Force/ handfeeding centipedes?

Ripa

Arachnobaron
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So I wouldn't probably try this with a larger specimen, but considering it involves pedelings, I decided to post this. My two polymorpha pedelings (2.5" apiece) seem to have the most success feeding when I literally hold them in place and give them a dead/ crushed cockroach- otherwise, they ignore the roaches altogether. Anyone else have success in this manner? And I don't really want this to be the main method for feeding these two, but they seem a bit adamant about food (cricket, waxworm, cockroach- no matter what!), but so far this is the most successful method that's worked for me!

Apparently their aggression translates to hunger, or it's one of the same.... give the baby a binky and he stops his temper tantrum.
 

Ripa

Arachnobaron
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Here are some update photos- this is one of the two who happily began munching on the entrails of a crushed cockroach after getting him to force-feed. Normally I don't like this sort of option for any animal, but these are such little pedes (still babies) with a good amount of tenacity, and they haven't been keen on eating much since I first got them. I saw more feeding action from my subadult alternans than I did from these little ones.
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Anubis77

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You sure they're pedelings? I've kept blue S. polymorpha before and they never grew past 3" or so. Flipped a lot of rocks in Arizona and never saw these or the light-banded ones approach the size of the darker banded S. polymorpha. Yours could just be adults that don't need as much food.
 

Galapoheros

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They're generally small here in Texas also, often 2 inches for adults. Seems they are bigger as one goes further west. I pre-kill stuff for things that seem sick or are in bad shape. Younger pedes are very leery and flighty but tend not to be so much like that as adults, esp. with the bigger Scolopendra.
 

Ripa

Arachnobaron
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You guys do make valid points, but they were sold to me as pedelings. Of course, the seller could always make a mistake, but I trust the seller's judgement as he's been reputable for the purchases of many others, including my past ones- he made mention they'd get up to 5 inches, at least these specimens, but again, always room for mistakes, so who knows... And these little ones seem a bit shy and less inclined to bite than my subadult alternans, so I assumed that mentality is that of pedelings, no?

---------- Post added 04-25-2015 at 12:15 AM ----------

UPDATE- So I actually managed to encourage one of the pedelings to grab a live pinhead B. lateralis just now in the same manner I would encourage it to take dead roaches. It seems like it will only take to feed that's actually placed directly in its forcipules, but because of its shy behavior, I actually have to do it myself instead of relying them to find the food, be it prekilled or alive.
 

Anubis77

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And these little ones seem a bit shy and less inclined to bite than my subadult alternans, so I assumed that mentality is that of pedelings, no?.


Temperament seems to vary by range. Almost all the big S. polymorpha I found in Payson, Flagstaff and other northern locations were mean, fast and voracious. Didn't matter if they were pedelings or 6" adults. The smaller S. polymorpha (3-4") in the Superstition Mountains and similar places south of the Mogollon Rim were usually shy and more or less docile. Easy to handle, sometimes slow. IIRC, they weren't the most amazing feeders, and I tended to give them prekilled.

I would just feed them less unless they've gone for weeks without food. Make sure they've got moist substrate or water. If they look fat, they should be fine. You could experiment with temperature too to see how it affects their appetite (but they can dry out very fast).

It's surprising how S. polymorpha lives up to its name. Lots of variation. The blue dudes almost look like S. viridis to me.
 

Ripa

Arachnobaron
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Temperament seems to vary by range. Almost all the big S. polymorpha I found in Payson, Flagstaff and other northern locations were mean, fast and voracious. Didn't matter if they were pedelings or 6" adults. The smaller S. polymorpha (3-4") in the Superstition Mountains and similar places south of the Mogollon Rim were usually shy and more or less docile. Easy to handle, sometimes slow. IIRC, they weren't the most amazing feeders, and I tended to give them prekilled.

I would just feed them less unless they've gone for weeks without food. Make sure they've got moist substrate or water. If they look fat, they should be fine. You could experiment with temperature too to see how it affects their appetite (but they can dry out very fast).

It's surprising how S. polymorpha lives up to its name. Lots of variation. The blue dudes almost look like S. viridis to me.
Oh, no worries, I know that humidity is a major contributing factor to centipede death. Having an alternans, I've been very keen on humidity maintenance. In the case of my polymorpha, there's one drier part of their enclosures, with the majority of it being moist. And yea, the thing about these little guys is that they weren't eating for a few weeks, which is why I decided to resort to more extreme measures like this.
 

Tongue Flicker

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My pedes know how to scavenge freshly killed prey so i had no problems with feeding. Good luck! :)
 

Creeper

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Thanks so much for this advice, my pedeling was too flighty for the pinheads I provided but I got him all flustered up and pinned him with a brush and offered him one with the forceps and he was more than happy to oblige!
 

Ripa

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Thanks so much for this advice, my pedeling was too flighty for the pinheads I provided but I got him all flustered up and pinned him with a brush and offered him one with the forceps and he was more than happy to oblige!
Haha, I'm glad it worked for others! Always happy to share info with the community. I love chilopods...
 

Mister Internet

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They are centipedes, their bodies are built to do three things and they don't need our help. If there is a health issue that is keeping them from feeding (impending molt, stress, or some sort of pathogen), then force-feeding will only make it worse, I would think.
 

Ripa

Arachnobaron
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They are centipedes, their bodies are built to do three things and they don't need our help. If there is a health issue that is keeping them from feeding (impending molt, stress, or some sort of pathogen), then force-feeding will only make it worse, I would think.
While I'd normally agree if it were adults, these are pedelings, and I put it in this perspective. Shy pedelings in the wild that don't feed are just some of many that face early mortality. Considering this is not the wild, I'd prefer if I could do anything in my power to keep these animals healthy. These two pedelings did eat prior when I just got them, but haven't voluntarily eaten for long bouts afterward. While it is quite possible they could be of a smaller population of polymorpha and simply be small adults, I doubt 4 week fasts for such minute individuals (only 2- 2.5 inches long) is healthy by any means with consideration to how their metabolisms operate at that size (and the fact that the ambient temperature where I keep them ranges between 75- 80 degrees). If they do have parasites, there isn't much I could do to help them, but considering they are willing to successfully feed if I incorporate this feeding procedure, then it's obvious these would simply be apart of compensatory mortality in the wild as unfit individuals, which I strive to hopefully negate in a captive setting.

This is one of many reasons why I don't like raising young inverts in most cases (I've had the most luck with Ts, obviously)- because of how their life-stage dynamics operate at this age. One of the cheapest pedes to buy as a pedeling (S. polymorpha) for experimental purposes to see how far they'd get- I thought it was worth giving it a go. From now on I figure I'll just continue with my trend of buying subadults/ adults to hopefully be less prone to instances like this.
 
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Smokehound714

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You can feed them prekilled prey. they actually seem to respond to that better.. no need to fight and subdue :p
 

Galapoheros

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I use prekill feeding sometimes for babies just to see if they will eat at all, something like a health test and to get them going. Some babies won't eat at all no matter what and will finally die.
 
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