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Atlas / Library / Peripatidae / Velvet Worm
AdvancedNocturnal · sleeping now
Peripatidae

Velvet Worm

Eoperipatus sp.หนอนกำมะหยี่

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. arthroverts.org

Photograph: Fyodor Demin · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Velvet Worm is nocturnal, so what it is doing changes with the light.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 123 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/eoperipatus-sp

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature18–24 °C
Diet5–10 days

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
18–24°Ambient

One ambient band, 18–24°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states18-24°C (cool, stable)

Enclosure
Small, ventilated, escape-proof tub with stable microclimate
Humidity
Very high, but NOT waterlogged (drowns easily)

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m4–8 cm
1520100400 cm
4–8 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Order / Family
Onychophora (phylum)
Origin
IUCN / CITES
Not evaluated; many undescribed; collection-sensitive
Difficulty
Advanced
Commonality
Rare; specialist keepers only
Adult size
~4–8 cm
Lifespan
Several years (poorly documented)
Growth rate
Slow
Activity & niche
Nocturnal ambush predator of moist leaf litter/rotting wood
Temperament
Secretive, delicate
Venom / defense
Harmless to humans; shoots sticky slime to catch prey (not venomous)

Enclosure and conditions

Temperature
18–24°C (cool, stable)
Humidity
Very high, but NOT waterlogged (drowns easily)
Min. enclosure
Small, ventilated, escape-proof tub with stable microclimate
Substrate
Damp soil + deep moss + rotting wood/bark hides
Hides / decor / water
Rotting wood, bark, stones, thick moss; humid but airy

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

every 5–10 dAs the sheet states
5Meals in 28 days

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window.

Why

The windows widen as they go because the interval is a range: four meals after a 10–14 day cycle land anywhere between day 40 and day 56.

The sheet statesLive soft-bodied prey — small crickets, termites, powder-blue isopods · Every 5–10 days (small prey)

Staple food
Live soft-bodied prey — small crickets, termites, powder-blue isopods
Feeding frequency
Every 5–10 days (small prey)
Supplements
None (obligate live-prey predator)

Behaviour and handling

HandlingDo NOT handle: highly sensitive to skin pathogens and drying
CommunalSemi: can be grouped but watch cannibalism/competition
Defense / stress signsShrivelling, inactivity, refusal to feed; death from mould/mites

Reproduction

Reproduction
Ovoviviparous (Eoperipatus retains yolky eggs): bears live young

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsHyper-sensitive to fungi, mites, bacteria; drowning/suffocation if too wet
Red flags / quarantine
SignsWild-caught, fragile; strict clean quarantine; avoid over-watering

Good to know

  • A 'living fossil': velvet worms hunt by firing twin jets of sticky glue at prey.
  • A 'living fossil' — velvet worms hunt by firing twin jets of sticky glue at prey.

What it needs

A thermometerbecause temp — 18-24°C (cool, stable)
Not stated: The size of the enclosurethis sheet describes the enclosure without a figure: « Small, ventilated, escape-proof tub with stable microclimate »

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation. What the sheet does not state is listed too, rather than left out: a kit that looks complete is worse than one that names its gap.

Sources

en.wikipedia.orgarthroverts.org

Others in this group

Caribbean / Purple Pincher Hermit CrabCoenobita clypeatusGiant African Land SnailLissachatina fulicaRed Apple CrabMetasesarma aubryiIndonesian / Purple Land Hermit CrabCoenobita brevimanusRuggie Land Hermit CrabCoenobita rugosusVampire Crab (assorted Geosesarma)Geosesarma sp. (e.g. dennerle, 'red devil')Giant Pink-foot / Immaculate Land SnailAchatina immaculataGiant West African / Banana Rasp SnailArchachatina marginata

What this sheet states

69%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 5 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: humidity instrument and audit, enclosure size audit. We show the gap rather than fill it with a plausible number.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.