For anyone interested, giant millipedes are a great pet... they're docile and slow-moving vegetarians, they're nonvenomous and they don't bite.
Most people that see Shoes assume he's some sort of deadly centipede and are too afraid to touch him... Granted, centipedes are fast moving deadly venomous predators, some can be a couple feet long and eat birds, rats and small dogs, but millipedes are nothing like them.. Their only real defense mechanism is to curl into a ball. Not very intimidating. (Though, apparently if you really agitate them they can excrete some sort of acid that can be mildly irritating if you rub it in your eyes, so don't.)
Millipedes are sturdy little guys who can take a fair bit of abuse, I once though Shoes was dead for three months, I stopped putting food in his tank and stopped giving it water, one day he came out of his burrow and was happy as ever, having not eaten or drank in almost 4 months. They're safe for kids, kids just love the feeling of them crawling over their hands (it feels like living velcro), and the millies seem to enjoy it too.
Not exactly something you can cuddle up with, or that can fetch your paper, but nonetheless an awesome pet. You can find them in pet stores for about $20.. they live for 10+ years and require no special lighting, heating, humidity control or any of that. just throw them in a bucket of dirt, keep it moist, and throw rotten vegetables in once in a while.
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