I recently bought two desert millipedes for my daughter for her birthday ... she named them Huey and Dewy ... their favorite food seems to be cucumbers and watermelon along with oak leaves and bark ... Here is a shot of Dewy(top shot)
Recently Huey stopped eating and hid under the moss floor and curled up for several days to a week. Alarmed, I picked it up gently to see it if was still alive. It stopped moving its legs but moved its body in a pulsating fashion uncurling and then recurling up. I thought it might be molting so I gently placed it back where I found it and recovered it with the moss. Several days to a week later, I noticed that it was indeed molting (definite color change happening under the skin). Finally it had split its skin open. Huey emerged a lighter color ... started out the same color as Dewy. Huey seemed to eat the molt afterwords. Here is a shot of Huey emerging from the molt (bottom shot).
--Eric--
