Though I have had quite a few exotic pets over the many years there has been even more that never came home with me for a variety of reasons.

I have to ask myself, I even have to be quite honest with myself; can I properly take care of the exotic pet I am considering bringing home. Do I know enough about the animal to properly take care of it? Do I have the resources to be financially responsible for the pet? Sometime it is very difficult to make the brain decide over the heart.

I have longed for a Savannah cat. I have become totally smitten by Savannah cats. I was getting to the point where I could say that for a fact I was financially ready and more than able to properly care for the Savannah. These beautiful, perfect Savannah kittens were dangled in front of me. Brain over heart, my circumstances had drastically changed from one month to another. I had to decline, and this completely broke my heart.

Other reasons exotic pets did not come home with me. I do believe pets should come from captive breeding and not taken from the wild. Though a number of years ago, as long as it was an insect or spider and belonged environmentally to that particular area, I occasionally brought an animal home.

One day, as on many days we took our pet porters out on the rural country roads in Oklahoma. Over many years I had been in wildlife rehabilitation. I did dabble a bit in Oklahoma. We happened upon a long, large, big, centipede. I have never had a centipede as a pet. We were quite fascinated. My husband got out of the car and started toward the centipede. I'll be darned if this centipede didn't turn around and start chasing my husband. George lifted one foot, so it went after the other. He was afraid of injuring the animal; he headed back to the car, as did the centipede, chasing after George.

George got in the car, I had kind of thought he had been a bit afraid of it. But, no he started sorting through the pet carriers for anything, so he could bring this centipede home. I knew nothing we had with us would hold this flat long (over a foot) and I surely didn't want it crawling around the car chasing my feet.

We had a rational discussion. What do we know about this animal? Let's go home and do some research before we bring a Giant Redheaded Centipede - Scolopendra heros home with us. Arthropod -> Myriapods -> Centipede

Centipedes do have jaws that have venom glands. The bite is usually not dangerous unless you have an allergic reaction. Giant centipedes do have rather sharp claws that can scratch your skin. It is a myth that a centipede walking on your skin will kill the tissue. Small centipedes produce a pain and a reaction similar to a bee sting. Some species are quite venomous but not enough to kill a child or an adult. Unless, again if you are allergic.

We learned all we could. Though it was quite aggressive in the wild, most centipede owners agree they are not as aggressive in captivity.

Except for this one had to be fully grown and mature, and I felt would be very unhappy in captivity. Besides, I didn't have a herd of cattle to feed it. Seriously, they will eat just about anything that isn't bigger than it is. Though, when it was chasing George I doubt if it had a clue what bigger than it was, meant.

To satisfy my husband, who was always wonderful about my exotic pets, we went looking for another Giant Redheaded Centipede. We never came across another one.

There are a lot of reasons why some exotic pets never made it to our home. Usually it was just plain common sense.



YouTube centipede videosThis is graphic folks, if it bothers you please don't watch the centipede video eating a mouse. It is just part of life, the food chain.
Giant centipede eating mouse

Here are centipede pictures
stone centipede pictures
soil centipede pictures
house centipede pictures
tropical centipede pictures

Additional Exotic Pets - Insects as Pets articles
*****Ant Farm
*****Honey Bees - How to Care for Bees
*****Praying Mantis - Care for the Praying Mantis
*****Scorpions - Scorpions as Pets
*****Stick Insects - Indian Stick Insects
*****Tarantulas - Pet Tarantulas
*****What’s a Weta – Pet Weta