought this was gonna suck! I also have a pregnant wife at 7.5 months and I was terrified of a bite. Tore down the room for two days but couldn't find him. So I walk in the room this morning to feed the caiman lizard and this guy was right next to the cage, trying to find a way to get in! Maybe he noticed the high humidity inside the cage... Anyway, escape number two and he is still with me. I need to treat this guy as I treat my venomous snakes and be more careful.

PS: White bugs on and around him are harmless springtails to clean the leftovers.
PS2: I think he is around 12 cm now and getting thicker as well. But he is not the best eater, refuses food quite often. Funny thing is, it has been over a year and I have never seen a piece of shed exoskeleton with this guy.

just1moreT · Dec 17, 2015

Hope you find him like last time.at least it was not a cobra be hard sleep knowing one is loose in the house lol.

Najakeeper · Dec 24, 2015

So I walk in the room this morning to feed the caiman lizard and this guy was right next to the cage, trying to find a way to get in! Maybe he noticed the high humidity inside the cage... Anyway, escape number two and he is still with me. I need to treat this guy as I treat my venomous snakes and be more careful.

Click to expand...

just1moreT said:
Hope you find him like last time.at least it was not a cobra be hard sleep knowing one is loose in the house lol.

As I said, I have found him a couple days later

.

If I had an escape venomous snake, it is full emergency. I would send my wife and dog away at that moment, wear shoes and tear the house down until I find it. If not, I would alert the authorities asap and get an extermination crew in right away. This has never happened to me in over 10 years but it is nothing to be taken lightly for sure.

Biollantefan54 · Dec 24, 2015

Wow, glad you found it! It's beautiful

AndreDecasa · Jan 1, 2016

Their color is so beautiful you'll mistake one for a child toy.

Najakeeper · Jan 3, 2016

I made a new cool terrarium for him with many hide places. He used to roam the other one but seems quite content in this one:

https://www.instagram.com/p/_rb6THJ149/

Also, he started eating as soon as he was captured. Running around the house makes you hungry I guess.

sr20det510 · Jan 3, 2016

Beautiful centipede!
Do you still have the other two mentioned earlier in the thread?
Are they similar in size now?

Scolopendra hardwickei Escaped...!

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Creeping beneath you

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