Rhysida longipes
Redtail Olive Centipede: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: A smaller fast old-world centipede that still requires no-handle containment: adults reach about 3-5 inches.
Group: CentipedesDifficulty: Spice 4: AdvancedSetup: Fossorial/terrestrial centipedeHandling: NEVER
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 | 75-85°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | Ambient 60-75%, cross-ventilated at substrate level; drier surface |
| Setup Type | Fossorial/terrestrial centipede |
| Substrate | Deep lightly moist substrate |
| Feeding | Small prey weekly |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 4: Advanced |
| Handling | NEVER |
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 larger specimens
Warnings First
- Fast
- Venomous bite
- Escape risk
- Solitary housing only; never cohab centipedes
- Small enclosures go stagnant fastest. Cross ventilation low on two opposite walls matters more on a compact setup than on a large one, not less.
Simple Care
- Do not underestimate it because it is small. It is fast and it will get out.
- Cross ventilation low on two opposite walls, at substrate level. A small box needs it most.
- Deep substrate and secure lid.
- Keep a moisture gradient.
- Bottle-cap or jar-lid water dish filled with pebbles so a small animal cannot drown.
- House singly; centipedes are cannibalistic.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- Use a compact secure setup with deep substrate and cork. Avoid overdecorating.
- Keep part of the substrate moist while leaving surface options drier.
- Compact enclosures are the ones that go stagnant fastest, because there is less air volume to buffer a damp substrate. Cross ventilation at substrate level fixes it: vents low on two opposite walls, at or just above the substrate line, so air moves sideways through the layer the centipede occupies. Venting only through the lid leaves the burrow layer saturated and still while the surface dries, and that is where fungal cuticle problems and mite blooms come from.
- Because this is a 3 to 5 inch animal, mesh gauge matters more than it would on a giant. Use fine bonded stainless mesh and size every gap against the head, which on a Rhysida this size is genuinely small.
- Ventilation and ambient humidity work against each other, so run them as one setting. Keep 60 to 75% by holding damp lower substrate plus a water dish, and let the vents flow. Closing a small enclosure up to hold humidity is how these get lost.
- Judge wetness by hand, not by a gauge that barely fits the enclosure. Bottom third should clump without weeping, middle cool and damp, top inch dry-looking.
- A bottle cap or jar lid works as the water dish at this size. Fill it with pebbles or coarse grit so the water sits below the rim, because an animal this small genuinely can drown in an unmodified dish. It also feeds humidity at floor level, letting you keep the open substrate drier.
- Mist under the cork rather than across the enclosure. In a small box, misting everything swings the whole environment at once, while misting under cover gives the animal a damp retreat and leaves the rest of the substrate to breathe.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Rhysida may be smaller than giant Scolopendra, but speed and escape risk remain high.
- Feeding should be controlled; remove prey during molts.
- Use forceps or tongs that are twice the size of the centipede for general cage maintenance.
- Molting: a centipede stops eating and seals into its burrow to molt, staying soft and vulnerable for days. Leave it completely alone, keep all prey out, and don't excavate to check on it.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Pantropical or warm-region species complex; supplier locality can vary.
- Habitat translation: Warm humid-to-moderate setup with deep substrate and strong ventilation.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Because range and locality can be unclear, tune moisture from behavior: burrowing, surface wandering, and molt success.
- Keep individually and use secondary containment for every transfer.
- Adult size ~3-5 in: small for a centipede, and a bit less aggressive than a giant Scolopendra, but exactly as fast and exactly as good at escaping.