Acladocricus sp. Philippine Blue
Identity confidence: provisional. This is a genus, group, or trade name rather than a confirmed species. Treat it as the closest match we can stand behind, and use the more conservative end of any range.
Philippine Blue Giant Millipede: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: A large tropical communal millipede that needs deep moist substrate, steady humidity, and enough floor space for group keeping.
Group: MillipedesDifficulty: Spice 3: IntermediateSetup: Large tropical communal millipedeHandling: Handling discouraged. Fragile if dropped.
Use This Guide Safely
- Confirm the exact animal. Match this guide to the species, locality, size, and life stage on your label. If the ID is uncertain, use the more conservative part of the range and ask before changing the setup.
- Change one thing at a time. Treat temperature and humidity as target zones, then watch posture, burrowing, drinking, feeding, and molt behavior before making another adjustment.
- Respect the handling boundary. If the guide says no handling, fast, defensive, or medically significant, plan transfers with catch cups, locked lids, and no bare hands. For serious bites, stings, or symptoms, seek emergency medical care.
Quick Snapshot
| Temperature | 74-80°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | High ambient (75-85%) with cross ventilation scaled to the footprint; damp lower layers, drier surface |
| Setup Type | Large tropical communal millipede |
| Substrate | Deep leaf/rotten wood substrate |
| Feeding | Leaves, rotten wood, veggies, calcium |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 3: Intermediate |
| Handling | Handling discouraged. Fragile if dropped. |
Humidity zones: Very Low under 30% - Low 30-60% - Low-Moderate 40-70% - Moderate 60-80% - Moderate-High 70-85% - High 80%+ - Very High 90%+
Enclosure Format / Size Class
- terrestrial burrow setup for juveniles
- Large custom enclosure for adults
Warnings First
- Sensitive to drying
- Large species needs space
- Substrate quality matters
- A large deep bin develops still corners. Scale the cross ventilation to the footprint, or the far end goes anaerobic while the middle looks fine.
Simple Care
- Deep edible substrate first.
- Keep humid and stable.
- Cross ventilation low on two opposite walls, scaled to the footprint rather than copied from a small bin.
- Shallow water dish packed with pebbles so juveniles cannot drown.
- Groups are fine with enough depth, food substrate, and a larger adult enclosure.
- Do not over-handle.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- Large tropical millipedes should be given enough substrate depth to burrow completely.
- Use a substrate built from decomposing hardwood leaves and wood, not sterile coco fiber alone.
- Communal housing is suitable when the setup is scaled for a large species: deep substrate, constant leaf litter, rotting hardwood, and room to avoid crowding.
- Scale the ventilation along with everything else. A large, deep, humid bin vented with the same few holes you would use on a display cup leaves the far corners of the substrate motionless, and those corners go anaerobic while the middle still looks and smells fine. Put vents low on two opposite walls along the long axis so air genuinely crosses the whole floor.
- Ventilation and ambient humidity trade against each other, and on a big bin the moisture should live in the substrate rather than the air. Keep the deep layer damp, run the vents freely, and top up rather than sealing.
- Judge by squeeze and smell, and check more than one spot on a large enclosure. Substrate from each corner should clump like a wrung-out sponge, release no free water, and smell like forest floor. A sour patch in one corner is an airflow map, not a watering problem.
- Keep a shallow water dish packed with pebbles or flat stones so the waterline sits below the rim. Large adults still drown, and juveniles in a big communal bin are easy to lose track of entirely.
- Mist under the leaf litter and rotting hardwood rather than over the surface. The grazing layer stays damp and productive while the exposed surface keeps breathing.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Humidity should remain high, but the enclosure must not become waterlogged or sour.
- As with A. gigas, Buddy enclosures work best for younger animals before upgrading adult housing.
- Molting: millipedes molt underground, sealing into a chamber and going still for days or weeks. Never dig up or disturb a buried animal, keep that part of the substrate from drying out, and keep cuttlebone available, since they eat the shed exoskeleton to reclaim calcium.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Philippines.
- Habitat translation: Tropical humid forest-floor setup with deep organic substrate.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Large juveniles and adults need substrate depth and surface area, not a dry display box.
- Group keeping is limited by space and substrate quality, not temperament. A small enclosure that works for one juvenile is not a colony enclosure for adults.
- Avoid digging them up unless absolutely necessary.