Burmese Beauty Millipede (Spirostreptus sp.)

Most millipedes are, in practice, a nicely planted tub you occasionally catch something moving in. The Burmese Beauty is the exception: a genuinely surface-active species you actually see, out exploring branches and leaf litter at dawn and dusk rather than living permanently underground. Add clean olive-green and black banding with a thread of coppery iridescence, an easy temperament and a sensible price, and it is one of the best first millipedes going.

Introduction

This is Spirostreptus sp. 1, and the common name is a well-worn error worth clearing up: despite "Burmese", the animal is East African, from Tanzania, not from Myanmar. It is a sub-Saharan Spirostreptid sharing heritage with the larger African giants, and you will also see it listed more accurately as the Olive Banded or Tanzania Olive Millipede. If you research it online, search the binomial or "Tanzania olive millipede" rather than the misleading "Burmese" tag. It sits in the middle of our millipede range, between the small species and the giants.

Appearance

A medium millipede, reaching around 12 to 15 cm, with wide olive-green segments alternating with thin black bands and a fine metallic-copper line along each that catches the light. The young emerge far more orange and shift into the olive-and-orange adult banding over their first year or two, which is one of the more rewarding transitions to watch in the hobby. Threatened, it does something unusual: rather than the flat disc-coil of most millipedes it winds into a three-dimensional globe, which is where the alternative name Globular Millipede comes from.

Care

The single most important point is heating: never use a heat mat under the enclosure. Millipedes burrow to escape bad conditions, and heat from below traps them, with fatal results; if you need warmth, mount it on the side or overhead. Beyond that they are forgiving. Aim for 22 to 26°C, with 24°C ideal, and humidity of 65 to 80% with the substrate moist throughout but never waterlogged, plus real cross-ventilation to keep mould down. The substrate is the main event, because millipedes eat it: give a deep, nutrient-rich bed, at least 10 to 20 cm, of forest humus, aged hardwood leaf litter and crumbling white-rotted hardwood, with a little sand and ground calcium mixed through. Never use pine or any softwood; the resins are toxic to millipedes.

Diet

The deep substrate does most of the feeding, grazed continuously as decaying wood and leaf litter. On top of that, cucumber is the reliable favourite, with melon, banana and other soft fruit, cooked sweetcorn and soft vegetables all taken readily, plus the occasional pinch of protein. Keep cuttlebone or limestone available at all times, because every moult needs calcium to harden the new shell. A springtail culture keeps the droppings and food waste in check.

Breeding and handling

Burmese Beauties breed readily once settled and warm, mating face to face and laying eggs down in the substrate; leave the young with the adults, as they benefit from grazing the adults' droppings while they develop. Growth is slow, a year or two to adult size, but they are long-lived, up to around five years, so this is a patient, long-term animal rather than a quick colony. One handling note: stressed, they release a brown-yellow defensive fluid that stains skin and irritates it if it is left on, and that burns an eye badly enough to need treating. Keep handling brief and gentle, and wash your hands with soap before you touch your face. Cork bark, branches and leaf litter in our accessories range cover the surface structure they use.

Who is this for?

The Burmese Beauty suits the first-time millipede keeper who wants something visible, hardy and affordable, and the collector filling the middle of a display between the small Hawaiian Glow and the larger African Giant Chocolate, or stepping up from the Ivory. It is a poor fit only for someone after fast results, since it develops slowly across years.

Every animal is sent under our live arrival guarantee, packed with damp sphagnum in a ventilated tub inside a double-walled box. We dispatch Monday to Thursday by Royal Mail next day before 1pm.