Food:
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Centipedes are carnivorous
arthropods that hunt for their food. They will eat anything that they
can overpower. Staples of the Scolopendra diet include crickets,
roaches, and mice. Small centipedes can be fed on micro crickets,
fruit flies or other appropriately sized insects. For the larger full
grown species of centipedes, you can try fuzzy rats, or lizards (such as
anoles). Food does not have to be live and you can try to feed your
centipede using a long pair of tweezers or forceps. A rule of thumb is
to not feed your centipede anything longer than half it's body length.
You should not feed your pet wild caught prey as the prey may have been
exposed to pesticides that can potentially kill your pet. Uneaten prey
should be removed from the tank within 48 hrs as they may unduly stress your
centipede or harm it if it molts. If you are lucky enough to see your
centipede molting or believe that your centipede has molted remove any
uneaten prey items from the enclosure immediately as the centipede is
vulnerable until its exoskeleton sclerotises (hardens). A good habit
to get into is cleaning up any remains the day after feeding your centipede
as decaying organic matter commonly attracts mites, fungus, mold and other
potentially harmful organisms into the enclosure. |
Water:
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Although centipedes get much of
their moisture from the prey they eat, a source of water should be present
in the centipedes enclosure. This can be from daily misting or for
larger centipedes, a water dish in the enclosure. A source of water is
very important as centipedes can desiccate (dry out) very quickly due to
moisture loss through their spiracle openings (this is very important if you
use any artificial heating sources). You can use anything from bottle
caps to actual water dishes bought at a pet store for this purpose. |
Substrate:
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Good results have
been reported with substrates made of a combination of potting soil/peat
moss or peat moss/vermiculite. Both of these substrates hold moisture
well and support burrowing. An added bonus is that the high acidity of
the peat moss retards the growth of fungus and mold. Be sure to use
pesticide free ingredients in your substrate as they can quite easily kill
your pet. Sand is not recommended as it goes stale quickly in the high
humidity environment that centipedes need. |
Housing:
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Housing can be as
cheap or as expensive as the individual keeper wants. Anything from
plastic Rubbermaid containers (with plenty of air holes drilled in of
course) to 20 Gallon aquariums with screen lids can be used to house your
centipede. The enclosure should be twice as long and at least as wide
as the centipede. Above all, the one thing
that you must remember is to have a secure lid on the enclosure.
Centipedes are escape artists. The last thing you need is to be awoken
in the middle of the night by your prized centipede chewing on your nose
because you forgot to close the lid properly or because there was a space
between the lid and the enclosure that you ignored because "There's no way
the centipede can fit through that." For the sake of safety, your
centipede enclosure should have sides higher than the centipede is long.
This is because although they can not climb glass, they can push themselves
up from the floor of the enclosure. If using an aquarium, centipedes
have been know to climb the silicon sealant used in the corners of the tank.
Ideally, your centipede should be given 2 to 3 inches of substrate and
somewhere for it to hide such as cork bark, a half log or a rock. If
you wish to disallow burrowing, you can put an inch or less of substrate in
the enclosure, but should then definitely place something in the enclosure
for it to hide under. A centipede without a hiding place is a stressed
centipede. Also remember that anything placed in the enclosure is a
potential starting point for the centipede to explore the top of its
surroundings and you should take that into consideration when deciding on
the height of the enclosure. |
Climate:
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Most centipedes can be safely
kept at 75 to 85° F. This is an approximation and you should see what
temperature works best for your centipede. Being moisture dependant
creatures, at higher temperatures (80° +) desiccation is a major problem and
you must be sure that your centipedes humidity needs are being kept.
Centipedes should be comfortable with a humidity of 75 to 85%. This
can be accomplished by a number of things. One is a shallow water dish
with a wide surface area to increase evaporation. You may also cover
the enclosure (if you have a screen top) with saran wrap. If you're
using a sealed container (such as Rubbermaid) as long as you do not have too
many air holes in the enclosure, your humidity should be fine because of the
closed nature of the environment. If you do have a sealed environment
you must make sure that there is sufficient ventilation as high humidity and
no ventilation creates a breeding ground for mold, fungus and mites.
Daily misting or keeping the substrate damp can be used as well. This
is not recommended for the same reasons that you may have problems with
sealed environments without adequate ventilation. There are also other
problems with misting and keeping the substrate damp. With misting,
you may be stressing the centipede and with moist substrate you have a prime
egg laying ground for adult crickets. If possible, you should try to
increase the ambient humidity of the room that the centipede is in with the
use of a humidifier. |
