pics of Onyx..(WARNING...if a lotta legs creeps you out!)

Onyx, my African Giant black millipede was active last night, so I took some fun shots. I have had a total of five of these guys, and besides the fact that they migh creep some people out, i think they make excellent,easy, low maintenance pets...even for kids.
http://snakeneggs.com/snakepics/onyx head.jpg
closeup!...
http://snakeneggs.com/snakepics/onyx.jpg
in her cage...
http://snakeneggs.com/snakepics/commensal.jpg
on this closeup, you can see a little critter looks like a tick...It's a commensal mite, and all giant blacks have them crawling inbetween their legs. The mites are harmless; they actually serve as the millipede's own "clean-up crew", feasting on bits of food and dried feces(yum).
...I looove my snakes, but creepy crawlies also fascinate me, as i have had several scorions, tarantulas, walking sticks,moths, etc,. over the years. I would highly recommend one of these guys to someone who wants an inexspensive, extremely low maintence pet that can live in a small space and doesn't require supplemental heating. You can evn hold em', they don't bite, and guess what??? they only eat veggies!!!! (yay no crickets!)

Hehe....thanks for the warning! (You know it just made me want to look even more! LOL) Well, whether I would ever want one for a pet or not, I must say those are fabulous pictures! That close-up shot of the legs is just amazing...even if it does creep me out some! :P


How long do those usually live in captivity?

oh i so need to get my kid one of these!

give us more details!!! are they toxic at all?

I am not exactly sure, because (beleive it or not) they are not as popular as many other invert pets, so the knowledge of their actual bios is still under reasearch...it has been reported however, of them being kept for nine years. My fave, Minion, died after five years, but she was big when I got her.I wanted to breed them, because they have neen bred in captivity, but it's extremely diffucult to find a male...the girls outnumber the guys 10 to 1!

As far as toxicity goes, the only thing you really have to worry about is this stuff they secrete when frightened....it looks and smells just like iodine, and basically all ya gotta do is just wash your hands. With experience, I have found that most millipedes stop doing this when they get used to frequent gentle handling.

I believe millipedes are completely harmless, and feed mostly on decaying plant material in the wild. Whereas centipedes do have some venom involved and eat bugs. If the legs are lateral to the body, then it's a centipede. You can see the legs on the millipede are located directly under the body. :D

Right on tigerlily!!! I beleive as well, that they are completely harmless. I don't feed mine decaying stuff, but I'm sure they would eat it. Funny too, how some of them acquire tastes for certain things such as tomatoes and corn....i had one (Minion) that loooved chick peas!!! Strange thing is, i love chick peas too;)

That's actually kind of cute. Centipedes? Nuhuh. That? Cute.

Funny thing is, my son's school had the zoo doing presentations for Earth day yesterday. He told me this morning about the little bugs that lived on them. How weird. I hate when my 6 year old shows me up. :oops: :imslow:

oh how cool... i'm gonna check this out and see if i can find one for her. my 7 yr old is soooo into bugs!