KeeprHusbandry You're a Pro? Click here to meet Rex
Atlas / Library / Spirobolidae / American Giant Millipede
Beginner
Spirobolidae

American Giant Millipede

Narceus americanusกิ้งกือ

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. exoticpetvet.com

Photograph: TheAlphaWolf · CC BY-SA

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

Burrowing · temperate · humidFrom the sheet: 20–26°C, humidity 70–85%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 123 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/narceus-americanus

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature20–26 °C
Humidity70–85 %
Enclosure45×30×30
Diet4 days

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
20–26°Ambient

One ambient band, 20–26°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states20-26°C

Humidity

70–85%Target RH

The sheet states70-85%

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m10–12 cm
1520100400 cm
10–12 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Order / Family
Spirobolida
Origin
IUCN / CITES
Not evaluated; CITES not yet in our data
Difficulty
Beginner
Commonality
Common in US hobby; occasional SEA import
Adult size
10–12 cm
Lifespan
Up to ~10 yrs
Growth rate
Slow–moderate
Activity & niche
Detritivore burrower
Temperament
Docile
Venom / defense
Harmless; secretes irritant defensive fluid (can stain skin): wash hands, avoid eyes

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

substrateclimbing branchwarm hidewater70–85 % RH45 cm30 cm
warm hideclimbing branchwatersubstrate
50100150200 cm
45 × 30 × 30 cmWidth × depth × height
14dm² of floor
Warm side: not in our dataUVB: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet states45x30x30 cm for a group

Temperature
20–26°C
Humidity
70–85%
Min. enclosure
45x30x30 cm for a group
Substrate
8–10 cm coco fibre + rotting hardwood + leaf litter
Hides / decor / water
Cork bark, leaf litter; water dish

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

every 3.5 dAs the sheet states
8Meals in 28 days

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window.

Why

The windows widen as they go because the interval is a range: four meals after a 10–14 day cycle land anywhere between day 40 and day 56.

The sheet statesDecaying hardwood & leaves; veg/fruit · Veg 2x/week; leaf litter always

Staple food
Decaying hardwood & leaves; veg/fruit
Feeding frequency
Veg 2x/week; leaf litter always
Supplements
Cuttlebone / calcium always available

Behaviour and handling

HandlingGentle, brief; wash hands after, avoid eyes (secretion can stain)
CommunalYes – communal
Defense / stress signsCoiling, brown/purple staining secretion

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
10 yrLifespan in care
10 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own. The sheet also reports a record of about 10 years; that is a reported maximum, not the range to plan for.

Reproduction
Lays eggs in soil; slow to mature

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsDehydration, low-calcium molts
Red flags / quarantine
SignsQuarantine imports

Good to know

  • Its defensive fluid can leave a harmless purple-brown stain on your fingers.

What it needs

Enclosure at least 45 × 30 × 30 cmbecause enclosure — 45x30x30 cm for a group
A thermometerbecause temp — 20-26°C
A hygrometerbecause humidity — 70–85%

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

Sources

bantam.earthexoticpetvet.com

Others in this group

Giant African MillipedeArchispirostreptus gigasThai/Vietnamese Giant Centipede (Yellow-leg / Cherry)Scolopendra dehaaniVietnamese / Asian Giant CentipedeScolopendra subspinipesVietnam Giant MillipedeSpirostreptidae sp.Amazonian Giant CentipedeScolopendra giganteaTanzanian Red-headed / Tiger CentipedeScolopendra morsitansBumblebee MillipedeAnadenobolus monilicornisVietnamese Rainbow MillipedeTonkinbolus dollfusi

What this sheet states

85%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 6 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: day/night engine and awake count on the globe. We show the gap rather than fill it with a plausible number.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.