Centipedes and pill bugs in the terrarium?

[Gandalf the Turtle]

Hello there!

Seeing as where I live right now the weather seems to be great, I thought I'd place my tortoise in the outdoor enclosure I have for her. She's a Hermann's tortoise that's just under 3 years old, with a shell about 10 cm/4 inches long.

As I was preparing the enclosure, when I lifted my tort's water bowl I noticed some pill bugs and a 1.5-2 inch red/brown centipede, and instantly refused to put her in the enclosure until I'm better informed about whether or not these creatures could be potentially harmful to my tortoise.

Would you say it's safe? I read about people purposefully adding pill bugs and centipedes to their enclosures but I also know that centipedes are venomous and I don't want to put my lil tort's life at risk for a sunny day outside.

Have a happy Sunday!

 

[JoesMum]

Yes, no problem. I can’t think your Netherlands versions are any more harmful than our British ones. Pill bugs feed on rotting vegetable matter. Centipedes are predators, but you would need to be considerably smaller, and have much softer skin, than a tortoise for them to be a problem.

My tort Joe regularly shared his accommodation with the local bug population. The only think I objected to was picking him up and finding my finger resting on a slug on his plastron... not harmful, but a horrible feeling!

Have you seen my thread about keeping a tort outside in a cooler climate?
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/outdoor-accommodation-in-a-colder-uk-climate.140866/