Care information

Environmental conditions and basic care:

Temperature🌡️- 21 to 26c 

Humidity💧- 70 to 80%

Origin: South east USA

Habitat size : For all millipedes width and length of its enclosure sould be 2 to 3 times longer than the max lenght of the millipede

For the smokey oak millipede this means it should be atleast 20x30cm but more is better in this case. 

Habitat information: Substrate depth is atleast 12 cm deep but a bit deeper would be best 

Nutrition 🥦: Millipedes are detritivores meaning they eat decaying organic matter. 

This includes:

Decaying hardwood leaves

Rotting hardwood (mycelium indicates rot, look for wood that falls apart easily)

Living plant matter (mosses, lichens, grasses, ferns, vegetables, etc)

Other decomposing organisms (Mold, bacteria, fungus)

That means substrate is super important as it is the millipede’s main diet. Supplemental feeding of vegetables/fruits/etc should be infrequent, maybe once a week. Protein should be offered more often, like twice a week.

Molting: All millipedes periodically molts throughout their life. Before to molting, the millipede will often burrow deep into the substrate and may remain hidden for extended periods sometimes up to weeks or months at a time! During this time they are extremely vulnerable. They shed their exoskeleton and become very soft. Adequate substrate depth is one of the most important husbandry requirements because it provides the protected environment necessary for successful molts. For this reason, millipedes should never be dug up simply because they have not been seen for several weeks. For this reason as well its important to only house millipedes with other millipedes or alone. Other species of snails, beetles, isopods, ect will sometimes take advantage of the millipedes softer state and eat them. Many hobbyests have lost millipedes to this. 

Important info:

Size 📏- 11.5 cm will grow to full size between 2 and 5 years of age

Life expectancy 🕰️- 5 to 11 years

Sexual maturity ♥️- 1 to 2 years