Pink Dragon Millipede Care (Desmoxytes planata)

Quick answer

Pink Dragon millipedes (Desmoxytes planata) are small, short-lived Southeast Asian millipedes that are far easier to keep than they look, provided you understand the one thing that actually decides whether the colony survives. It is not temperature and it is not humidity. It is how much well-rotted hardwood you are prepared to keep putting in.

The thing that kills Pink Dragon colonies

These animals eat decayed wood at a rate that catches people out. A colony that looks settled will work through the wood content of its substrate steadily and invisibly, because the eating happens below the surface and inside the pieces rather than on top of them. By the time the substrate looks thin, the colony has usually already stopped breeding.

Almost every Pink Dragon colony we have seen fail was underfed on wood while the keeper was carefully monitoring everything else. Get this right and the rest of the husbandry is undemanding.

In practice that means white-rotted hardwood, genuinely soft and crumbling rather than merely dead, mixed all the way through the substrate rather than sitting on top of it as decoration. Add more before you think you need to. Our guide to fresh versus well-rotted leaf litter covers how to tell the difference and why it matters.

The species confusion nearly every listing repeats

You will see this animal sold as the "shocking pink dragon millipede" that made international news in 2008 as one of the top ten new species of the year. That was a different animal. The famous one is Desmoxytes purpurosea, described from Thailand in 2007, and it is a considerably more vivid pink than anything in the UK trade.

Desmoxytes planata is a real and attractive species in its own right and it does not need to borrow another animal's headlines. It was described by Pocock in 1895 and occurs widely across Southeast Asia, which is unusual within the genus: most dragon millipedes are confined to one or two localities, while planata has spread. The accepted explanation is that people moved it, most likely with plants and soil. It is the tramp species of the group.

One more piece of housekeeping, since it appears on older care sheets. In 2018 the dragon millipedes were split from a single genus into five, on both morphological and molecular evidence, with Hylomus resurrected and new genera erected for several groups. D. planata stayed where it was, so the name on the label is still current.

What they actually look like

Each body segment carries winged lateral extensions called paranota, which flare outwards and sweep up into spines, so the whole animal reads as a miniature dragon rather than a millipede. Set against pink to pinkish-cream colouration, the effect is closer to ornamental metalwork than to anything you expect to find under a log.

Adults reach around 3 cm. This surprises people who have only met the species through macro photography, and it is worth adjusting expectations before buying: this is a colony animal to be watched in numbers, not an individual specimen to be admired one at a time.

Lifespan, and why you have to breed them

Roughly one to two years, which is short by millipede standards, and they grow quickly to compensate. The practical consequence is that keeping Pink Dragons long term means breeding them rather than replacing them. A group bought as adults is a group with a visible end date.

The good news is that a well-fed colony in deep substrate breeds without intervention. If yours is not, the wood is the first thing to check. Our article on why millipedes will not breed covers the other causes.

Temperature, and an honest word about heating

Pink Dragons want 24 to 28°C. That figure has a consequence most care sheets skip, and it is the reason we now state ambient temperature explicitly on this site.

A British home does not reach it. Measured across 823 English dwellings over a full year, the average whole-house temperature through the heating season is 19.0°C, dropping to 18.1°C in December and reaching only about 21.5°C at the height of summer. So a Pink Dragon enclosure in a UK home is several degrees below the bottom of the range all year round, including August. Supplementary heating is not optional for this species.

Use a heat mat or cable fixed to the side of the enclosure, on a thermostat, never underneath it. Bottom heat is a reliable way to kill millipedes: it dries the substrate from below and bakes animals that spend most of their lives inside it. A thermostat is not a refinement here, it is the difference between warming the enclosure and cooking it.

Humidity and substrate

High, around 80 to 90 per cent, carried in deep damp substrate rather than by misting a sealed box. Aim for at least 10 cm of depth, more if the enclosure allows, made up of coconut fibre and well-rotted hardwood with leaf litter over the top.

The substrate is the enclosure. Millipedes are not surface animals, and the amount of visible activity you get is largely a function of how good the layer underneath is. Keep it damp enough that a squeezed handful holds together without dripping, and keep real cross-ventilation through the lid so the air moves and mould stays under control.

Worth noting that we deliberately do not apply the isopod humidity gradient rule here. That rule comes from work on Porcellio scaber, and extending a woodlouse finding to a millipede would be exactly the kind of guesswork we try to avoid. For millipedes: deep, damp, wood-rich, ventilated.

Feeding

The substrate is the diet. Beyond that, offer small amounts of soft fruit and vegetable occasionally, and keep a permanent calcium source available for moulting. Do not overdo the supplementary food: a Pink Dragon colony that is ignoring the cucumber is not fussy, it is already well fed on wood, which is what you want.

Who should keep them

Anyone comfortable running a heated enclosure and topping up substrate regularly. They are not difficult, but they are unforgiving of neglect in one specific way, and they will not survive a cold room. Keepers who want a striking millipede without the heating requirement should look at our ivory millipede care guide instead, or at the Hawaiian glow millipedes.

Frequently asked questions

How big do Pink Dragon millipedes get?

Around 3 cm as adults. Smaller than most photographs suggest.

Are Pink Dragon millipedes the ones from the news?

No. The 2008 story was about Desmoxytes purpurosea, a different and much brighter species. Sellers conflate the two constantly.

Do they need a heat mat in the UK?

Yes, for most or all of the year. They want 24 to 28°C and a UK home averages 19°C in the heating season and about 21.5°C at the peak of summer. Side-mounted and thermostatically controlled, never underneath.

Are they toxic?

Dragon millipedes are known to produce cyanide compounds as a defence, as many polydesmids do. The quantities involved are not a hazard to a keeper handling them sensibly, but wash your hands afterwards and do not handle them near your face. They are a species to watch rather than to hold.

How long do Pink Dragon millipedes live?

One to two years, which is short for a millipede. Plan on breeding them if you want to keep the species long term.

Why has my colony stopped breeding?

Check the wood first. It is the commonest cause by a distance, and it is invisible until you dig.