milipede

Ryan Schweiger · 07-20-04, 10:52 AM

I was at a reptile show last weekend and a lady there said that she had six cresteds and that she kept a black milipede in the cage with them because it would eat the droppings of the geckos and feeds on the dead crickets and a little bit of the baby food. She said that they cohabitat very well and suggested it to me. I'm very leary about putting two different species of anything into the same enclosure and was wondering if anyone had ever heard of this before. This lady swears by it. She said that they geckos and the milipede leave each other alone, and I imagine if it they did that then it would be a benefit. She says it keeps her from having to clean the cage as much. Has anyone ever heard of that? Is it a good idea?

little_dragon_ · 07-20-04, 11:35 AM

I have heard of people keeping red earth worms in their natural tanks to filter out the waste in the soil but not milipedes. It sounds interesting though kind of like a plucko in a fish tank.

Betty Miskie · 07-20-04, 12:02 PM

In the Rhacodactylus Book it states "that the only invertebrate they've tried with crested geckos is the African Giant black millipede. They keep 2-4 with crested geckos in naturalistic vivaria. The millipedes thrive on the supplemented baby food and eat fecal matter and decomposing vegetation. They will not harm crested gecko eggs either."
Betty

dj_honeycuts · 07-20-04, 12:39 PM

Looks like someone already beat me to the "Rhacodactylus" quote.

If you have a large enough vivarium, I'd say give it a shot. You may want to wait until your crested is a little older though, just to give him/her that extra edge on growth as it can be a little tougher for them to find food in a more natural setup if they have been in a pretty sterile one to begin with.

little_dragon_ · 07-20-04, 12:48 PM

I really need to buy that book!!!

dj_honeycuts · 07-20-04, 01:39 PM

If you love the genus you won't regret it!

manville · 07-20-04, 01:43 PM

That is really interesting! But most of it poop is on the glass though or on the leaves so there isnt really any point of that.

adamofsound · 07-20-04, 04:14 PM

little dragon,
get the book. it is fantastic. I read it all in one night. my mother always said she'd make a reader out of me. just took 24 years and a book about rhacs!!!

little_dragon_ · 07-20-04, 05:57 PM

I'll most likely get one at the september show. How much was your book?

CDN-Cresties · 07-20-04, 06:41 PM

I think the book costs 55 bucks.

adamofsound · 07-20-04, 08:09 PM

mine was 52 plus shipping

Tigergenesis · 07-21-04, 10:57 AM

It is a great book. I plan to try the method of creating a bioactive substrate (the author said with this method he hasn't changed the substrate in 2 years!) and am considering adding a millipede or two as well. Millipedes are cool - especially the African Giants.