4/12/2021: Archispirostreptus gigas update

Spring is here and with a whole slew of projects and work. April’s been another busy month for me with no signs of stopping.

One of the most frequent e-mail inquiries I’ve gotten over the last year is for African giant millipedes. For those who’ve been asking and getting my “check back around June” response, here’s a more indepth update.

I have had African giant millipedes since June of 2015 when I received some “captive bred” adults. About 6 months later, I found babies in their old enclosure, and since then I’ve been growing them up to adulthood. In fall 2020 I noticed pairing behavior in my remaining group of 1.3, and this has continued til present. There seems to be cannibalism or die-offs in early instars when the young are crowded initially, so I have taken to moving my adults between different enclosures. The hope is they will lay eggs with each move and I will have several undercrowded containers of babies to work with.

I’m watching the winter 2021 enclosure closely as I’ve moved the adults to a fresh bin, and this is where we are currently. Considering my prior experience, if babies hatch they should do so sometime around June 2021, hence my estimates. However, it’s all up to my hard working breeders and all I can do at this point is provide good husbandry and wait.

-Kyle