Look at me go. I am Sigmund the Amazing Millipede!
This is one of my insect pets, well...technically he's a myriapod, which is an artrhopods, which is the Phylum that includes Insects. So, close enough. His name is Sigmund, named after that wacky 70's H.R. Puff N' Stuff-like show, Sigmund: The Sea Monster. He is a very large millipede. Giant African Millipede to be exact. Very easy to care for and very cool to handle. They eat decaying vegetables and plants. So, he's kinda my home garbage disposal. He loves cucumbers and carrots. And he loves to burrow around in the dirt. Not the most exciting pet in the world, or is he???? You be the judge. I think millipedes are very cool. Once he came to school with me, Buckman Elementary, and was really nice to all the kids there. They really loved holding him. He does not have a million legs, probably closer to around 2 to 3 hundred. I've never counted. Millipedes are generally longer than centipedes and have more legs as well. They gain more legs when they molt. Molting is the process by which Arthropods grow. Since they are invertebrates they do not grow like us mammals. Instead they molt their entire body, like a reptile molts skin, and then have a larger body. Or as is this case with millipedes, they have a new body segment with two new pairs of legs. Millipedes have two pairs or legs per body segment, centipedes have one pair. Also, centipedes have poison claws on their head and are insect predators. I think Sigmund is adorable. Don't you? Some people think insects make bad pets? Or are only for nerds? But then again, that's what they say about blogs, right? Well then, I must be a super nerd, becuz I just did an pet insect blog! Whoo-hoo!
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