Scolopendra sp. mintleg sexing

[AddisonH]

I wanted to share my experience and get advice on sexing centipedes. Today I decided to sex one of my two scolopendra mintlegs, I opted to do the cold water drowning method to knock it out. A dehaani I previously sexed was out in about 35 min, but the mintleg took 1 hour and 5 min to be completely knocked out. I did think it would take longer because these centipedes like humidity and are keen to water, but I did not expect it to take that long. After successfully sexing it, I put it back in its enclosure to recover. The centipede immediately started to slowly "drain" its self, but it only started moving around a small amount about an hour later. This was worrying to me because the dehaani seemed to fully recover in about 10-15 min. The mintleg gradually starting moving more until it seemed to have full mobility around 2 hours after being knocked out. It is now around 6 hours after and the centipede seems to be completely normal but I will continue to keep in eye on it. I am hesitant to sex the other mintleg this way after this experience. Thanks for any advice!

Attached are photos of the two mintlegs.

 

[Raptorr]

I've heard using the drowning method on a pede when they are premolt could potentially cause issues, such as paralysis in some parts of their body, sluggish movement, and taking much, much longer to wake back up. Although I'm not certain if it can cause death or not, but I have seen someone say it possibly could.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I wanted to share my experience and get advice on sexing centipedes. Today I decided to sex one of my two scolopendra mintlegs, I opted to do the cold water drowning method to knock it out. A dehaani I previously sexed was out in about 35 min, but the mintleg took 1 hour and 5 min to be completely knocked out. I did think it would take longer because these centipedes like humidity and are keen to water, but I did not expect it to take that long. After successfully sexing it, I put it back in its enclosure to recover. The centipede immediately started to slowly "drain" its self, but it only started moving around a small amount about an hour later. This was worrying to me because the dehaani seemed to fully recover in about 10-15 min. The mintleg gradually starting moving more until it seemed to have full mobility around 2 hours after being knocked out. It is now around 6 hours after and the centipede seems to be completely normal but I will continue to keep in eye on it. I am hesitant to sex the other mintleg this way after this experience. Thanks for any advice!

Attached are photos of the two mintlegs.

I’d be worried you would kill it with that method , clear container could work? I don’t understand sexing pedes tho .

 

[AddisonH]

I've heard using the drowning method on a pede when they are premolt could potentially cause issues, such as paralysis in some parts of their body, sluggish movement, and taking much, much longer to wake back up. Although I'm not certain if it can cause death or not, but I have seen someone say it possibly could.

Thank you for the info. I can definitely see how that could cause issues.

 

[AddisonH]

I’d be worried you would kill it with that method , clear container could work? I don’t understand sexing pedes tho .

unfortunately to sex them you have to "pop" out their sexual organs, but they have to be completely relaxed to do this hence the knocking out. Death is a risk though.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

unfortunately to sex them you have to "pop" out their sexual organs, but they have to be completely relaxed to do this hence the knocking out. Death is a risk though.

Wow officially the hardest land invert to sex.

 

[Raptorr]

unfortunately to sex them you have to "pop" out their sexual organs, but they have to be completely relaxed to do this hence the knocking out. Death is a risk though.

It's actually possible to sex centipedes without knocking them out. You can use welding gloves to get control of the head and use your other hand without a glove for more dexterity to pop them. It's possible to use a towel or something similar, but there's more risk of being bitten involved.

 

[AddisonH]

It's actually possible to sex centipedes without knocking them out. You can use welding gloves to get control of the head and use your other hand without a glove for more dexterity to pop them. It's possible to use a towel or something similar, but there's more risk of being bitten involved.

I have heard of that but I will attach a thread that made me weary of this method. Is this how you personally do it?

Scolopendra sp. white legs emergency situation!

So, a friend of mine who goes by @kj__i__guess on instagram recently got an S. white legs, and attempted to sex it by pinning it down, turning it around and doing the procedure whilst its conscious. He thinks its a male, but the problem is that his sexual organs still aren't retracted (24h after...

arachnoboards.com

 

[Raptorr]

I have heard of that but I will attach a thread that made me weary of this method. Is this how you personally do it?

Scolopendra sp. white legs emergency situation!

So, a friend of mine who goes by @kj__i__guess on instagram recently got an S. white legs, and attempted to sex it by pinning it down, turning it around and doing the procedure whilst its conscious. He thinks its a male, but the problem is that his sexual organs still aren't retracted (24h after...

arachnoboards.com

I'm fairly certain the person in that thread just pressed too hard and had nothing to do with it being awake during it or not. I personally have not used that method, but I know somebody who has done it with success more than once.