Care information

Environmental conditions and basic care:

Temperature🌡️- 22 to 28c

Humidity💧- 70 to 85%

Origin: Western africa

Habitat size : A large habitat for exploration is very important for giant olive millipedes

Habitat information: The enclosure should replicate a forest floor rather than a traditional terrarium.

Deep substrate is also import with minimum of 20 cm in depth. It should contain hard wood leaves as well as the lowest levels always being kept moist. Avoid waterlogged conditions, as stagnant wet substrate can promote harmful bacterial growth. It should be damp but not soaked.

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: Like all millipedes, Telodeinopus aoutii periodically molts throughout its 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 hard exoskeloton 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 📏- up to 19 cm this makes them one of the larger species that is kept by hobbyists

Life expectancy 🕰️- 7 to 10 years

Activity: Primarily nocturnal. Giant Olive Speckled Leg Millipedes are calm, slow-moving animals that spend much of the day hidden beneath the substrate in dry conditions, and proudly displaying itself in humid conditions. They can disapear for days at a time in burrows. 

Difficulty Level: This species is considered beginner friendly in its care requirements