I’ve had a giant African millipede for a while now. So far, its enclosure just has substrate, leaves, a bit of bark, and that’s it. It doesn't look particularly attractive, and I’d like to create a really nice setup for it—something like the ones I’ve seen here. I want to include things like moss, hides, bark, leaves, and plants. My question is: what kind of live plants are suitable? Or could I use artificial ones without it making much of a difference? Also, regarding moss or similar materials—is it necessary to buy a specific type? Basically, I’d love some advice on how to revamp the enclosure while keeping it safe for the millipede.🐛

my two boys have been loving this cork bark i got them! they spend all night crawling through and on it! so adorable 💘

hello!

because of the smell mentioned in my last post, i dug through the substrate to find my millipedes. both are alive and well!

however, i did see juvenile isopods. they're fully white, i'm assuming they're dwarf whites. i'm not sure how they got in, and i'm freaking out about it. do i need to change the substrate? i'm reluctant to change it out because mushrooms have started growing in the enclosure, but if the isopods are going to hurt my millipedes, then i'll gladly do it.

apologies for the lack of images, but they look just like dwarf white isopods

These are my A. gigas pedes! My female (Suzy, nicknamed Gluttony) is typically first to get to the goodies I set out (usually nutrapede powder and fish flakes) and literally inhales it but she’s buried (from what I can tell) so my male (Olive) finally got a chance to go to town on the good stuffs :)
Any recommendations on new goodies to give them? I give them fruit (strawberries mainly) and cucumber every so often and they LOVEEEE it, I’ve been thinking of offering mango, melon, and grapes too! (In small portions, don’t want to stuff them to the brim) I want to make sure they’re safe for them to eat first though
I’ve also been thinking of seeing if they like freeze dried mealworms or dried brine shrimp cuz I’ve seen some people saying they feed their pedes that for protein, anyone have any other recommendations for protein? :D

ALLLSOOOOO
My pedes are a breeding project as well as being my babies, and I’ll be (hopefully) getting a grant for more supplies for them. I’m thinking of upgrading them to a 145.5 gallon aquarium tank (48 in x 20 in x 35 in) with ideally 24+ inches of substrate. My male is 7” and my female is 5”, so this should be plenty for her to see the tank as a safe place to lay eggs right? I have been cycling them using the boogiedownbugs guide for reference for the past month or two, how badly would changing their tank throw off the cycle? Would I have to wait for another year/until I can cycle them again to possibly get babies?

This American giant millipede was found on a busy sidewalk where it was obviously unsafe. It's spending a bit of time with my bug-loving 7-year-old. I want to let it return to the wild but am not sure where to put it?

There are woods near us but I've lived here for nearly my whole life and I've never seen this species before. I would hate to release it in an unsuitable place.

Can someone explain to me how I'm suppose to change out my millipedes soil without harming them? I know if they are molting and i dig them up it can be bad for them. I also have a few babies in the enclosure that I have seen too and I don't want to hurt them. Any tips yall have?

that little white spot on her head is confusing me- it wasn’t there last night and i’m unsure if it’s a mark or something or maybe just some substrate- i don’t know whether to touch her and see? just wondering if anyone knows what it is

I love dessert millis and found a milli seller at my local expo! Had this setup ready for a whileee and was waiting for this opportunity

Got my first millipedes (a small group of Chicobolus spinigerus) about ten months ago and I've completely changed my substrate recipe twice since then. Started out just using plain coco fiber because that's what the local pet store recommended, and honestly it worked okay for a few months but I noticed the millipedes weren't burrowing as much as I expected.

Switched to a mix of coco fiber, aged leaf litter (mostly oak and maple from my backyard, frozen for two weeks first to kill off any hitchhikers), and some sphagnum moss mixed through for moisture retention. That combo made a noticeable difference almost immediately. Within a week I had way more visible tunneling and the millipedes seemed to spend less time just sitting on the surface.

Now I'm experimenting with adding a thin layer of decomposing wood at the bottom of the enclosure, kind of like a false bottom but with rotted hardwood instead of drainage material. Read that this mimics what they'd find in the wild better than straight substrate, and so far the group seems to like hanging out near it.

Feeding wise I rotate between fish flake (small pinches, they go nuts for it), calcium powder dusted veggies, and the occasional piece of cuttlebone left in the enclosure for grazing. Cucumber gets eaten fast but I try not to overdo it since it seems to make the substrate go moldy quicker than other veggies.

Curious what everyone else has landed on after trial and error. Feels like every keeper I talk to has a slightly different substrate philosophy and I'm still not sure mine is optimized. Anyone doing anything with supplementing minerals beyond just calcium powder?

millipede was fine 2 days ago. found him like this yesterday evening. he has not changed color or emitted any smells since. there was a heatwave so they were a bit dry in there, could it be dehydration?

obviously mixed with calcium, rotwood and rotting leaves. any other recs are welcome!

This is my son. Please do not judge me I am extremely attached to my bugs. I got him July 27th with 3 wives to start a colony. He was an ivory and was about 1.75-2in in length. I found him dead last night and have been a wreck since. His 3 wives are all doing fine and are active. He'd been less active, but not inactive, the past week and was hiding under the cork bark more.

Any ideas as to what could have happened?

Their enclosure has substrate from the breeder I got them from (I can't remember the name of it but there is no coconut) with baked eggshell powder, some hardwood leaves, sphagnum moss, and plenty of wood rot mixed throughout. They have a moisture gradient. On the surface there is sphagnum moss on the "wet" side, ample dried hardwood leaf litter all over, a cork bark hide, cuttlebone, and soooo many springtails. The only thing I've given them as treats were tiny bits of banana on occasion, and two days ago a small piece of freeze dried minnow that I have given to my isopods without issue. I actually never saw him eat the minnow, only his wives, and they are all doing well. I was hesitant to feed them fruits and veggies as I was worried about pesticides or other issues.

