house centipedes are they dangerous?

I love these!

My experience is that you won't have centipedes if you do not have a food source. I have some very lovely 'pedes in my basement - and I also have ants in the basement as well. I am working on sealing up the places where the ants enter - a huge job for an antique house, that is for sure. The way I see it, the 'pedes are doing me a favor by eating up the ant pests. They will stray from time to time and end up on my first floor bathtub, and once in a while I accidentally squish one trapped in a shoe. But they are not aggressive and I have yet to be bitten by one as I catch it from the tub and place it back on the floor. I find my basement population wanes drastically in the winter and then I see babies and then nice sized adults as the season progresses. If you don't want the 'pedes, remove the source of food - clean every nook and cranny and route out any indoor ant nests and seal the area, and seal any cracks in windows and walls from both the inside and the outside. Use of a dehumidifier will also help.

… Theresa Baker, 7 July, 2010 - 11:52am

New to the group

wats good everyone i need help i have a centipede problem HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol

… blazindragon, 7 July, 2010 - 11:32am

House Centipedes

I live in a basement apartment in Saskatchewan, Canada and just saw a house centipede for the first time in me life. Yes, I kind of jumped and almost screamed--it startled me. It was crawling across me Kitchen/Dining Room floor.

Not knowing what it was, it is no longer; then had the brain wave to find out using the Internet.

What should I do? What attracts them?

CHW

… CHW, 11 May, 2007 - 12:00am

Favorable conditions

Centipedes' bodies dessicate easily, so these creatures must remain in consistently dark, damp areas with lots of shelter (i.e. furniture/crevices) under which to hide. These places are also ideal habitats for the centipedes' prey (other arthropods commonly found in the house). So, that makes many basements ideal habitats for these critters to call "home".
I don't know of any effective way to free a home of these creatures. I just learned to appreciate these predators and coexist with them, but often I still have to catch and toss centipedes outside, since the rest of my family can't bear to live with them.

… Stephen Luk, 14 May, 2007 - 11:29am

Not dangerous

No, they should pose no threat to you, though they can look rather fearsome. I used to find them in my bed in my dorm room back in college and it would definitely freak me out. But they are not dangerous and can be beneficial in that they hunt other pests that may be lurking about your home.

… Richard Leung, 27 July, 2004 - 10:21pm

Thank you for the words of co

Thank you for the words of comfort. They are a frightful looking creature and I am glad to hear they are more a benifit than a pest.

… dragonflei, 28 July, 2004 - 4:29pm