Snails and millipedes together?

[oceanlover]

Can GALS and Giant African Black Millipedes live in the same terrarium? They live together in the wild, same temperature and humity, same food.... so I don't know if would be a bad idea keeping them in the same terrarium.

What you think? Can they harm the snails?

Giant African Black Millipedes info:
www.petbugs.com/caresheets/A-gigas.html

[Arno]

don't know really,just read that about secreting the liquid,I wouldn't risk that with snails .

[Kevin]

I have A.gigas millipedes, which are about 30cm long, I dont keep them with any of my snails, I keep small millipedes and Fruit Beetles together though.

I dont know if millipedes would be harmful to snails or vice-versa? maybe they would eat each others eggs? or the snails may disturb the millipedes during shedding? though Im unsure.

[sezzy5889]

there has been a slight debate on this subject, because of the secretion the millipedes let off and whether it would harm the snails, also as milli's and snails burrow, whether the snails would disturb the milli's causing stress etc

Is it the cleaning you are thinking about whether the milli's would help keep the tank clean, because you could keep roaches or woodlice in with snails, thye do a grand job.

[Kevin]

sezzy5889 said:

there has been a slight debate on this subject, because of the secretion the millipedes let off and whether it would harm the snails, also as milli's and snails burrow, whether the snails would disturb the milli's causing stress etc

Is it the cleaning you are thinking about whether the milli's would help keep the tank clean, because you could keep roaches or woodlice in with snails, thye do a grand job.

roaches? are you sure? I have lots of species of roaches, most are fast moving and will eat anything, and the slow ones (hissers, blaberus) have quite sharp feet, so I'd worry about them damaging the snails body if they were to climb over them...i've wondered about woodlice before though, but im not sure enough to mix other species of inverts with my snails.

[section8angel]

Arno has woodlice I think. Not him personally Lol but in his tanks. Says they do a great job.

[sezzy5889]

a few people keep woodlice in with their snails and say they do a grand job of eating snail poo etc, i should think small species of roach would be ok, i wouldn't think they'de eat the snails, lol, as long as you don't mind them running across your hand or up your arm when you go to pick your snails up, hehe

[section8angel]

I always used to love woodlice, then I went off them and now I find them cute lol. If I still had soil I'd use them. I don't know how they'd do with the matting and moss set up.

As the others have said I'd be wary about the liquid, and of them getting too stressed. Most snails don't care whats in their way when they're moving around and burrowing.

[sezzy5889]

I don't think woodlice need soil, just food and somewhere to hide

[oceanlover]

Hum... I see, well the millipedes that I'm thinking in buy are young and don't have more than 20cm long.
And millipedes will not eat them, they eat vegetables in decoposition..

The only problem that I see is the liquid, but millipedes just use it if in danger, can a snail make the millipedes feel in danger??

Sian said "Most snails don't care whats in their way" well it could be a problem when the millipedes are resting, but they rest under rocks or woods where snails jut can put their head..

[sezzy5889]

yes but if a millipede burrows and then a snail does on top of it, the snail could stress the milli causing it to secrete the liquid, which is poisonous to other animals

[deadmansfinger]

I personally wouldn't mix the two. I understand what you say about them living together in the wild and this is fine but it's totally different when they are confined together in a small tank. Millipedes do excrete a noxious substance but it is relatively harmless in the species we keep as pets but probably still enough to cause some irritation to a GAL. Something else to note is that not all millipedes burrow. I find my smaller ones do but the bigger species like my Malay Blacks spend 99% of there time on the surfaces and even climbing in the branches so they would be competing for space both above and below ground. Personally from what I have saw I don't think the millipedes would of concern to the GALS but if the GALS climbed over the top the the millipede then it would certainly feel threatened and then we are back to the problem of the secretions.
I understand it's tempting to try and create a small piece of nature within your tank but the area is really so confined it's probably not fair on the animals involved to do so.

Brian.

[deadmansfinger]

I also share Kevin's concerns of mixing roaches with GALS. In my experience roaches are CRAZY
They are fast moving and I think they would definately stress the GALS and I bet they would find there way into there breathing holes. I would advise against this mixture. It was brought up in a millipede forum about mixing millipedes and roaches and again we have the case of millipedes being slow moving docile creatures whereas these crazy roaches crawling all over the place could cause unneccessary stress on the millipedes.

Brian.

[oceanlover]

Hum.. ok I see, the terrarium is a Little small too... so is better keep them in different terrariuns...

Thanks or the info ;D

[ceiron]

i have successfully mixed gals, millipedes and a few other invertts.

give them the space and decent environment and they are perfectly happ, i would expect that seeing as alot of millipedes are african they do meet in the wild.

aslong as they all have similar requiremetns and arent carnivorous then they will be fine.

[Kevin]

ceiron said:

i have successfully mixed gals, millipedes and a few other invertts.

give them the space and decent environment and they are perfectly happ, i would expect that seeing as alot of millipedes are african they do meet in the wild.

aslong as they all have similar requiremetns and arent carnivorous then they will be fine.

What other invertebrates besides millipedes? have the snails laid eggs with the other inverts sharing the tank with them?

[deadmansfinger]

Ceiron,

when you say you are giving them space unless you are talking on a HUGE scale here you are trying to recreate nature in the confines of an aquarium and these animals although they live "together" in the wild won't be in such constantly close proximity to each other all the time. I really believe this would have a detrimental effect on at least one of the species as they are forced to interact on a constant basis.
Just because you have got away with it so far doesn't make it right.

Happy to discuss this further.

Brian

[ceiron]

i havent got away with this.lol

its been done successfully thanks.

not jsut by me but by others too and when i tal kabout space i dont mena a 2 ft tank.

i dont currently have any of these setups but have assisted with others in setting up and stuff and in zoo's and thus the tan ksizees are big.

however millipedes and snails i na small er 2/3ft tank should still work imo, they do differnet jobs and as such should not come into contact where they will affect each other.

it is of course a personal decision but i havent just doen thsi off a whim and mixed spexcies tanks do work.

if yo uwish to disagree then feel free but do not question my husbandry, i always ahev and will continue to put aniamls first.

as for other species, fruit beetles are nice, prefer the fresher fruits and so leave decaying stuff for millipedes and then the snails can have adequate fresh too.lol

also seen tarantulas mixed in, in so me zoo's and it works well.

[Fredrik former forum member]

-"Millipedes do excrete a noxious substance but it is relatively harmless in the species we keep as pets"

I wouldn't say that they are harmless. Even the most common species can be dangerous if you are frequently exposed to their defensive secretions.
Many of the substances found in their secretions are highly allergens and carcinogenic.

[deadmansfinger]

I think it would be best to state that this mix was NOT done in a 2 foot (for example) sized tank and not just to say you did it successfully as people see you saying you did it and copy it in there 2 foot setups.

On a large scale I am sure it works but to say millipedes and snails do different jobs and would not come into contact is simply wrong. My millipedes burrow and they also love to climb in the branches. My GALS burrow and they also love to climb. There is always going to be a chance for them to come into contact with each other.

When I was referring to the millipedes we keep as pets have relatively harmless secretions I should have been more specific. I meant compared to the species we do not keep as pets which have very toxic secretions. thanks for pointing that out fredrick and welcome back!

I would love to see some of the zoo setups that you have assisted in setting up Ceiron.

Brian ;D