{"id":1864,"date":"2020-11-08T19:59:10","date_gmt":"2020-11-08T19:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keepingbugs.com\/?p=1864"},"modified":"2021-09-12T16:02:09","modified_gmt":"2021-09-12T16:02:09","slug":"what-do-giant-millipedes-eat-as-a-pet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keepingbugs.com\/what-do-giant-millipedes-eat-as-a-pet\/","title":{"rendered":"What Do Giant Millipedes Eat As A Pet?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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What do giant millipedes eat? An important question when you consider keeping a millipede or when you have purchased a millipede recently. Quality and nutritious food are crucial for a healthy and happy millipede. When considering that millipedes are detritivores \u2014 animals that feed on decaying organic matter \u2014 what do you feed a giant millipede as a pet?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Millipedes eat primarily decaying organic matter, like rotten wood and leaves, which should be available at all times for you pet millipede. Although they can solely survive on this food, it is good practice to provide supplemental food items like fruits and vegetables. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you feed decaying wood and leaves, and how often do you feed them? There is much more to learn about the best practice of feeding pet millipedes. Let’s discover more about their fascinating food choice and how you can provide it for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The millipede food pyramid illustrates what you should, can, and shouldn’t feed to your millipedes.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A look at the millipede diet<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Millipedes peacefully meander munching on whatever decaying matter they happen to find on their way. They are categorised at detritivores, which means they prefer decaying matter over fresh matter. So please don’t feed them fresh leaves or grass, they won’t do anything with it. Instead, we need to provide decaying matter to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Primary food source<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The primary food source for millipedes is decaying wood and rotten leaves. Tasty right? Well, it is in the eyes of millipedes. And this is what should be available for them at all times. They won’t thrive on a diet consisting only of fruit and vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best way to feed them is to add rotten wood and decaying leaves in the substrate and mix it in. The wood pieces need to be crumbled in small pieces. They will munch from it when scouring the enclosure floor, and this way the newly hatched millipedes have food available immediately. It is the same with rotten leaves, just mix them in the substrate, but also place a cover layer on top of the substrate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can’t use just any rotten wood and leaves. First of all, these items need to be from hardwood tree species. Softwood often has resinous sap in it which harm or kill your millipede. It is the same as with using pines. They are unhealthy for millipedes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rotten wood needs to be very soft (so rotten that you can scrape pieces off with your fingernail). Avoid the dark brown and black rotten wood pieces. Almost every insect often avoids these parts, so it is unwise to feed that to your millipede. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you want to know more about creating good quality substrate? Read all about it how you make it and why you need it in the article ‘Substrate for millipedes: What you should know<\/strong><\/a>‘. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Supplemental food source<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although millipedes can survive on decaying plant matter only, they will start to thrive when you feed them supplemental food items. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Items that are perfect to feed millipedes are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n