u/Embarrassed_Pop9684

I tried to follow some of the advice here, but wanted some confirmation and advice on my first ever desert tank. I have 2 female chocolate desert millipedes in here, and they're almost always on the surface. I understand being surface active, but it doesn't feel great that they never dig or burrow. Id love to know if the substrate should be mixed like this or in layers, or if theres too much/not enough sand.

I used to have plastic covering the mesh lid for humidity, but I removed it after I found them climbed up between the plastic and the lid, assuming that they were trying to get somewhere drier. Now the tank is much less humid.

they have a nice big piece of cholla wood that they can hide in, some cork bark, big rocks, and lots of leaves. They have a water dish with some sand and stones at the bottom, and a piece of wood. Theres some fish flakes and calcium powder mixed in the enclosure pretty much at all times. When I take them out to handle them, I load up a cucumber slice or a sliced blueberry with fish food, calcium, and tiny shrimp pieces. Let me know!

edit: substrate is 6 inches deep. doesnt look to be on camera and i shouldve clarified

So im doing an enclosure upgrade soon (getting a bigger tank so that I can have deeper substrate) and I wanted to know what else I could do. Tank has been pretty established for months, but the deserts are a new addition.

SUBSTRATE:

I dont know how many gallons the current tank is, but its small, and has only about 4 inches of substrate (i believe). substrate includes added oak flake, charcoal chunks, and some mixes ive gotten over a few conventions. There is some spagnum moss on one side, I got it to keep moisture but I've heard advice about it being a choking hazard, so im thinking about not including it in the next tank.

STUFF IN THE TANK:

there are a few cork bark hides, lots of leaf litter (some from conventions, some that ive gathered and sterilized via freezer), some silver satin and golden pothos that i propagated, some seed pods, moss, and a water dish full of rocks to stand on underneath one of the hides, + a little ceramic food plate. It also contains a LOT of rotting oak wood that ive gathered, checked, and frozen, with some lichen.

SPECIES LIST:

the species list in here has gotten a little big (hence the upgrade), but we have:

• x2 chocolate desert
• x1 smokey oak
• x1 north american giant
• x1 purple ivory
• x1 floyds scrub
• x7 b. producta (very tiny guys)

+ a billion springtails

I keep the enclosure pretty damp, misting pretty much daily and more heavily on the left side of the tank.

QUESTIONS:

but when i think about my desert pedes, is it too foresty and damp for them? would they like something drier and more rocky? I got them from a con about a week ago (they were in quarantine before now) and im new to them.

TLDR; damp forest floor-y enclosure, looking for stuff to add/change when I upgrade the tank to a larger size. should my desert pedes be separate/in a more desert-y enclosure?

Hi guys! I recently got my hands on a colony of 7 feather millipedes (specifically B. Producta), and its been hard to find care information on them. Ive been collecting small mushrooms and lichens from trees and woodsy areas, but i cant tell if theyre really eating much. I honestly havent seen them around any of the mushrooms at all really.

I found this hardwood-based mushroom cultivating substrate on northspore, I was wondering if it would be any good for them. their stuff is organic (and heat sterilized i think, allegedly not chemically treated in any way) so i think its be okay, but would they actually eat it? what can i do about these little guys?

also, ive been housing them with my other pedes; which is a tank that has springtails in it (a very successful springtail culture, at that). is that too much competition? are the springtails gonna mow everything down before they can get to it?

reddit deleted my post body for some reason, so im super irritated retyping this, it might be less clear than the first time.

A few weeks ago, I had one of my ivories escape the enclosure. There was nothing wrong with the tank, and this was the only escape attempt I've ever had, so i think he was just curious (the way he got out has since been covered).

He was out of the enclosure for at MOST overnight, but likely much less. I found him first thing in the morning, a room over. I put him back in immediately.

Everything was fine for a week or two. Then I went on a two day weekend, came back and found him (pretty freshly) dead this morning covered in what I think were mites. I IMMEDIATELY emptied the tank and quarantined my remaining pedes (an ivory and two bumblebees) who all looked perfectly fine and healthy, with no mites or any other visible problems.

When I set up the tank, I baked all of the substrate in the oven at around 260 degrees for a few hours. I also baked the wood. I soaked the live plants, but theres still a chance there could've been something in them.

Im thinking it could've been a one off incident, that maybe my ivory brought something back with him that night he escaped for a few hours? I dont know.

Is there anything I can do? Do I just have to rebake and sterilize everything again, and hope for the best?

Im thinking about getting new springtails and resetting the tank. Maybe I was feeding them too much? I fed them probably once every 4-5 days with flake food.

Is there anything that eats the mites? Or maybe it was another cause. Please help!!!

found this guy (and a bigger rock that i think has more) on the beach. my guess was like smoky quartz or something but thats just from looking at pictures on google. any ideas?