Feeder centipedes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Need help

ferrester · Feb 18, 2015

hello! most of you guys dont know me but i want to restart my bug hobby... and that requires a feeder...

so instead of roaches (NO ROACHES NO!) i want to get some communal fast breeding small centipedes...

one that is not dangerous... are there any species like that? communal and breed easily in same container?

i was thinking of getting a huge container with lots of bark... and throw handful of dubia roaches to feed hundreds of feeder centipedes...

i know you guys love centipedes but i realy need reliable feeder bugs...

i cant get crickets... ( loud, stinky, annoying)

i have dubia roaches but ( stinky, too big, slow, shy, plays dead)

mainly trying to feed tiger beetles, warrior beetles, mantids, vinegaroon, whip scorpion....

or possibly feeder tiny scorpions????

thanks for help guys!!!

Ripa · Feb 18, 2015

I don't think it would work considering there's always a risk that they will feed off one another and none of them are truly as fast-breeding and growing as cockroaches are. You can try red-runner roaches. They mature faster than dubias and aren't too much smaller.

cgrinter · Feb 18, 2015

Predators in general don't grow fast and therefore don't make for good feeders. Stay far away from feeding your animals something that could eat it in turn (crickets can do this too, but it won't be actively hunting your T). You might want to try mealworms if you can get them to your spider before they burrow. But even if they escape worst case an adult beetle later emerges and is eaten. You might be able to rear caterpillars to feed to your T's as well, there are artificial diets for things like the corn earworm.

pannaking22 · Feb 18, 2015

Pallid roaches are also a pretty good choice for a feeder that grows/reproduces quickly and they don't try to eat their predators (or each other). They can climb, which may not be to some keeper's liking, but they aren't nearly as fast moving and skittish as red runners and I've had a lot more success breeding pallids than red runners. Any escapees I've had also never survive the night due to lower humidity in my apartment.

Out of curiosity, what tiger beetles species are you keeping?

ferrester · Feb 18, 2015

i never said i had those species... those are just my wanted species but wanted to prepare everything before getting them...

and i said i need a small feeder bug.. (one that tailess whip scorpioon and mantids can hunt)

i dont like meal worms/crickets

Ripa · Feb 18, 2015

Again, red-runner roaches aren't too big. My juvenile vinegaroon hunts them quite swimmingly. They mature faster than dubias and are easier to breed.

pannaking22 · Feb 19, 2015

ferrester said:
i never said i had those species... those are just my wanted species but wanted to prepare everything before getting them...

and i said i need a small feeder bug.. (one that tailess whip scorpioon and mantids can hunt)

i dont like meal worms/crickets

Those species are cheap to get started with though. My amblypygids and mantids have no problem with pallids or red runners and I can feed off the nymphs to just about any life stage of mantid or amblypygid. Heck, I even use them for my small Heteropoda and Cupiennius now.

ety32 · May 22, 2015

Phoenix worms..?

The Centipede · May 22, 2015

you can't be too picky, i mean unless you want to breed grasshoppers, LOL centipedes wouldn't work well like "Ripa" said, or they would probably end up eating your mantis.

ratluvr76 · May 22, 2015

cgrinter said:
Predators in general don't grow fast and therefore don't make for good feeders. Stay far away from feeding your animals something that could eat it in turn (crickets can do this too, but it won't be actively hunting your T). You might want to try mealworms if you can get them to your spider before they burrow. But even if they escape worst case an adult beetle later emerges and is eaten. You might be able to rear caterpillars to feed to your T's as well, there are artificial diets for things like the corn earworm.

I'm particularly concerned that you feel "the worst case scenario" with meal worms escaping into you're enclosures is a meal worm turned beetle and then it gets eaten. There are dozens, possibly hundreds of threads over the past decade here on the forums where a meal worm has munched and eaten molting, and freshly molted spiders. Darkling beetles, (what meal worms grow into), will, and have, also eaten people's spider/scorpion pets.

If you chose to feed mealworms or super worms, pinch the heads so that can't happen.

To OP, dubias don't really smell imo. Sometimes I can detect a slight "earthy" odor in their bin, unless there's a lot of dead and decaying ones? Sometimes, I'll feed them some lemon or lime instead of oranges an that seems to freshen it up a bit.

DETHCHEEZ · May 22, 2015

Gotta say I don't think I've ever heard of any one using pedes as feeders
&
IDK if it's the best idea unless that happens to be somethings natural food
Cause they're fast nasty & can pack good bite / sting & like others have already said would probably hunt & try to take out what you're trying to feed them to

But with that said

Sorry don't have a positive ID but can get you some of these if you're interested
The ones in the pics are full grown
They "seem" to be at least some what communal
At least they usually hang out in groups / Like you'll see a few of them hanging out together under something

No clue how fast they reproduce

If you're interested LMK about how many you'd like & what you'd be willing to pay for them
&
I'll see what I can do
'Cause they're fast & hard to get a hold of

Anubis77 · May 22, 2015

If you get the centipede feeders working, you might want to write up some info on it. There are some snake species, like the Variable Sandsnake and shovelnose, that eat them and are normally hard to keep in captivity.

http://www.reptilesofaz.org/Snakes-Subpages/h-c-stramineus.html

The Centipede · May 22, 2015

Since you live in California like me (DETHCHEEZ) are those the little garden pedes we find like in our backyard the stone centipedes? or our those something else? they look just like em.

