New to Millipedes; best diet?

[jared]

Hey guys, I recently added some bumblebee millipedes to my collection and I was wondering what a good staple diet for them was.

I've been experimenting with different things with calcium sprinkled on them. They absolutely devoured the cucumber and butter lettuce I gave them, but they haven't touched the banana I gave them. Or the carrots, for that matter. Can they eat citrus fruits like oranges?

Also, they went nuts for the fish flakes I gave them. No feeding response for the pond sticks, though.

Thanks,

Jared

 

[Hisserdude]

Just to confirm, you do have rotten wood and dead leaves as the majority of the substrate, right?

Also, calcium is not really needed for millipedes, and they seem to develop just fine without calcium supplements in their diets.

They apparently really like watermelon, cantaloupe and pumpkin, and some will eat apple as well. You can try the oranges, though I don't think they'll go for it.

 

[jared]

Yep, I used organic sphagnum peat moss, a small amount of coco coir, oak leaves and crumbling wood baked at 200 degrees for 30 minutes, a small amount of cedar wood chips, and about 10% sand for burrowing. I mixed all that up, then put more leaves on top, and they're housed in a big storage container with a few ventilation holes and a small cut-out screen. Sub is moist but not dripping wet. I also have been pouring some water down one of the corners every week.

Also I just opened the enclosure to see them wrapped around the banana.

EDIT: To clarify, my question was more in regards to supplemental fruits and veg. I change out my roaches' food about three times a week and was going to do the same to the same with these guys.

 

[Hisserdude]

Yep, I used organic sphagnum peat moss, a small amount of coco coir, oak leaves and crumbling wood baked at 200 degrees for 30 minutes, a small amount of cedar wood chips, and about 10% sand for burrowing. I mixed all that up, then put more leaves on top, and they're housed in a big storage container with a few ventilation holes and a small cut-out screen. Sub is moist but not dripping wet. I also have been pouring some water down one of the corners every week.

Also I just opened the enclosure to see them wrapped around the banana.

EDIT: To clarify, my question was more in regards to supplemental fruits and veg. I change out my roaches' food about three times a week and was going to do the same to the same with these guys.

Ok, just wanted to make sure lol!

Your current supplemental diet for them seems about as good as it gets, and that schedule seems good as well! Though they really don't need that much supplemental food, you could get away with feeding them that stuff much less often.

 

[jared]

Haha I gotcha; yeah I did lots of research before getting them. And ok cool, I just want to make sure they lay fertile eggs for me. I've seen them mating twice so hopefully that's soon?