I finally ordered my millipede from Ken and set up my millipede cage last night. The tank is a 10 gallon exo-terra filled with approximately 4 inches of compost as the base. Then there's an inch to an inch and a half of aspen bedding that I misted and made very moist. I'm going to get some leaves and wood in there soon. Also, I covered the screen lid with a sheet of plexiglass that I drilled 10 1/4 inch holes into.

Any comments about improvements I could make are greatly appreciated! I'm hoping to have some pics up within the next day or two.

I'd mix the compost and the aspen (so the aspen will break down faster), and maybe mix in some coconut fiber as well and then put the leaves on top of that.

Is it organic compost of a soil-like consistancy?

Wade

Yes the compost is organic and looks and feels just like soil.

Sounds great! The only thing you'll have to watch out for is mold and pest insects, but that's always an issue with millipedes since you have decaying organic matter and moisture. The substrate should be moist, but not soppping wet. If you can hold a handful of it and squeeze water out of it it might be too damp.

Wade

Alright thanks for the help. A little nervous since it's my first millipede. Pretty excited right now, he gets here tomorrow afternoon. She'll have some nice veggies and fruit to welcome her home. If you have any calcium powder recommendations let me know. The LPS has a variety of them but none are really millipede or arthropod specific.

The brand I use is Repcal, but that's only because it's what I use for my reptiles anyway. I just sprinkle a light dusting on the surface of the substrate maybe once every one or months. It's not something they need all the time, and I'm not sure they really need it at all if the regular diet is good, but better safe than sorry.

They also occasionally enjoy a sprinkling of fish food flakes. As detritovores, most of their diet is vegetarian, but they do occasionally like a little protein. Fish food flakes should be offered very sparingly as any leftovers would feed a mite explosion. Actually, if you're diligent about removing uneaten food before it spoils (not counting the "substrate food" like the leaves, wood etc) you'll avoid 90% of pest problems. Millipedes eat wilted/overripe veggies just fine, but they won't touch the stuff that's started to liquefy so you want to remove it before them.

Wade

OK thanks for the advice. She just arrived, I decided to name her Rica, and she immediately started exploring everything as soon as the lid was taken off her shipping container. As soon as she was on the substrate the dived headfirst into the compost, it's awesome to watch them dig!

I also have a small plastic lid with small pieces of yellow squash, apple, carrot, etc. The millipedes come up from the substrate under the lid, eat the food and go back into the substrate through the same holes. It is very cool. What species do you have? They mainly eat the decomposing organic matter (e.g., leaves, wood, etc.) but it is fun to see them come up and eat the other food in the lid. Just a thought...

Good luck!