Centipedes: Ethmostigmus Trigonopodus Niger

Species like this can reach up to 18cm in length so it’s ideal to keep them in something with enough width so they can fully stretch out. We keep a lot of our centipedes in 3 litre plastic tubs, or with adult or larger species, in larger set ups like our medium to large faunariums. It’s important to note centipedes are generally good escape artist and surprisingly strong for their size, so it’s important to have an enclosure that’s tightly sealed and won’t open easily. They’re not good however at climbing smooth surfaces like plastic and glass, so enclosures that are wide but also got some hight will help with preventing centipedes from escaping.

As for care, centipedes are quite hardy animals but generally you’re looking to keep a species like this around 23 – 26 degrees but can withstand slightly lower room temperatures. If you think the place where you’ll be keeping it might be too cold, then investing in a heat mat might be necessary.

You’ll want to offer your centipede a cricket or two around once a week, you’ll generally get a good idea of their feeding regime the longer you have it and might find it’ll go longer between feeds. Some of our centipedes that are less food receptive will eat on a fortnightly basis.

As for water and humidity, a small water bowl can be offered and giving them a light mist once or twice a week would be ideal.

Centipedes like Ethmostigmus Trigonopodus do like to burrow a lot of the time so several inches of coir substrate would be necessary. Sphagnum moss can be placed around their enclosure as well to help with humidity.

It’s also important to remember centipedes are venomous and are not recommended for handling.