First millipede

Dizzle

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 3, 2013
Messages
230
I have been considering getting a communal millipede set-up going and saw this post http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho....-Limited-CB-Stock!&highlight=flame+millipede

I really like the way this species looks and they sound great as pets imo, I have never owned any 'pede though so I feel like it is unexplored territory a bit.
I am not worried about care so much as I feel I am unaware of what's out there. Cavedweller's care sheet (http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?263344-Cavedweller-s-Basic-Millipede-Caresheet)
laid out all the basics for me, the rest seems to be common sense.
Is this a good millipede to start with? Is there another species you would recommend over this one?

I am very unfamiliar with 'pedes so just looking for some advice or a nudge in the right direction, I find them to be very beautiful creatures and the scolopendras i see at trade shows have always fascinated me, just not quite for the centipede plunge yet.

Thanks!
 

Elytra and Antenna

Arachnoking
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Sep 12, 2002
Messages
2,506
I say go for the Thai rainbow or a Narceus americanus. They're nice looking, decent sized and hardy.
 

Dizzle

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 3, 2013
Messages
230
Ok ill do some searching and reading, thanks for the suggestion. Much appreciated.
 

Cavedweller

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
1,064
Welcome to pedekeeping! My personal newbie recommendation is Chicobolus spinigerus. They're not real big, but quite active and pretty. They breed like crazy though, so take that into account.
 

Ripa

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
341
Welcome to pedekeeping! My personal newbie recommendation is Chicobolus spinigerus. They're not real big, but quite active and pretty. They breed like crazy though, so take that into account.
What is the temperature tolerance of those guys? I may consider them as well if they can stand night temps of 68-75 degrees. I haven't had the best luck with N. americanus at first because I thought being a native to NYS, it could tolerate cooler temps- maybe mine was just old? That is before I brought some heat pads up here to house my other inverts, however.
 

CrawlinChaos

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 21, 2014
Messages
100
I definitely agree with these suggestions, though personally Chicobolus spinigerus have never done that well for me. My most successful species so far have been the Thai Rainbows and Narceus gordanus, though its harder to find the Thai Rainbows. My Flamelegs have done quite well also, though I haven't gotten them to breed yet.
 

Dizzle

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 3, 2013
Messages
230
Welcome to pedekeeping! My personal newbie recommendation is Chicobolus spinigerus. They're not real big, but quite active and pretty. They breed like crazy though, so take that into account.
Thank you! They certainly are attractive and would seem to fit the bill pretty nicely, to put it that way.

---------- Post added 03-03-2015 at 02:03 PM ----------

I definitely agree with these suggestions, though personally Chicobolus spinigerus have never done that well for me. My most successful species so far have been the Thai Rainbows and Narceus gordanus, though its harder to find the Thai Rainbows. My Flamelegs have done quite well also, though I haven't gotten them to breed yet.
The thai rainbows are nice looking as well, I am more attracted personally to the black and white coloration of Chicobolus spinigerus i think. Although this is from images on the net, not personal experience.
Would anyone care to comment on the humidity/temp requirements of Chicobolus spinigerus, a Thai Rainbow millipede, and Narceus gordanus comparatively?
In other words, would you say any one is more able to survive periods of lower humidity/temps?
Also, when using the common name "thai rainbow" is that referring to one specific species or several members of a certain genus? Searching for thai rainbow millipede I found something referencing Tonkinbolus dollfusi as well as Apeuthes species.
Just would like to know the scientific name so I know what to search for and ask questions about. Thanks again for all the replies so far!
 

Cavedweller

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
1,064
What is the temperature tolerance of those guys? I may consider them as well if they can stand night temps of 68-75 degrees. I haven't had the best luck with N. americanus at first because I thought being a native to NYS, it could tolerate cooler temps- maybe mine was just old? That is before I brought some heat pads up here to house my other inverts, however.
I've had no problems at all with the ivories when night temps hit 68. Daytime temps at my house range from 72 to 78 depending on the time of year.

I definitely agree with these suggestions, though personally Chicobolus spinigerus have never done that well for me. My most successful species so far have been the Thai Rainbows and Narceus gordanus, though its harder to find the Thai Rainbows. My Flamelegs have done quite well also, though I haven't gotten them to breed yet.
I've had the opposite experience with Thai rainbows haha (the reason I'm uncomfortable recommending them to newbies). I wonder how our husbandry differs to give us such different experiences?

The thai rainbows are nice looking as well, I am more attracted personally to the black and white coloration of Chicobolus spinigerus i think. Although this is from images on the net, not personal experience.
Would anyone care to comment on the humidity/temp requirements of Chicobolus spinigerus, a Thai Rainbow millipede, and Narceus gordanus comparatively?
In other words, would you say any one is more able to survive periods of lower humidity/temps?
Also, when using the common name "thai rainbow" is that referring to one specific species or several members of a certain genus? Searching for thai rainbow millipede I found something referencing Tonkinbolus dollfusi as well as Apeuthes species.
Just would like to know the scientific name so I know what to search for and ask questions about. Thanks again for all the replies so far!
I've never kept any Narceus, but I keep my Thai rainbows and C. spinigerus exactly the same. Daytime temps of 72-78 and nighttime lows of 68-75 depending on the season. The little stick on humidity gauges are pretty unreliable and you don't really need to fret over exact numbers. After a bit of practice you become a good judge of what color the cocofiber in the substrate should be, since it gets lighter as it dries out. Just keep the pedes in an enclosure that doesn't have too much ventilation (big plastic tubs with airholes drilled in work great), and make sure the sub is fairly dark and moist looking (but not soggy). I mist mine twice a week.