---------- Post added 05-22-2015 at 03:49 PM ----------

i have truck loads of em at my house just have to lift up a stone in the shade, or a log and walla they are there.

Elytra and Antenna · May 22, 2015

Even if you could breed a centipede culture fast enough to be feeders, any centipedes species would make poor feeders for amblypygids or mantids. Both avoid low profile foods.

DETHCHEEZ · May 22, 2015

The Centipede said:
Since you live in California like me (DETHCHEEZ) are those the little garden pedes we find like in our backyard the stone centipedes? or our those something else? they look just like em.

---------- Post added 05-22-2015 at 03:49 PM ----------

i have truck loads of em at my house just have to lift up a stone in the shade, or a log and walla they are there.

Yeah I believe they're a Lithobius Sp. just not sure exactly which one / Not that I've really tried to figure it out

I'm a plant freak or as my friends would say a "Plant Hoarder" / LOL
&
They're all over the place around my greenhouse & compost pile & under pots & what not

But they're kind of hard to catch cause they're Fast & Bolt as soon as you lift up what ever they're under

Have you ever tried to breed them???

Ripa · May 22, 2015

The Centipede said:
Since you live in California like me (DETHCHEEZ) are those the little garden pedes we find like in our backyard the stone centipedes? or our those something else? they look just like em.

---------- Post added 05-22-2015 at 03:49 PM ----------

i have truck loads of em at my house just have to lift up a stone in the shade, or a log and walla they are there.

Garden/ stone centipedes are all classified under the genus Lithobius, and perhaps the most common species you'll see are Lithobius forficatus. They don't produce enough offspring to make viable feeders, and since they live fairly long time for an invert of their size (3- 6 years), they grow slow.

The Centipede · May 25, 2015

Oh ok, that makes sense. and yes they are they bolt away faaaasssstttt! kinda hard to catch. No i haven't tried feeding them i can't even get them to eat anything everyone says they like little jumping spiders but i never had any luck tho i did have one for a while and he ate them just never when i was around.

---------- Post added 05-25-2015 at 02:34 PM ----------

ya that's a good place for them to live, and yes they are super faaaassstttt! very hard to catch. No i haven't tried breeding them because i haven't even had any luck getting them to eat anything they are just scared of everything. tho i heard they love those little jumping spiders but i personally haven't had any luck getting them to eat...except for one that i had he ate but only overnight when no one was disturbing him.

---------- Post added 05-25-2015 at 02:36 PM ----------

what i didn't see my post so i tried again but i guess i said the same thing twice ooops

---------- Post added 05-25-2015 at 02:38 PM ----------

oh there is 2 sections of this post that's weird...tho i was trying to reply to (Dethcheez)

Ripa · May 25, 2015

The Centipede said:
Oh ok, that makes sense. and yes they are they bolt away faaaasssstttt! kinda hard to catch. No i haven't tried feeding them i can't even get them to eat anything everyone says they like little jumping spiders but i never had any luck tho i did have one for a while and he ate them just never when i was around.

---------- Post added 05-25-2015 at 02:34 PM ----------

ya that's a good place for them to live, and yes they are super faaaassstttt! very hard to catch. No i haven't tried breeding them because i haven't even had any luck getting them to eat anything they are just scared of everything. tho i heard they love those little jumping spiders but i personally haven't had any luck getting them to eat...except for one that i had he ate but only overnight when no one was disturbing him.

---------- Post added 05-25-2015 at 02:36 PM ----------

what i didn't see my post so i tried again but i guess i said the same thing twice ooops

---------- Post added 05-25-2015 at 02:38 PM ----------

oh there is 2 sections of this post that's weird...tho i was trying to reply to (Dethcheez)

They are very resourceful. Instead of jumping spiders, try small woodlice, dead insect parts, and even hardboiled egg. Mine all seem to eat those. If the prey is too large, they'll be intimidated. Very flighty, but if you crush/ prekill it, they'll eat almost anything.

The Centipede · May 25, 2015

really? oh well that's good to know i'll have to try it if it works who knows i might try breeding them.

Scythemantis · Jun 3, 2015

Someone has to say it:

Centipedes as feeders is an awful, nonsensical, wasteful, pointless idea in every way and I can't imagine why you would ever get such an idea to begin with.

You already have to feed the centipedes something else, like roaches, and ALL of your other predators will also accept those roaches as food.

The centipedes meanwhile will be more difficult for them to catch and more dangerous.

Just...WHY, WHY FOR THE LOVE OF PETE would you ever think it's practical to do this? What made you think you should be feeding centipedes to your other pets? There isn't any predator out there that would rather eat a speedy, venomous centipede than a fat, relatively gentle cockroach or cricket.

This idea not only won't work but it's the worst thing I have ever heard. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm saying this would be an outrageous waste of effort and hazardous/stressful to your other animals. It is a flat out harmful idea.

The rest of you guys are being really nice about it but you cannot let somebody attempt something this bad. It borders on animal abuse.

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