millipede care question

bareass · #1 (**permalink**) 06-11-2008, 12:24 AM

i have a 18x18x24h exo-terra housing my crested gecko right now.. and i've been really getting into millipedes and thinking about getting one.. my tank is planted but not really over grown yet...
my question is will they eat fruit and lettuce and other food i set out for it first or will it go right for my plants? i just don't know if i should plant more or wait to let it over grow so i have some to spare!
thanks a lot

Jason · #2 (**permalink**) 06-11-2008, 06:04 AM

Depends on the mood it is in i suppose. i had a pair for a while and thay would snack on my plants on the way to the food dish and then again on the way back from it. Soon i started keeping the food dish right in front of the hide box. thay never moved more then 6 inchs from it for alost a year. no need to go looking for food i guess. just change up the diet and dont let them get bored.

bareass · #3 (**permalink**) 06-11-2008, 05:55 PM

ok sounds good
did they do a lot of damage to you plants? they are only so tall right.

Jason · #4 (**permalink**) 06-14-2008, 03:14 PM

I had one that was 14" i wish i had some dang pics of her. huge bugger the other only hit 7", the size of either the plant or Milli is moot, either he will climb it or the plant will dip because of the insects weight. the larger one would only eat the parts of the plant that where dieing off while the other liked to cut them down by the stalk. a friend of mine has 4 and thay never do anything more then nibble every now and then

Jason · #5 (**permalink**) 06-14-2008, 03:15 PM

woah lol, 14" was a tiny finger jump to far. eating pizza and typeing

was supposed to read 12"

bareass · #6 (**permalink**) 06-16-2008, 02:06 AM

i figured they would like the rotting stuff more! i should be getting one soon!

Jason · #7 (**permalink**) 06-16-2008, 05:40 AM

Aye, thay do tend to eat the fruit and veg thats into the enzymatic browning stage of decomp before anything fresh, but i have seen them chew a plant just because thay can dropping the bites onto the ground and not actually eating it. The only problem with feeding them stuff thats well into decomp is the bugs it will attract, mainly fruitflys and lots of them, I like to partly mash the food i give them because its not the state of decomp that attracts them its the softness as thay lack the jaw pressure to tear apart anything very hard. Ive seen a single medium cricket tear down a carrot faster then my adult lol

bareass · #8 (**permalink**) 06-16-2008, 01:45 PM

will keep that in mind thanks a ton!

bareass · #9 (**permalink**) 06-23-2008, 12:34 AM

just bought my millipede as well as set up my tank a little differently! i'll try and get pictures up soon of both, as well as an update on my gecko!
thanks for all the help.

ps. the millipede was appropriately named ..... milli vanilli!