Regarding the latin name, I haven't been able to figure that out for myself, after changing the label on my Thai rainbow tank a few times I just gave up and stuck with the common name.
 

CrawlinChaos

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 21, 2014
Messages
100
It is strange, isn't it? Just out of curiosity, when you say Thai rainbow, are you talking about the Thai Rainbow millipedes and not the Vietnamese rainbow millipede? Apparently there's some confusion about the naming and people have mixed the two up in the past.
 

Dizzle

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 3, 2013
Messages
230
It is strange, isn't it? Just out of curiosity, when you say Thai rainbow, are you talking about the Thai Rainbow millipedes and not the Vietnamese rainbow millipede? Apparently there's some confusion about the naming and people have mixed the two up in the past.

Yes, including me while researching this stuff I think haha.

---------- Post added 03-04-2015 at 03:39 PM ----------

I've had no problems at all with the ivories when night temps hit 68. Daytime temps at my house range from 72 to 78 depending on the time of year.


I've had the opposite experience with Thai rainbows haha (the reason I'm uncomfortable recommending them to newbies). I wonder how our husbandry differs to give us such different experiences?


I've never kept any Narceus, but I keep my Thai rainbows and C. spinigerus exactly the same. Daytime temps of 72-78 and nighttime lows of 68-75 depending on the season. The little stick on humidity gauges are pretty unreliable and you don't really need to fret over exact numbers. After a bit of practice you become a good judge of what color the cocofiber in the substrate should be, since it gets lighter as it dries out. Just keep the pedes in an enclosure that doesn't have too much ventilation (big plastic tubs with airholes drilled in work great), and make sure the sub is fairly dark and moist looking (but not soggy). I mist mine twice a week.

Regarding the latin name, I haven't been able to figure that out for myself, after changing the label on my Thai rainbow tank a few times I just gave up and stuck with the common name.
And those temps are pretty easily manageable, the substrate trick I have learned myself from keeping Pandinus imperator scorpions which require high humidity as well. I'm honestly a little torn between the C. spinigerus and "rainbow" millipedes now, I don't plan on acquiring any in the very close future so I have some time to decide. Btw, just out of curiosity, has anyone tried to house a millipede with anything other than another millipede (i was just reading a thread about multiple millipede species living together).
I really don't like to house things together unless I'm very sure it will work out ok but I was just curious.
 
Last edited:

Cavedweller

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
1,064
It is strange, isn't it? Just out of curiosity, when you say Thai rainbow, are you talking about the Thai Rainbow millipedes and not the Vietnamese rainbow millipede? Apparently there's some confusion about the naming and people have mixed the two up in the past.
They're pretty different looking. From my understanding, the Vietnamese rainbow is the one that's black and white with bright red legs and dorsal stripe. The Thai rainbows (the ones I have) are greyish with orangish bands. Sidenote, I've never seen the Vietnamese rainbows for sale in the US, and my understanding is they're harder to keep alive in captivity.

And those temps are pretty easily manageable, the substrate trick I have learned myself from keeping Pandinus imperator scorpions which require high humidity as well. I'm honestly a little torn between the C. spinigerus and "rainbow" millipedes now, I don't plan on acquiring any in the very close future so I have some time to decide. Btw, just out of curiosity, has anyone tried to house a millipede with anything other than another millipede (i was just reading a thread about multiple millipede species living together).
I really don't like to house things together unless I'm very sure it will work out ok but I was just curious.
Then why not get both? You gotta pay the shipping anyway and ivories are pretty cheap.

I think as a kid I kept my amber-banded millipedes and a longtail lizard (presumably Takydromus sexlineatus) in the same 10 gal. I totally forgot about that till now. I was a dumb kid with no idea what I was doing, ugh. I don't recall ever having an issue with them (if I'm even remembering correctly and DID house them together), which I guess makes sense, since a longtail isn't nearly big enough to even think about eating a giant pede, and the pedes stay in the dirt while the lizard was arboreal. I wouldn't advise replicating the experience outside of a carefully monitored experiment in naturalistic vivarium cleanup crews though.

I did once read an article about keeping crested geckos and AGBs together. I'd take anything they say with a grain of salt since they don't seem aware of a millipede's dietary needs (neither was I when I had my first pedes as a kid).
 

Dizzle

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 3, 2013
Messages
230
They're pretty different looking. From my understanding, the Vietnamese rainbow is the one that's black and white with bright red legs and dorsal stripe. The Thai rainbows (the ones I have) are greyish with orangish bands. Sidenote, I've never seen the Vietnamese rainbows for sale in the US, and my understanding is they're harder to keep alive in captivity.


Then why not get both? You gotta pay the shipping anyway and ivories are pretty cheap.

I think as a kid I kept my amber-banded millipedes and a longtail lizard (presumably Takydromus sexlineatus) in the same 10 gal. I totally forgot about that till now. I was a dumb kid with no idea what I was doing, ugh. I don't recall ever having an issue with them (if I'm even remembering correctly and DID house them together), which I guess makes sense, since a longtail isn't nearly big enough to even think about eating a giant pede, and the pedes stay in the dirt while the lizard was arboreal. I wouldn't advise replicating the experience outside of a carefully monitored experiment in naturalistic vivarium cleanup crews though.

I did once read an article about keeping crested geckos and AGBs together. I'd take anything they say with a grain of salt since they don't seem aware of a millipede's dietary needs (neither was I when I had my first pedes as a kid).

Whoa the Vietnamese pedes look amazing lol. If I could find those and then some of the ivories I would go for that, Ill keep my eyes open the next couple months. An enclosure with both of those would be great imo, interesting about the longtail lizards, heh. I would have liked to have seen that setup.
 
Top