Cameroon Olive Millipede - Large Active Species

Plenty of people come looking for a big millipede and end up disappointed, because a lot of the giants are retiring animals that spend six days a week buried and surface only when the lights are off. The Cameroon Olive is not one of those. It is a large, long-legged, genuinely active millipede that spends real time on the surface, climbs whatever you put in the enclosure, and is usually visible when you walk past. If you want a display animal rather than a rumour under the substrate, this is the one I point people towards.

The name comes from the colour. Rather than the browns and blacks that dominate the African species, these carry a distinctive olive to bronze-green cast along the body, picked out against paler legs that move in the hypnotic wave millipedes are loved for.

A note on the name

African millipede taxonomy is in a period of upheaval and this animal sits right in the middle of it. Stock from Cameroon is traded as Analocostreptus sp. "Cameroon", the genus itself having been revised in 2023 to take in species previously filed under Spirostreptus. A good many African millipedes in the hobby are locality forms that have never been formally described, and this is one of them.

I would rather say that plainly than invent a tidy binomial. It does not affect the husbandry in the slightest, but it is worth knowing if you are trying to research the species and finding the literature thin. It is a separate animal from the African Olive, which is Analocostreptus gregorius from Angola, despite the overlapping common names.

Setting up the enclosure

Millipedes differ from most pets in one fundamental way: the substrate is not bedding, it is dinner. Almost everything else follows from that.

Give them depth, at least 10 to 15 cm, and use something they can eat. Our ready-made invertebrate substrate is built for exactly this, being hardwood and leaf litter rather than inert bulk. Work in a generous quantity of white-rotted hardwood, which is the single most important component for any large Spirostreptid, and cover the surface with dry leaf litter. Magnolia leaves hold up longer than most under a big millipede.

Because this species climbs, floor space alone is not the whole picture. Cork bark, sturdy branches and a bit of vertical structure will be used, and a secure lid is not optional; they are stronger and more determined than they look.

Warmth and moisture

These are tropical animals and they want more warmth than a Mediterranean isopod would tolerate. A consistently warm room suits them; an unheated UK room in winter generally does not, so plan for gentle background heat during the colder months rather than relying on the house.

Keep the substrate evenly damp all the way through rather than misting the surface and hoping. Millipede mouthparts are not strong enough to work through hard, dry material, so moisture is what keeps their food edible as much as it keeps them hydrated. Damp, never sodden, and never a layer of standing water at the base.

Feeding and calcium

Rotting hardwood and decayed leaf litter form the bulk of the diet and should always be available. Beyond that they will take soft fruit and vegetables in modest amounts, and a protein source such as fish flake occasionally.

Calcium is not a nice-to-have for a large millipede. They need it for every moult, and a shortage shows up as failed moults long before you spot it any other way. Keep cuttlebone available permanently and let them help themselves.

Temperament and handling

They are placid and slow, and they neither bite nor sting. Like most millipedes they will coil defensively if startled, and under real stress they may release a small amount of defensive fluid that stains skin brown and irritates it if it is left on. In an eye it causes a chemical burn that needs treating, so wash your hands with soap before you touch your face. Lift them from underneath and let them walk rather than gripping, and keep handling brief; they are not built for it, even if they tolerate it well.

Who this suits

A good choice for anyone who has kept a beginner millipede and wants to step up in size and presence, and equally good as a first millipede provided you are set up to keep a room warm. Next to the Ivory Millipede it is larger and considerably more active; next to the African Giant Chocolate it is slimmer and faster-moving, trading bulk for animation.

See the full millipede collection for the rest of the range, or the isopods if you are building a mixed bioactive setup around them.

Arriving with you

Dispatch is Monday to Thursday only, by Royal Mail next day by 1pm, so nothing spends a weekend in the postal system. Animals travel in ventilated tubs with damp sphagnum moss inside a double-walled box, and every order carries a 20% overcount and our live arrival guarantee. Give new arrivals a warm, dark, deep enclosure and a fortnight to settle before expecting much surface activity.