Giant millipedes and centipedes are increasingly kept as exotic pets, with welfare considerations emerging from inadequate humidity, temperature and enrichment.
Giant millipedes dehydrate rapidly in inadequately humid enclosures, causing their segments to lose flexibility and eventually die. The stress of excessive handling stimulates defensive chemical secretion that depletes the animal. Burrowing is a fundamental millipede behaviour denied by shallow substrate. Centipedes in captivity require live prey that itself suffers during feeding. Invertebrate welfare science is nascent, but precautionary care standards should reflect these animals' natural history needs.