Giant African Millipede

🔤 Taxonomy

Archispirostreptus gigas is the accepted scientific name. Older literature may list Spirostreptus gigas, its original combination, or Graphidostreptus gigas.

Trade labels such as “giant African millipede” are used for several large dark spirostreptids. Buy from a keeper who can give a scientific identification and origin rather than assuming every very large black millipede is this species.

📌 Description

The giant African millipede is a heavy cylindrical detritivore that commonly reaches 20-30 cm and exceptionally about 33 cm. It spends much of its time below leaf litter or within decaying substrate, emerging mainly in dim conditions. Adults may live five to seven years when their moisture and diet are stable.

It has no venom and does not hunt, but it is not a handling toy. A disturbed animal curls tightly and may release repugnatorial fluid that stains skin and can irritate eyes, mouth, broken skin, or sensitive airways.

Care point	Practical target
Adult size	20-33 cm
Adult enclosure	at least 60 x 40 x 45 cm for one or a compatible pair
Edible substrate	20-30 cm, ideally at least body depth
Temperature	22-26°C; night 20-23°C
Humidity	70-85% with a moist lower layer and drier surface areas
Main diet	decomposed hardwood leaves and white-rotted wood in the substrate

🌍 Distribution

Archispirostreptus gigas is an East African species. Taxonomic and museum records extend through parts of Kenya and Tanzania south toward Mozambique and adjacent southeastern African areas. It uses soil, leaf litter, decaying wood, thickets, woodland, and cultivated landscapes where the ground retains sheltered moisture.

Its broad trade label can obscure locality and even species identity. Husbandry should be based on a deep moist-but-aerated forest-floor layer, not on keeping the entire box saturated.

Range map

⚖️ Legal status

Checked on 2026-08-20: Archispirostreptus gigas is not listed in the CITES Appendices, no species-specific listing was found in the EU wildlife-trade annexes, and the Bern Convention is not relevant to this non-European species.

National biosecurity, soil, agricultural-pest, live-invertebrate, import, and transport rules can still apply. Because many animals in trade are imported, keep invoices, exporter or breeder details, scientific identification, and any health, import, or transfer documents. Never ship an animal in native soil and never discard adults, eggs, juveniles, substrate, or food waste outdoors.

🤌 Husbandry

A single adult or compatible pair needs a floor area around 60 x 40 cm, a secure ventilated lid, and enough enclosure height for 20-30 cm of substrate. Groups can coexist when space and food are abundant, but crowding makes it harder to maintain gradients and inspect animals.

Quarantine new millipedes for at least 60-90 days in a separate room or area with separate tools. Record activity, mass if it can be measured without repeated stress, feeding, feces, mites, limb damage, and time spent buried. Wild-caught animals may arrive dehydrated or carry mites and nematodes; an exotics veterinarian should assess persistent weight loss, lesions, or poor coordination.

💡 Lighting

UVB is not required. Use a subdued 10-12 hour day-night cycle and provide cork and leaf cover. Bright sun or a strong lamp discourages normal surface activity and can overheat the soil.

Plants are optional and may be eaten or uprooted. Any plant and its soil must be pesticide- and fertilizer-free.

🌡 Heating and temperature

Keep most of the enclosure at 22-26°C, with a cooler area around 20-23°C and a night range of 20-23°C. A small upper warm area may reach 26-28°C, but the animal must be able to retreat horizontally and downward.

Never heat from beneath: a burrowing millipede moves down to escape heat and can be trapped against a bottom heater. If the room is too cool, use thermostatically controlled heat on an outside side wall above the deepest substrate or warm the room. Sustained temperatures near 30°C are unsafe.

💧 Humidity and water

Target 70-85% air humidity while judging the substrate by touch as well as by hygrometer. The lower layers should remain evenly moist and crumbly; the surface can include slightly drier zones. Water should not squeeze from a handful, and the enclosure should not smell sour.

Pour a little water into one corner when lower layers dry, then mist leaf litter as needed. Provide a very shallow, stable water dish. Ventilation must prevent condensation while allowing the deep substrate to dry slowly.

🌿 Enclosure and decoration

The substrate is both home and staple food. Use roughly:

pesticide- and fertilizer-free organic topsoil
deeply decomposed hardwood leaves
crumbled white-rotted hardwood
a smaller amount of coir or moss only for moisture structure, not as the main food

Avoid softwood and aromatic wood, fresh wood chips, sterile coir-only bedding, sand-heavy mixes, calcium sand, and potting soil with fertilizers or perlite. Offer 20-30 cm of compactable material, ideally at least as deep as the millipede’s body length, plus a thick leaf-litter cap, cork bark, and rotten hardwood.

Do not dig up a buried animal. It may be molting in a chamber, and breaking that chamber can cause fatal injury.

🪳 Feeding

Decayed hardwood leaves and white-rotted wood mixed through the substrate must always be available; vegetables are supplements, not the main diet. Offer small portions two or three times weekly and remove leftovers before they sour.

Suitable additions include:

squash, carrot, sweet potato, mushroom, and leafy greens
apple, pear, or melon in small amounts
a small occasional protein source such as fish flakes or a formulated millipede food
cuttlebone or plain calcium carbonate available separately

Wash produce and avoid foods exposed to pesticides. Excess fruit and protein encourage flies, mites, mold, and foul substrate. Replace depleted substrate in sections so the whole microbial food layer is not removed at once.

🥚 Breeding

Males have modified legs on the seventh body ring; sexing is easiest in mature animals. Females lay eggs in small soil chambers, and successful breeding depends on mature animals, deep food-rich substrate, stable moisture, and often seasonal changes rather than a separate incubator.

At about 22-26°C, eggs may take roughly 60-120 days to hatch, but juveniles can remain hidden and captive timelines are variable. Do not sift the substrate looking for eggs. If breeding is unwanted, avoid mixed-sex groups; a productive enclosure can contain many almost invisible juveniles before they appear at the surface.

🩺 Common problems

Molting failure: digging, compacted or shallow substrate, drying, flooding, or nutritional depletion can damage a buried animal.
Desiccation: prolonged surface wandering, tight curling, or loss of coordination warrants checks of lower-substrate moisture and temperature.
Waterlogging: sour odor, anaerobic black patches, persistent condensation, and mass surface emergence indicate that drainage or ventilation has failed.
Limb and shell damage: prevent falls, unstable rocks, and rough handling; keep hard decoration low.
Mites and flies: some tiny decomposer organisms are harmless, but heavy swarms signal excess food or failing substrate. Never apply household pesticide to the enclosure.
Defensive secretion exposure: rinse skin with water and soap; irrigate eyes with clean water and seek medical advice if irritation persists.

📌 Conclusion

This millipede is manageable only when the keeper treats decomposed substrate as the main diet and replaces it before it becomes exhausted. Have 20-30 cm of safe leaf-and-wood-rich substrate ready before purchase; decorative fruit on shallow coir cannot sustain a giant detritivore.