Any doctors offices open today?

The biggest centipedes I've seen on STX are about 6 inches long. It is common to do monthly pesticide spraying inside houses and other buildings, around every room perimeter and door threshold, including outside thresholds. That controls a lot of other critters too, like roaches and other insects, spiders, and millipedes. The critters that walk on the pesticide will be dead soon after. It doesn't affect "higher" life forms (lizards, dogs, humans, etc.)

Thanks Aussie, so, I am guessing you can't treat your house for them? It sounds like they are pretty active, and I thought they were mainly nocturnal. I'm sure the odds are we will have an encounter, and a bite; how are the pede bites treated for pets and their humans? I guess we will need to bring a supply of eppy pens? 🙂

STXBOB answered my house treatment question; thank you sir. Still curious about bite treatment and how often people/pets get bit. The pedes are not going to be a factor in our decision to relocate, but like every new comer, we want to be as prepared as we can be. I wonder if I should save the pede info for my bride until we get there... *-)

If you are allergic to bee stings,or other insect venoms, then you should absolutely have your epi-pens, whether for centipedes, or for other stinging things. On the other hand, if you are alert, you can generally avoid the nasty centipede--at least long enough to dispatch it with a shoe. (wear sandals, use shoes to dispatch centipedes!)

Yup, primarily nocturnal (remember, it's dark here around 7PM) but they get flushed out by the rains too.

As Bob pointed out, you can have your house treated. It takes time for the poison to kill them though so close encounters of the painful kind are still possible. The best way to keep 'em out is the same way you keep most critters out. Make sure all the weather stripping seals tightly around doors and screens. Pack any cracks you see in the foundation and where pipes/ electric lines come in with steel wool.

I'm interesting to see what folks have to say about reducing the pain. I just took aspirin and gutted it out. The bites can hurt for hours. My dog just got clingy after he was bitten. Poor little guy.

Thank you Antiqueone, I do have an allergy to insect venom. The fire ants here give me fits! If I am stung numerous times I get pretty sick, and swollen. I treat my yard when a bed pops up; usually after a rain. Luther (the dog) doesn't mess with them, but I have a feeling that when he sees his first pede, he will put his nose in the pede's face. Luther weighs in at just 100lbs, so I think he can take the hit. I would just rather he not. I know the pede bite must hurt like hell, but what are the effects? Allergic or not, and how long do they last?

Sorry about your pup Aussie, glad he got through it. Luther is a goofy Rottweiler pup that plays and licks you to death. I'm afraid that with his curious traits, he will think the pede is a toy. I guess we will have to deal with it sometime. I also garden for a hobby; as you can see from my veggie question, and that is why I am interested in these guys as I plan on playing in the dirt, when we get there.

Well, Luther will only thinks it's a toy once.
I got hit by a baby centipede (2") 3 weeks after moving on island. It crawled up my pant leg while cooking a dinner rush and bit the back of my leg below my kneepit. It felt like a very strong bee sting. My leg kinda got wobbly and then it started throbbing! I put some baking soda/water paste on it, took some Tylenol, and went back to work. I have sworn to kill every centipede I see ever since that night!

Wow Chef! I can not imagine having to run a kitchen, and at the same time deal with getting hit by a centipede. Like Bob and Antique said, we will just be alert and keep our home treated. I have woken up to one of our native scorpions crawling on me in the night. He looked like a little bull dozer, but still scared the hell out of me. I read that apple cider vinager works to deter the pede; is this true? Also, did the baking soda and water past work?