Essential Millipede Care: 4 Types That Make Great Pets and How To Care For Millipedes

Are you planning to keep a millipede as a pet? Here is how to provide millipede care, including how to house, feed, breed, and ensure its health.

For nature lovers, millipedes make great low-maintenance pets. This is more so if you are looking for simple pets that don’t need too much involvement, cleaning, bathing, feeding, or exercising like dogs or cats, millipedes are a great choice.

Taking care of a millipede is easy since they mostly feed on dead and decaying plant matter.

If you are planning to get a millipede as a pet, this article will be worth your time. I guess you’re probably excited about your potential new pet, so why not dive right into it?

Types of Millipedes for Pets

As you might be aware, it’s important to choose the right species when keeping any creature as a pet.

While there are over 12,000 species of millipedes, not all of them are equally suitable for keeping as pets.

Some species are also capable of secreting toxins that can cause irritation and make the skin burn or itch. Some of the best millipede species to keep as pets are as follows.

Bumblebee Millipedes

These brightly-colored millipedes look very beautiful, which makes them one of the most popular choices among those seeking to keep millipedes as pets.

Unlike others, their bodies have alternative stripes of bright green and black. Bumblebee millipedes are strong and hardy, which makes them easy to keep.

Scarlet Millipedes

If you’re planning to keep millipedes in a vivarium, scarlet millipedes are a good choice. Their rusty red color contrasts very well against green environments.

Although originally native to Malaysia and Indonesia, they have now become very common in the US, especially in Florida.

Smokey Oak Millipedes

This species of millipedes is native to the southeastern part of the US. It can grow up to a length of four inches and mostly feeds on decaying matter.

Also known as the smokey ghost millipede, it’s of a dull grayish brown color with a touch of red at both ends.

Giant Millipedes

If you’re fascinated by large creepy crawlies, you may go for the giant millipede. However, you should keep in mind that these millipedes can grow up to 13 inches long with a diameter similar to a golf ball!

One of their subspecies, the giant African millipede, happens to be the world’s largest millipede (about 15 inches long).

You should consider getting giant millipedes only if you have enough space for a vivarium big enough to house them.

Giant millipedes are quite docile and tolerant of being handled. However, they might curl into a tight spiral and excrete a hydrogen cyanide-based chemical when frightened.

It’s always a good idea to wash your hands after handling a giant millipede.

Housing

One of the best things about keeping millipedes as pets is that they don’t require very complicated or expensive housing.

Aquariums or other similar containers suffice for this purpose. Remember to choose a container size based on the number of millipedes you’re planning to keep inside it.

Generally speaking, the container should be at least thrice as long as all their lengths are combined.

What species you are choosing also matters when selecting the housing container since the sizes vary from one species to another.

If you’re planning to keep giant millipedes, you need a 10-to-15-gallon aquarium for just two of them.

Your millipede container should also be wide enough to provide them with adequate wiggle room.

While you need to make sure there aren’t any openings large enough for the millipedes to escape, always remember to leave tiny holes for ventilation.

Place the tank somewhere safe from loud noises and bright lights.

When decorating the interior, add objects that millipedes can use as hiding spots when scared, such as a plastic dome, small rocks, or a broken vase.

When housing millipedes of multiple species, make sure not to keep two different species in the same container, as they might fight for resources and dominance.

Substrate

Don’t forget to add a substrate to the container – it’s crucial for the survival of your millipedes.

The substrate provides them with food and moisture while acting as a surface they can dig into when needed.

You can always buy suitable substrates at pet shops that offer insect-oriented supplies. You can also make your own substrate by mixing soil, leaf litter, and wood.

A wet mix of bark and fresh moss can also work. Ideally, each substrate layer must be at least 5 inches thick.

You need to replenish the calcium content in the substrate using calcium supplements.

Temperature and Humidity

When keeping millipedes as pets, it’s important to maintain the right temperature gradient and humidity level inside the container.

Remember, millipedes cannot survive in the absence of adequate moisture.

A temperature between 72°F and 78°F is ideal for most millipedes, though you can raise it as high as 85 degrees.

You can use a heating mat to fix the right temperature. The humidity levels should be between 60% and 70%, and the substrate has to be moist at all times.

You’ll have to mist the container with water to boost moisture levels at regular intervals.

Food and Water

Keeping your millipedes fed isn’t too hard since the substrate itself is a food source for them.

The decaying plant matter in the substrate should sate most of their hunger.

However, you should throw in bits of fruits and vegetables for variety. Apples, cucumbers, squash, lettuce, bananas, melons, and carrots are particularly good choices.

Remember to slide the fruits and veggies very thin, as millipedes have weak mouthparts.

They won’t always eat all the food, and there might be leftovers. Remove all the uneaten food every morning to prevent it from rotting.

Providing water for your millipedes isn’t much hassle, as they can drink directly from standing water.

Apart from misting regularly, also put a shallow water bowl in the container.

Put a small stone they can use to climb in and out so that they don’t fall into the water.

Make sure the water you provide isn’t chlorinated. Invertebrates are particularly sensitive to chlorine, and this applies to millipedes too.

Taking Care & Common Health Problems

One of the challenges of keeping invertebrates like millipedes as pets are that we don’t know much about their health problems yet.

Even highly experienced veterinarians specializing in exotic animals cannot provide thorough care for millipedes.

Hence, you should focus on taking proper care of them to avoid health problems altogether.

Feeding a millipede properly and providing it with a suitable environment is usually enough to keep it happy and healthy.

A healthy millipede would eat regularly and always look round and full.

If you notice a lack of appetite in one of your millipedes or if its shell looks too dry, it’s probably unwell.

Other signs of health problems include lethargic behavior and the growth of fungus on their shell.

Dehydration can cause millipedes to grow shriveled and become lethargic, while fungi are visible as fuzzy white patches.

You may contact a veterinarian in these cases, but bear in mind that fungal infections might be lethal and usually occur when a millipede is already in poor health.

Millipedes share a symbiotic relationship with mites living on their shells. These mites help to keep them clean. However, some mites are parasitic, and therefore you might need to remove them.

Breeding

Millipedes reproduce in large numbers and multiply rather fast. However, it’s quite hard to identify their sex, which makes it difficult to pair them up for breeding.

You can check the seventh segment of their bodies for legs – males have a specialized pair of legs in this segment that they usually conceal in a pouch.

If you find the identification too hard, just get several millipedes and put them together. Some of them will most likely breed with the others.

Female millipedes build underground chambers to lay their eggs.

Safety Precautions

Since millipedes are usually docile and harmless, they’re quite safe to keep. However, avoid startling or scaring them as it might cause them to secrete toxins.

Some species of millipedes can also spit out a dye that would take some time to fade from your skin.

Always wash your hands after handling millipedes to avoid ingesting their toxins unknowingly or touching your eyes with them.

If you allow children to handle millipedes, don’t leave them unsupervised while they’re at it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Wrap Up

As long as you care for them properly, you can easily get them to live a healthy life and breed more baby millipedes.

As you can see, caring for a millipede is very simple. I hope reading this article has shown you the ropes of keeping a millipede as a pet and taking care of it.