Analocostreptus sp. "Cameroon"
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.
Cameroon Green Millipede: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: A giant African millipede banded in metallic green, copper and black, reaching 8+ in. Deep damp substrate is everything: letting it dry out is the top killer.
Group: MillipedesDifficulty: Spice 2: BeginnerSetup: Giant burrower, deep damp substrateHandling: Brief contact tolerated, wash hands after
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 | 72-80°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | 70-80%, wetter lower substrate, drier top |
| Setup Type | Giant burrower, deep damp substrate |
| Substrate | 8+ in coco, leaf litter and rotting hardwood, wet below |
| Feeding | Rotting wood, leaf mulch, cuttlebone, occasional soft fruit/veg |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 2: Beginner |
| Handling | Brief contact tolerated, wash hands after |
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
- Juveniles: Baby Buddy with deep, damp, edible substrate
- Adult colonies: Burrow Buddy with 6-8 in minimum depth and low cross ventilation
Warnings First
- Letting the substrate dry out is the top killer. Keep the lower layers wet.
- When stressed it releases an orange fluid that stains and can mildly irritate eyes. Wash hands after contact.
- Pack the water dish with pebbles. Millipedes climb smooth surfaces poorly and drown in open dishes.
- Quarantine new animals and check them for mites.
- A damp bin with no cross ventilation sours, mites bloom and they stop eating.
- A buried, motionless millipede is molting, not dead. Leave it alone and keep that zone damp.
Simple Care
- Give deep, moisture-retentive substrate.
- Vent low on two opposite walls so air keeps crossing the substrate surface.
- Keep decaying hardwood and leaf litter on offer at all times.
- Keep cuttlebone in at all times.
- Keep a shallow water dish packed with pebbles.
- Avoid overhandling. The orange fluid is a stress response.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- Give real depth, 6-8 in minimum. They burrow extensively and use the substrate as home and food.
- Keep it wetter at the bottom and slightly drier on top so they can self-regulate. Low vents on two opposite walls hold that gradient.
- A still damp bin does more than grow mold: the substrate sours, mites bloom and they stop grazing. Keep moisture deep, then ventilate freely.
- Check by squeeze and smell. Lower substrate clumps like a wrung-out sponge with no free water. Sour or ammonia means more air and fresh substrate.
- Mist under the leaf litter, not over the whole surface. New animals are often dehydrated and will use a dish.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Staple diet is decaying hardwood and leaf litter mulch at mixed stages of rot. Offer more than seems needed, they eat through substrate fast.
- Keep cuttlebone or crushed oyster shell in at all times for calcium. Soft fruit or veg only occasionally.
- Molting happens in a sealed underground chamber. Leave a buried, still animal alone and keep that zone from drying out.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Rainforest regions of Cameroon, Central/West Africa.
- Habitat translation: Rainforest floor litter and rotting wood become a deep, damp hardwood-litter substrate kept at tropical humidity.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Expect the orange defensive fluid when rehousing. It is non-toxic but stains and can mildly irritate eyes and mucous membranes. Wash hands after.
- An undescribed species. Animals sold as Cameroon Green may not all be the same, so do not assume identical care.