# Never seen this before...



## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

Anybody have any idea what this is?


















The photos were taken with a macro lens... So they are very small, maybe 2-3 mm at most.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Millipede. The smallest species are only 2-3 mm in length. 

some comments 

Ed


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

Thanks Ed,

any risk to frogs and/or eggs?


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## Vinegaroonie (Jul 31, 2015)

carola1155 said:


> Thanks Ed,
> 
> any risk to frogs and/or eggs?


Millipedes are detritivores, but generally stay more on the herbivorous side (won't usually eat animal matter.) That said, most can release some sort of toxin which may or may not affect frogs. However, considering how small they are I wouldn't worry. They will actually be beneficial to the substrate. I would just watch your frogs carefully.


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## epiphytes etc. (Nov 22, 2010)

I have had millepedes take over a tank once. They exploded in numbers seemingly over night and were covering nearly every surface. They decimated the plants. I had to tear down and start from scratch.


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

Bummer.... Hopefully I won't have that issue. These guys seem to have popped up overnight but they don't seem to be eating live plants.... yet

I'll have to keep an eye on it I guess.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Those are not likely to result in the population explosion that damages the plantings. Larger species particularly some of the larger flat millipedes are capable of developing into populations that cause damage. 

While millipedes are known to contain or produce toxins up to and including cyanide they are also known to be part of dendrobatid diets in the wild and some millipedes are speculated to provide some of the toxins found in the frogs. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

Thanks for the response Ed. I should have probably noted this somewhere, these are in my H. valerioi enclosure, not a dart frog enclosure.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Given the size I wouldn't expect them to be at risk of predation by the frogs in that case. 

some comments 

Ed


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## Lance (Sep 8, 2008)

I've seen this lil guys in my tanks over the years. Just part of the game of vivariums. I haven't seen any plant damage to think of from these, now those lil land snails, and slugs on the other hand do damage anything. But I found a simple fix piece of celery. Twist it to get the celery aroma and watch the lil sobs come flocking.


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