# Are these millipedes?



## AZimm (Nov 9, 2013)

I have been seeing these in my retf viv for the last month or two (assuming I attached the picture right). They kind of look like small pink millipedes to me. They are probably a centimeter or less in length. I'm not noticing any damage to the leaves of most of the plants....but I did have to take some air plants out of here because they were getting eaten up by something:/ They mainly hang out on the wood or on the back of the viv like in the picture. my main concern is if they will cause any problems for my frog. I think they are too small & slow for the tree frog to hunt. With nothing eating them up it seems like they could over populate easily. Any thoughts on what to do? Has anyone seen anything like these or dealt with them before? I looked at the other posts about millipedes but haven't seen pics that look quite like these ones.


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## LoganR (Oct 25, 2013)

The shape looks about right for millipedes. I tried enlarging the pic, but really couldn't see any additional detail. Many millipedes produce bad smelling chemicals to keep from being eaten; so they might prove to be a nasty meal for your frogs.

See Millipede Toxin - Symptoms, Emergency, What to Do - NY Times Health Information

and What Type of Bugs Do Frogs Like? | eHow


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## epiphytes etc. (Nov 22, 2010)

Millipedes are pretty harmless. They are detritivores, so are not likely the culprits behind the tillandsia attack. One of my tinc vivs has a bunch of them, and I have seen no problems.


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## scoy (Jan 22, 2013)

I have about a million millies in one of my vivs. There pretty annoying being that they breed like crzy and poop on everything. But they dont effect my frogs at all, that I notice.


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## AZimm (Nov 9, 2013)

Ok thanks! I will just keep an eye on them...if they get to be too much I might try co2 bombing.


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## GRIMM (Jan 18, 2010)

Even though I bleach and CO2 bomb all my plants I still have these little guys. I only see them on dead leaves though so they seem like a good thing to have. Unfortunately I've never seen a frog try and eat one, so they dont act as another food source for them.


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## clifford (Oct 17, 2008)

+1 for no problems caused, but frogs don't seem to eat them. I've seen a lot of people take drastic measures to try to eliminate them, but they just naturally boom and bust in cycles like any other microfauna. It's weird to see a lot of anything in a tank where you weren't expecting it, but most don't cause much trouble.


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## Umbra (Nov 29, 2013)

They look like Polydesmid millipedes to me. I'm pretty sure most species don't really eat live plants but rather leaf litter and rotting wood.


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## Gamble (Aug 1, 2010)

I've had to deal with these twice now ... 
The 1st time was in my Pepperi tank. While not a harm to the frogs, they did destroy every egg clutch they came across.

The most recent time was in my Quinq tank, which I broke down today due to the size of the infestation.
I regretfully report that I had a couple losses ... which I suspect was stress related due to the amount of millipedes in their tank.

I also know someone else that lost a Retic & it was also suspected that it was stress related due to the millipedes. 

So while they may not pose a direct threat to our frogs ... i can tell you from personal experience that they do eat eggs & may also cause undo stress for our smaller frogs.

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