🐾 LandCare difficulty: BeginnerLegal complexity: Low
Ivory millipede
Chicobolus spinigerus · also called Florida ivory millipede
A handsome, hardy millipede native to the southeastern US, named for the creamy ivory banding between its dark segments. Docile, long-lived, and easy to keep, it is an excellent beginner and display species.
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Quick facts
| Size | Medium millipede, roughly 7-11 cm (3-4.5 in) long, with a dark body ringed by pale ivory/cream bands. |
| Lifespan | 5–10 years |
| Social needs | group |
| Native region | North America |
| Origin | New World |
| Climate | ⛅ Subtropical |
| Family | Spirobolidae |
| Genus | Chicobolus |
Part of the Millipedes
Gentle, detritivorous arthropods that recycle leaf litter and rotting wood. Hardy and low-maintenance, they make excellent display and beginner invertebrates.
Habitat & space requirements
From the minimum an animal needs to be kept humanely, up to the ideal setup. Bigger is almost always better — minimums are floors, not targets.
Life & growth stages
How this animal changes through its life — each stage often has its own care, diet and space needs.
Habitat & enclosure
A 5-10 gallon (20-40 L) enclosure houses a small group. Provide deep, moist, hardwood-based substrate (10-15 cm) for burrowing, generous leaf litter, rotting wood, and cork-bark hides. Keep at 21-26 C (70-79 F) and 70-85% humidity with cross-ventilation to avoid stagnant air. As a US-native species it is undemanding, but captives should still never be released, especially outside their native range.
Substrate
A deep, bioactive blend of decomposed hardwood leaves, rotten wood, coco fiber, and a little topsoil, kept consistently moist but never waterlogged. A cleanup crew of springtails and dwarf isopods keeps the substrate healthy and helps recycle waste.
Equipment & setup
Usually no heating is needed at room temperature; a thermostatted low-wattage heat mat helps in cool rooms. No UVB required. Useful items: misting bottle, hygrometer, secure ventilated lid, cuttlebone, and a springtail/isopod cleanup crew.
Diet
A detritivore whose staple is decaying hardwood leaf litter (oak, maple, beech) and soft rotting wood. Supplement with vegetables such as cucumber, squash, carrot, and sweet potato, plus a calcium source (cuttlebone) for molting. Keep decomposing leaves and wood available at all times.
Behavior & temperament
Calm, slow, and non-aggressive; it does not bite. When threatened it curls into a spiral and may release a defensive fluid containing benzoquinones that can stain skin and irritate — wash hands after handling and keep it away from your eyes and face. It tolerates gentle, brief handling. Social and best kept in groups; mostly nocturnal and burrowing, surfacing after misting.
Health
Robust and long-lived for an invertebrate. Most problems trace to substrate that is too dry (failed molts) or too wet/dirty (mold, mites, fungus-gnat or phorid-fly infestations). Provide calcium to support successful molts, remove rotting produce promptly, and maintain ventilation. Mite blooms respond to predatory mites and drier, fresher substrate.
Tips, DIY & hacks
Set up and age the bioactive substrate before adding the millipedes so leaf litter and microfauna are established. Keep a moisture gradient by misting one side more heavily. Bury extra rotting hardwood, which is both food and shelter. Offer cuttlebone for molting calcium, and don't dig for the animals while they are molting underground.
Sources
- BugGuide — Chicobolus spinigerus (reference)
- Ivory Millipede (Chicobolus spinigerus) husbandry (care guide)
- Wikipedia: Ivory millipede (wiki)