Baby Millipede questions

zinto

Arachnoknight
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Do you have to wait until they mature to make an ID on the species? Do all baby millies look the same? I'm estimating 60 or so babies...I had no idea there were so many!! How big are the clutches usually? Thanks!
 

Kasha

Arachnoknight
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Jun 24, 2005
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Not speaking from experience (have none with babies) but those babies look a whole whole lot like my N. Americanus babies I bought a couple months ago.

EDIT:
60?! Holy millipede batman! I am soooo jealous! PICS! Post PICS!!
 

zinto

Arachnoknight
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Did you see the second one I posted with 15 in the one shot?? It was crazy!!
And thanks for the possible ID. I was hoping that's the species they were! The only other option is O. ornatus.
 
Last edited:

zinto

Arachnoknight
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Hopefully I can satisfy Kasha's demands. :D These were all taken during the same time period. I think there's about 35 in the pictures, and I'm sure there's more! Enjoy!
(Oh, and this is the first time using ImageShack, so bear with me! Oh, and Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting)






EDIT: Hmm....I don't really like these thumbnail things, how can I get them to be full size in my post? Would Photobucket be a better choice?
 

fantasticp

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zinto said:
Do you have to wait until they mature to make an ID on the species? Do all baby millies look the same? I'm estimating 60 or so babies...I had no idea there were so many!! How big are the clutches usually? Thanks!
I never keep millis that can be confused with each other as babies together for this reason. If your only choices are O. Ornatus and N. Americanus, you should be able to tell by antennae placement. I can't give you a photo since this is not my computer, but you can look at the adults for comparison. Or just wait until they are about an inch long and some color should be showing up on them. How many you get is random. ssometimes you wil only get 20 or so, sometimes a couple hundred. N. Americanus can have a buttload.
 

zinto

Arachnoknight
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Thanks alot! I'll go see what I can determine from their antennae. How long does it generally take for them to reach about an inch or so? Growth as babies is slow, and increases until they reach adult, right? Thanks again for the help!
 

Kasha

Arachnoknight
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Oh my god Zinto! Those are the best babies pics I have seen yet! They are so tiny!
Do you have more than one batch of babies? Some look much smaller and with less legs than others.
I have baby N. Amercanus, and some juvy O. Ornatus. I will see if I can get some decent pics of the smaller N. Americanus. When I first got them some where smaller than my pinky nail when they were curled up. They are getting big, seemed to molt every couple of days at first. Now I am not to sure, but still seems pretty often.
 

Wade

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Without checking anything or even looking at the pictures, they are almost certainly Narceus, as O. ornatus does not readily breed in captivity for some reason.

Wade
 

zinto

Arachnoknight
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Thanks Kasha!! I think they are all around the same size, so I'm assuming they are from the same clutch. Also, I haven't seen my N. americanus for a while, but now they are coming up. Maybe this is another sign of the species of the babies? Or maybe I'm just making stuff up. :D I'm looking forward to your pictures Kasha!!

Wade said:
Without checking anything or even looking at the pictures, they are almost certainly Narceus, as O. ornatus does not readily breed in captivity for some reason.

Wade
Interesting...what secret do the dealers have I wonder? Thanks for the info!
 

Wade

Arachnoking
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zinto said:
Interesting...what secret do the dealers have I wonder? Thanks for the info!
Probably the only secret is their collection location! ;) I can't say they've never been bred, but I don't know anyone who's done it. They spend much of the year completely underground but can be found in abundance on the surface at certain times of the year. Likely their reproduction is tied to enviromental clues not easily simulated indoors.

Even so, I only know of a couple of dealers who deal in captive bred millipedes at all. The trade is probably 85%-90% (or higher!) wild-caught animals.

Wade
 
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