Animal-World > Reptiles and Amphibians > Centipedes > Giant Desert Centipede

Giant Desert CentipedeGiant Sonoran Centipede
Giant North American Centipede

Family: Scolopendridae

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Scolopendra herosPhoto Courtesy Bill Love/Blue Chameleon Ventures

     A giant centipede that can grow up to 8", the Giant Desert Centipede is quite pretty and attractive, BUT... it has a very unattractive bite!

     The Giant Desert Centipede is a large species of centipede and many keepers believe it is one of the most beautiful. They are hardy and easy to keep. This is a relatively calm species and is handled by experienced keepers. But, we do not recommend handling any centipedes.

Caution: The bite of all large centipedes are potentially medically serious! Especially so to small children.

For more Information on keeping centipedes see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Centipede

Distribution:      The Giant Desert Centipede is found in the southern United States and in northern Mexico in nature.

Description: Three subspecies of Scolopendra heros are currently recognized.      All subspecies have 26 to 30 segments in their antennae (generally 26). The first three to five segments are smooth. The head is finely punctuated with two faint sulci, or grooves. The first pair of legs have two tarsal spines and all of the rest have only one. All three subspecies reach 7 to 8" (18 - 20 cm) as adults. The 3 subspecies of Scolopendra heros are:

• Red-headed Centipede, Scolopendra h. castaneiceps. It is a black centipede with a red head and yellow legs. It is found in New Mexico across the southwestern United States and as far north as Kansas and east to Georgia.
• Black-tailed Centipede or Blue-tailed Centipede, Scolopendra h. heros. It is a yellow centipede with light yellow legs and a medium to dark blue tail. It is found in New Mexico, east to Texas and northern Mexico.
• Black-headed Centipede, Scolopendra h. arizonensis It is a red or dark orange centipede with yellow legs and a black head and tail. It is found in Arizona and Mexico. Some of the Arizona specimens have black bands running across the tergites.

Care and Feeding:      Feed crickets and roaches once a week. Once a month feed a small pink mouse. For more information on feeding see, Centipede Care: Feeding

Environment:      A large enclosure that offers plenty of floor space and a deep (4"+) substrate of damp sand and peat moss is ideal. This species will spend most of its time buried in the substrate with only the tips of the back legs or its antennae above ground. Also offer a few well-placed pieces of cork bark, bark, or a sturdy slate shelter to keep specimens settled. For more information on environment see, Centipede Care: Housing

Temperature and Humidity requirements:      As typical of a desert species, the Giant Desert Centipede will do fine in the 80 ° to 85 ° F range and with a humidity of 50 to 65%.

Handling:      We do not recommend handling any centipedes. Despite photos of "daredevils" (goof balls) handling large specimens, all Scolopendra are capable of delivering a very painful venomous "pinch".      Large specimens should be considered medically serious and some people with reactions to insect venom and those with small children should be very cautious when keeping large Scolopendra species.

Availability:     The Giant Desert Centipede is commonly available in the spring and summer from invert collectors in the Southwestern United States. From these collectors they get spread to dealers throughout the country and they are usually inexpensive. They are hardy and easy to keep and will no doubt be captive-bred in the future.

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Latest Comments
My husband found one of the red headed desert centipedes this morning curled up on our staircase in North West San Antonio. He actually thought our dog had an accident and when he went to clean it up, he noticed its red head and legs. It was still alive so we scooped it into a box and put it in our trash bin outside. Do these things like to come indoors? It was very rainy last night so maybe it was trying to stay dry? Are they poisonous to dogs? I'm so creeped out! Jennifer 2009-10-22
Walked into my breakfast room this morning to find my cat attacking something. It turned out to be a Giant Redheaded Centipede - about 7 inches long. Boy, did it fight back when I tried to get it into a jar for my daughter to see. This is the first one we've ever had in the house. It freaked me out! My husband did find one when he was mowing our back field one day about a year ago. We have lived in San Antonio, Texas for 18 years and these are the only two I've ever seen. Scary to find it in the HOUSE since I walk around bare foot and so did my little girls. Sondra 2009-10-08
I was just up at Canyon Lake today and went into the men's room. As I was washing my hands in the sink, a Giant Redheaded Centipede came crawling out of the drain in the sink. I grabbed a plastic cup out of the garbage can and caught it on the rim of the cup (it didn't want to go down inside) and took it out to my empty cooler for safekeeping until I could get it home. It's got to be at least 6" long and very fast. Any suggestions on what to do with it. I'm not a bug collector, but I read on one of these blogs that they go for about $75 as pets. Is that true? Robert Atkinson 2009-08-22
8/03/09- We caught a Giant Desert Centipede last night at our home in Boerne, TX which is about 30 min west of San Antonio. We live out in the deep hill country and this isnt the first time we have had a run in with these scary creatures. To anyone who hasnt ever tried to kill these, they are HARD to kill! It took 2 butcher knives and a whole lot of houshold cleaner to finally kill this thing for good! We have already seen 2 this year so far, which is rare in our case because we only see them about once every 2-3 years, and not more than 1 in a years time. We have caught one at another time and trapped it in a ziploc bag and sprayed windex in it and it died pretty fast, although it did pierce holes in the bag from its front stingers. Be careful, these things run fast and look really scary!! -Hayden 2009-08-03
7/28/09 - I just had TO CLOSE of an encounter with one of these Giant Desert Centipedes! Way to close for my comfort. My husband and I have a ranch in southern arizona just north of Tucson, AZ. The other night I was awaken by something falling on my head, I woke to find a creature that scared the life out of me. It looked just like a snake but with hundreds of legs. I was at least 8 inches long and slithers in S formations just like a snake. I didn't have any idea what it was until now. We were unable to catch it because of its location up on the wall, however I must have used an entire can of bug spray to rid myself of this creature. The next night when I returned home from work, there he was just hanging out on my bedroom wall. This time I was much more alert and I was able to confirm that he measured over 8 inches in length. My husband and son thought he was so unusual (or cool in their eyes) they tried to capture it. Sorry to say, they failed, the centipede got away. Right now he is roaming free in my bedroom so if any of you people who have these things as pets would like, your MORE than welcome to come and get him! In the mean time I will be sleeping in the guest room, nasty looking creatures. Sherry Romero 2009-07-29
Some of the coolest comments:
Red-headed centipedes are common north of Dallas in the crosstimbers area--we've seen them as big as 8" in our yard in Oak Point. They're not just limited to New Mexico and points west! SjB 2007-10-27

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