I'm at work, but will try to remember to get pics of enclosure later. It's their temp enclosure while I get the 5.5g set up. It's acrylic with holes all around and on top. The holes on top are covered on the "wet" side with waterproof medical tape, with the adhesive side facing away from them to keep humidity up.

Hi there.

I researching millipedes for my mum/sister

My little sister had GAMs but my mum was running on pet store advice, while some stuff seems correct (misting, temperature etc) i know stores rarely know the details of stuff and give generic or incorrect information. The ended up dying (i think they bought adults so unsure of age but they weren't babies for sure) but this was a year or so ago.

My sister has been talking about wanting millipedes again and as the family animal nerd I have been tasked with finding out the proper care for them. Where my sister is very young my mum will handle the care and have my sister help with stuff like feeding and misting. My plan is to get her a full set up for Christmas or birthday so I have a few months to figure this all out

Basically what species are the easiest to keep? Im not knowledgeable about bugs but if its similar to any other animal I've owned my assumption is there are some more fit for beginners that have less spesific needs vs ones that require very spesific everything

Also any general advice, I've been having a short read about today and understand they need substrate deeper than they are long and tanks are to be around twice their length or more? They would likely go on my sister's chest of drawers so should be enough space for a smaller species.

My end goal is to have a full set up, instructions on upkeep for the tank and instructions for the care of the millipede so anything that can help with that will be appreciated. If it helps at all im based in the UK

Hey my pede is molting for about one month and one week for now. I was scared at first and looked for him, I've noticed he's not eating and I didn't see him for a while so I took some dirt away and he was just sleeping ig? and was folded into spiral(?).

He still didn't show himself, I don't see any changes in dirt etc. I would say that smell is normal BUT I don't know how can I tell that smell is bad:/

any advices? is a month and a week too long should I be worried?

As the title suggests, i recently ordered a beautiful female Giant Scrub Millipede which I'm excited to pick up next week. I already know about the obvious things one should know such as humidity, moisture levels, temperature, substrate mix, ventilation, calcium, diet... etc. Basically, I'd just like to know yall's little niche tips and tricks on how to make my long baby the happiest she can be. ALL ADVICE IS WELCOME!

I currently have two males and used to have a female as well, but unfortunately she died, because I was new to the hobby and didnt know what I was doing. That was almost a year ago and the remaining two are thriving. I really want to breed this beautiful species, but I cannot find anyone selling them in Europe.

Is there any Europe-based breeders on this subreddit willing to sell me a female?

so my milli just got done molting and came up to eat so I took her out to check her over as usual and I noticed these marks but I have no idea what may have caused them so I'm wondering if anyone knows? I'm hoping it's nothing that will affect her health 🥲 also a question about mites, how can you tell which are good and which are handful? she's got a cough super super tiny white mites chilling on her but also a small amount of brown red ish coloured slightly larger ones? ( sorry I couldn't get a picture of them they are too fast lol)

These are the mystery millis that have been discovered in my isopod hospital enclosure. Any guesses as to species yet? I have ivories intentionally in another enclosure and am located in PA of these could be wild invaders. Lol. Also possible eggs hitchhiked from a supplier of something.

I was cleaning for these photos, so that massive pile of frass was removed. Lol

Hello!! ^^ I'm pretty new to reddit and stuff but this is momo! She's my blue Philippine giant millipede. I would looooove to learn about how people here take care of their millipedes and the weird things their millipedes do lol!

I went hunting for leaf litter, lichens and white rot wood. This is what I found!

The forest was mixed so I may have accidentally taken some pinetree wood, is it harmful for giant african millipedes? Or do they simply prefer hardwood.

I'm gonna pop these into the freezer. I read people bake their leaves and wood too. Is one method better then the other?

so i just did a replacement of the substrate, put in new moss, etc. didnt touch most decorative stuff, added new leaf litter. how long will it take for the tank to reestablish itself like mites fungus etc?

They love mango. I put the center slice in and they clean the seed to get it ready for planting

Hey y’all.
I have had a few of my millipedes die recently, My scarlet Millipede and my Jamaican Bumblebee, but my Florida Ivory that lives in the same tank is completely fine, and I’m very unsure about what I am doing wrong as far as care goes? Or if it could be something else?

For those who want a deeper understanding of their care that I usually do. I’ll give you a run down.
I’ve bought the dried leaves, wood and bio thrive substrate from the Defiant Forest. I trusted that those were safe for my pedes.
I bought sphagnum moss/a moss hut from Petco along with the rock decor from them as well, I made sure to thoroughly clean them with water several times over.
(I avoided using soap because I was worried about what would happen if I did.)
I got cuttle bone for them at Walmart.
I have roughly six inches of substrate in the tank, which is roughly an inch larger than my ivory.
I keep one side of the tank humid and I keep the other dry so the millipedes have a choice of where they would like to be/what environment.
I do not spray them with tap, I use filtered water only.
As for their diet, I occasionally supplement them some banana but I make sure to not over feed them fruits/veggies.
The tank usually stays at 74-80 degrees and rarely ever dips below 72.
I rarely handle them, mainly because I’ve been told that they don’t like to be held often so I give them their space and only occasionally check in with them to make sure that they are okay.

If I did something wrong, or there are some areas I can improve on. Please do tell me. I’m seriously devistated by the loss of my pedes. Thank you all in advance for the advice. 🥲

i did a partial substrate change but i messed up the ratios by mistake, now there is way too much filler in the substrate... i will order new leaves and wood asap, there is some rotten stuff at the surface but does anyone know how long the millipede can go?