[BethInAK]

so I noticed that my springtail population appeared to have gone kaput in the mourning gecko viv but that we still had isos in the tank. I was planning to reseed in springs in the spring when i could get them delivered.

Today i took out the gecko bowl and underneath is was something that made me scream like a 10 year old sissy.

It was shiny (exoskeleton shiny) black and brown striped and longer than it was wide. It buried itself before I got the balls to poke it and try and extricate it from the soil. It was also BIG. It was as wide as a gecko, which is at least a quarter inch and much longer. If I didn't think it impossible, I'd think it was a giant milipede.

What the hell could the thing be? Do I need to get rid of it? It has not harmed any geckos up to this point ( we still have three) and the plants are doing well in that tank. It does seem to have harmed (or something has) my springtail population.

I did cook wood, sanitize plants and soil before using in this viv. There is a screen top.

 

[Mer_]

Is there an image of this horrendous creature? It sounds absolutely creepy. I have enough problems with the small millipedes.

 

[fieldnstream]

Hey Beth, ever seen the movie Tremors?

 

[frogparty]

Centipede. Look up Scolopendra. There are a lot of related genus of centipede. Many have nasty bites. Be careful

 

[srrrio]

Have you ever seen those little spring action things with prongs? I think I got one at IKEA for getting olives out of a jar. They are great for getting horrible, creepy, wretched bugs out of your tank. Especially for women who don't have balls.

If you use it for olives after extracting creature...be sure to dunk in high quality vodka.

Sally

 

[Mer_]

did it look like this?

Giant Millipede

I don't know how likely it would be to have on appear in your viv. Or how it would have gotten there.

 

[jsb]

Sorry Beth, but Field that was just too funny.

 

[zBrinks]

Do you feed phoenix worms? The larvae can bury in the substrate, and if you just catch a glimpse of them, resemble what you saw.

 

[Micro]

well what kind of food do they like? i would start by putting that out and waiting with a pellet gun if its as big and nasty as you say. lmao

 

[Mer_]

Centipede. Look up Scolopendra. There are a lot of related genus of centipede. Many have nasty bites. Be careful

That is possibly the scariest animal I have seen in a while.

 

[BethInAK]

Hey Beth, ever seen the movie Tremors?

EXACTLY. it looked just like this:

 

[Micro]

check that vid out!

 

[BethInAK]

ok so the colors were just like a giant milipede but it seemed like the segments were longer. I saw no front or back end nor did I see centipedish legs.. Maybe its denial but I do not think it was a centipede. I'm familiar with centipedes because we have them in the yard and my son collects various creatures in the summer.

i DID have superworms in there at one time- but they were too big for the geckos and perhaps they tried to eat one and then dropped it because it was too big.

Let us hope this is what it is, and not that thing from Tremors.

 

[frogparty]

My awesome girlfriend who tolerates fly larvae in the fridge, bugs and stuff all over the house etc. took one look at that video and said NO FUCKING WAY! Wish I could have one

 

[BethInAK]

Is there an image of this horrendous creature? It sounds absolutely creepy. I have enough problems with the small millipedes.

No. I was too busy dancing in horror and going EW EW EW to find a camera at that moment.

 

[BethInAK]

Have you ever seen those little spring action things with prongs? I think I got one at IKEA for getting olives out of a jar. They are great for getting horrible, creepy, wretched bugs out of your tank. Especially for women who don't have balls.

If you use it for olives after extracting creature...be sure to dunk in high quality vodka.

Sally

my dad has one for picking up crap from behind the washer etc - its probably alot longer than one for olives - could be handy with this monster.

 

[BethInAK]

well what kind of food do they like? i would start by putting that out and waiting with a pellet gun if its as big and nasty as you say. lmao

We don't have a pellet gun.
We do have a 9mm. I am not familiar with how to use it.
My son did get a Godric Gryffendor sword replica for Christmas. Perhaps I can sever the thing.

 

[BethInAK]

Giant centipede eating mouse. - YouTube

check that vid out!

HELL NO.

(apparently, "hell no" is too short of a message to be acceptable and I must type more)

 

[BethInAK]

the more i look at pictures of centipedes the less sure I am it isn't one.

 

[Ed]

I'm looking forward to pictures but even without seeing it, I'm casting a vote for a flat millipede (Polydesmida millipede (for a sample see Millipedes of Kentucky - University of Kentucky Entomology). A centipede in the size she described would have eaten the mourning gecko a long time ago... In addition the flat millipedes are well known to get into terraria

Ed