Yet another beginner pede thread

Alright reading the beginner pede threads I've dug up seems to give quite a varied opinion..it seems like S. heros sp and S.polymorpha get reccomended quite often as well as S. gigantea (though it seems polymorpha are pricey..yes/no?)

Anyway, colors scheme isn't really a factor here..nor tempermant (don't ever plan on holding these guys) however I would like one that attains an impressive size and is out and about intsead of making it look like i have pet cork bark.

I really like the look of S.s.mutilans but I'm not sure I wanna fuss with a subspinipes sp as a first pede. Their venom doesn't concern me much truthfully BUT if they have a penchant for speed or escaping I really don't want to have to tell my roommates something like that (Live in an apartment)

S.heros sp also caught my eye

So if anyone wants to point out something I may have overlooked, please do it. I'm headed to a show in October in Greenville SC and will be keeping a lookout for pedes there, so I'm kinda curious what fair price for some of the more common species is as well.

One other thing..Right now I have a 30gal long unused aquarium..is that far far too large for a pede? Or for a colony?

where did u say that show was exactly? when was it?

thats south corolina isnt it. darn

Yep. Greenville South Caronlina at the palmetto expo center

Allot of people really seem to like those feathertail Alipes centipedes. I've never had one but maybe someday. Sound real interesting and from what I hear, a few can be kept together(?). But I don't know how communal they are. Better research that more. I think it would be hard to have a terrarium too big for a centipede. But if the pede is real small, it might be hard for you to find it if you had too.

To be honest, there really isn't a good starter pede. If you are worried about the speed and venom, it makes more sense to go for a smaller species (i.e S. polymorpha, S. viridis, S. s.mutilans etc), as they are easier to manage due to having less reach and ability to get up the side of the tank. If you think you can manage a larger pede, any species is fair game, and S. subspinipes, S. heros, S. gigantea are all good.

Cheers,

S. heros castaniceps seem to spend a lot of time visible and doing stuff for me.

altough to be be honest, i think you can heavily influence the visibility of your centi by how you cage it

i have like 35 non-baby centipedes and can honestly say i see all of them at least once a week. i follow the School of Jug, and think this type of caging solution affords a lot more visibility for a variety of reasons.

and Alipes rock!
but i haven't owned mine long enough to suggest them... and the two i put in the [thread=51912]Superjug[/thread] made a number of burrow enterances and have since completely disappeared (these are the exception to the Jugs=Visible theory... but they are in a super oversized jug, so i think that is why)

Do alipes have any unusual caging requirements? They seem to be less common at least, if not less popular.

Alipes are generally small, smaller than the ones on your list other than S. viridis. They're neat, though.

S. heros will probably give you the best combination of size, ease of care, and affordability. Usually, they're priced between $20 and $30.

S. polymorpha is very hardy and attractive, but may not be as big as you like. Generally, they're pretty cheap, like $10 or $15.

S. subspinipes varieties have always been tricky for me, but that could be just me.

Wade

Wade

Wade said:

Alipes are generally small, smaller than the ones on your list other than S. viridis. They're neat, though.

S. heros will probably give you the best combination of size, ease of care, and affordability. Usually, they're priced between $20 and $30.

S. polymorpha is very hardy and attractive, but may not be as big as you like. Generally, they're pretty cheap, like $10 or $15.

S. subspinipes varieties have always been tricky for me, but that could be just me.

Wade

Wade

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and alipes are slightly more expensive... generally $25 and up

Wade are your prices for plings or juvies?

I like the look of the S.heros sp...is there much of a size differential between castaneiceps and the other variations? (Is it proper to call the lighter one just S.heros or S. heros arizonenisis?)

Seems as if some heros sp. is giong to be my first pede. If I get to the show in greenville and all I can find is a supspinipes then we'll see. Heh.

No takers on my 30 gallon tank question? I was thinking of partitioning it into halfs and using it to house two or three pedes. Would enjoy that arrangement as the tank is high enough all but the biggest ones couldn't reach the top.

Malkavian said:

I like the look of the S.heros sp...is there much of a size differential between castaneiceps and the other variations? (Is it proper to call the lighter one just S.heros or S. heros arizonenisis?)

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there are three subspecies that i know of

S. heros heros
S. heros arizonensis
S. heros castaniceps - black body, red head, light legs

um, that's the only one i have, need to look up the rest =P

The prices I listed are what I typically see them for at shows and online, usually for wild-caught adults. I don't sell any myself, if you were wondering. Depending on the dealer, show prices can be very cheap, but buyer beware, some dealers at shows just buy stuff from wholesalers and then just dump it at a slightly higher price than they bought it for. You can get cheap deals from such people, but it might not be such a good buy if it drops dead due to poor care prior to purchase. Some of these guys just keep the critters in the cups they were shipped with and don't bother to feed and water them in the meantime. Established dealers that are invert specialists will charge more, but the quality and customer service will be much higher.

The S. heros subspecies are kind of ill-defined at the moment, due to lack of data. However, there is a tremendous amount of variation in the colors, but the colors aren't retained in preserved specimens.

S. h. castaniceps is the cheapest and most common one, the others tend to be more expensive IF you can even find them for sale. I've never seen any of the other subspecies on sale at a show at all, although they do turn up online from time to time.

S. h. arizonensis has a bright orange body (sometimes with darker banding), and a glossy black head (and the first few segments behind) and posterior, although apparently sometimes the head region is also orange and only the rear is black. S. h. heros I think has a similar color scheme, but I'm not as familliar with that subspecies. I think they lack the black head.

There is a picture of a S. h. arizonensis I collected in southern Arizona several years ago in this thread:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=26895

Wade

I was kinda figuring most of the pedes i'd see for sale were wild caught (considering the apparent rarity of successful breeding) Wild caught Ts seem to be viewed in disfavor, is the same not true of centipedes because of the difficulty in breeding many species?


Thanks for the clarification on S.heros sp., I think I'm either going to get a S.heros.castaniceps or a S.subspinipes sp depending on what's available at the show

There has been relatively little actual captive breeding of centipedes, the vast majority of what you'll see is wild caught. When you do see babies for sale, most of the time they're from a WC female that was already carrying eggs at the time of capture. Hopefully, this will change over time as the specifics of their reproductive husbandry become better understood by hobbyists.

Some of the problems include difficulty in sexing the animals, the tendancy of females to eat eggs and young at the slightest disturbance, and a poor survival rate of the offspring after dispersal. They seem to ba a bit trickier than tarantulas in all of these respects.

Wade

Wade said:

There has been relatively little actual captive breeding of centipedes, the vast majority of what you'll see is wild caught. When you do see babies for sale, most of the time they're from a WC female that was already carrying eggs at the time of capture. Hopefully, this will change over time as the specifics of their reproductive husbandry become better understood by hobbyists.

Some of the problems include difficulty in sexing the animals, the tendancy of females to eat eggs and young at the slightest disturbance, and a poor survival rate of the offspring after dispersal. They seem to ba a bit trickier than tarantulas in all of these respects.

Wade

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fully

hopefully some of the Centipede Lords will change that though... some of our Euro brothers seem to have some clues that have been missing up until recently... it is a hopeful future