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Atlas / Library / Spirostreptidae / Sonoran Desert Millipede
Beginner
Spirostreptidae

Sonoran Desert Millipede

Orthoporus ornatusกิ้งกือ

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. bantam.earth

Photograph: Ereenegee · CC BY-SA

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.

Burrowing · warm · middlingFrom the sheet: 24–30°C, humidity 50–65%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

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/orthoporus-ornatus

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature24–30 °C
Humidity50–65 %
Enclosure45×30×30

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
24–30°Ambient

One ambient band, 24–30°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 states24-30°C

Humidity

50–65%Target RH

The sheet states50-65% (drier than most millipedes)

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m10–17 cm
1520100400 cm
10–17 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
Spirostreptida
Origin
IUCN / CITES
Not evaluated; CITES not yet in our data
Difficulty
Beginner–Intermediate
Commonality
Common in US hobby
Adult size
10–17 cm
Lifespan
5–10 yrs
Growth rate
Slow
Activity & niche
Detritivore burrower, drought-adapted
Temperament
Docile
Venom / defense
Harmless; secretes irritant defensive fluid: wash hands, avoid eyes

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

substrateclimbing branchwarm hidewater50–65 % RH45 cm30 cm
warm hideclimbing branchwatersubstrate
50100150200 cm
45 × 30 × 30 cmWidth × depth × height
14dm² of floor
Warm side: not in our dataUVB: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet states45x30x30 cm for a group

Temperature
24–30°C
Humidity
50–65% (drier than most millipedes)
Min. enclosure
45x30x30 cm for a group
Substrate
8–10 cm coco/soil/sand, partly moistened
Hides / decor / water
Bark/rock hide, water dish, some leaf litter

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

Food stays available

The sheet states food is always present rather than given on a cycle, so there is no interval to draw.

The sheet statesDry leaves, wood; fruit/veg for hydration · Veg every few days; leaf litter always

Staple food
Dry leaves, wood; fruit/veg for hydration
Feeding frequency
Veg every few days; leaf litter always
Supplements
Cuttlebone / calcium always available

Behaviour and handling

HandlingGentle, brief; wash hands after, avoid eyes
CommunalYes – communal
Defense / stress signsCoiling, fluid secretion

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
5–10 yrLifespan in care
5 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Reproduction
Slow to breed in captivity

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsRot if kept too wet; dehydration if too dry
Red flags / quarantine
SignsQuarantine imports; avoid over-humidity

Good to know

  • One of the few millipedes adapted to true desert heat and dryness.

What it needs

Enclosure at least 45 × 30 × 30 cmbecause enclosure — 45x30x30 cm for a group
A thermometerbecause temp — 24-30°C
A hygrometerbecause humidity — 50–65% (drier than most millipedes)

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

Sources

bantam.earthbugsincyberspace.com

Others in this group

Giant African MillipedeArchispirostreptus gigasThai/Vietnamese Giant Centipede (Yellow-leg / Cherry)Scolopendra dehaaniVietnamese / Asian Giant CentipedeScolopendra subspinipesVietnam Giant MillipedeSpirostreptidae sp.Amazonian Giant CentipedeScolopendra giganteaTanzanian Red-headed / Tiger CentipedeScolopendra morsitansBumblebee MillipedeAnadenobolus monilicornisVietnamese Rainbow MillipedeTonkinbolus dollfusi

What this sheet states

85%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 6 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: day/night engine and awake count on the globe. 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.