🕷 Invertebrate Enthusiasts 🕷

[lesbian]

✿
I found a little centipede in one of my potted plants, though I'm not sure if she's native so I don't really wanna release her just in case and I definitely don't wanna kill her! she's only a couple of centimeters long at most (around 3/4s of an inch) and I was looking for some advice on how to care for her!

so far I have her in a container with some dirt though she appears to prefer hanging out above the soil?

thanks for any help in advance!!!

[creaturefeature]

Ive gotten to see recently a cellar spider who just happens to be a mom.
She carry what it looked like a small ball with dozens of tiny little spider babies

[rileypillow]

I’m getting dairy cow isopods any time soon and I can’t wait! The enclosure will be set up tomorrow if I’m not busy. In a few weeks, I’ll also be getting zebra isopods in a second enclosure. I’m also getting isopod-themed items to show my appreciation for them!

Does anyone have tips for first time isopod carers? I may be going on holiday on a day long drive (6 hours), and I’m also moving to a slightly warmer location in a few months. I can’t find many articles on travelling with isopods, other than varieties that don’t like travel.

Or we can simply chat, I’d love to hear all about keeping isopods and other invertebrates!

[Leo & The Moths]

I’m getting dairy cow isopods any time soon and I can’t wait! The enclosure will be set up tomorrow if I’m not busy. In a few weeks, I’ll also be getting zebra isopods in a second enclosure. I’m also getting isopod-themed items to show my appreciation for them!

Does anyone have tips for first time isopod carers? I may be going on holiday on a day long drive (6 hours), and I’m also moving to a slightly warmer location in a few months. I can’t find many articles on travelling with isopods, other than varieties that don’t like travel.

Or we can simply chat, I’d love to hear all about keeping isopods and other invertebrates!

Hey, I'm an experienced pod keeper! Travelling with isopods shouldn't be anything super intimidating, as long as you just make sure they're kept in appropriate temperatures. Depending on how long the vacation is, you could also leave em at home! I have like 15+ bins of pods, so it would be really unreasonable to bring them on my vacations, the great thing about pods is you can set them up with a little extra moisture and a little decreased ventilation and leave them over a week without issue!

Dairy cows were my first, and my newbie mistake was overdoing the water, my group ended up crashing. It's very emphasized how important keeping them wet is, and while that's definitely important, it's almost more important to maintain a moisture gradient! Keeping one side relatively dry (most people opt to make that the more ventilated side) and the other more wet. Moisture has a big impact on how pods breathe, and the choice of a dry and wet side helps them regulate their moisture. Dairy cows are pretty straightforward, but to my knowledge they especially value having access to a dryer spot!

EDIT: ah, i'm just realizing you sent that a month ago haha, hope the pods r well!!

[Catsplat18]

Transferring from a different thread

Haha, I rescued an old female Chinese mantis too. She had tattered wings and couldn't fly, and was being swarmed by ants. I kept her in a small Exo-Terra and fed her houseflies, moths, and mealworms. She hated me and usually struck me like I was prey. Once she bit off and ate some of my skin. It was extremely hard to remove my finger from her forelegs without injuring her. She was insanely strong. A remarkably intelligent and beautiful insect, for sure. She died soon after laying a couple of oothecae, which were, unfortunately, unfertilized. I would love to keep more mantids in the future, this time captive-bred ones.

That's awesome!! And yeah, mantises are notorious for their attitude, I had Sally grapple my finger on a few occasions. Luckily she didn't bite me, so I could just wait for her to let go haha. Sometimes she'd be happy to come hang out on my hand, sometimes she'd be in a mood. I have some cb baby mantises right now actually, last night one of them attacked and tried to eat her stick when i moved it a little, but they're allegedly a "shy species" lol. They haven't attacked me yet though, so theres a plus! Despite all the rage mantises are super personable and so fun though, I hope you get the chance to keep cb ones soon!!

I actually did have a CB Hierodula membranacea. I believe I got him as an L3. It was amazing watching him grow -- absolutely insane to wake up to an animal that doubled in size since I went to bed! How on Earth do they fit their next instar underneath their exoskeleton?? I loved this species, vivid green contrasting with lilac-colored legs, and impressive length. Although he and the rescued female I had were different species and sexes, I wonder if being accustomed to humans since hatching influenced his personality -- he had no fear of me and never struck. If so, that would be an amazing example of nature vs. nurture in a rather primitive being (compared to us -- compared to other arthropods, these guys are gods among mortals), or at least conditioning. Jeez, I love insects. You'll have to test this with your brood! But maybe we should take this conversation to 🕷 Invertebrate Enthusiasts 🕷 lol. Not sure if mantids belong with aging dogs and cats .

Which species are you keeping now? I am so curious. I feel like most popular pet arthropods live a surprisingly long time, but mantids (and phasmids -- boy do I wish I had some of those!!) have such a short life cycle. This makes it easy to own a wide variety of species without the commitment of, say, owning 20 different tarantulas that all live 20 years each if you're lucky. Not that I'd be opposed to that...

[Leo & The Moths]

Transferring from a different thread

I actually did have a CB Hierodula membranacea. I believe I got him as an L3. It was amazing watching him grow -- absolutely insane to wake up to an animal that doubled in size since I went to bed! How on Earth do they fit their next instar underneath their exoskeleton?? I loved this species, vivid green contrasting with lilac-colored legs, and impressive length. Although he and the rescued female I had were different species and sexes, I wonder if being accustomed to humans since hatching influenced his personality -- he had no fear of me and never struck. If so, that would be an amazing example of nature vs. nurture in a rather primitive being (compared to us -- compared to other arthropods, these guys are gods among mortals), or at least conditioning. Jeez, I love insects. You'll have to test this with your brood! But maybe we should take this conversation to 🕷 Invertebrate Enthusiasts 🕷 lol. Not sure if mantids belong with aging dogs and cats .

Which species are you keeping now? I am so curious. I feel like most popular pet arthropods live a surprisingly long time, but mantids (and phasmids -- boy do I wish I had some of those!!) have such a short life cycle. This makes it easy to own a wide variety of species without the commitment of, say, owning 20 different tarantulas that all live 20 years each if you're lucky. Not that I'd be opposed to that...

Yeahhh I feel like the most personable invertebrates end up with the shortest lifespans as for mantis species, currently i have 2 Deroplatys lobatas! they're still babies but in their last few molts on the topic of short lifespans, I'm also getting 6 baby jumping spiders soon, who are also cursed with a short lifespan </333 i wouldve got them even sooner but im always hesitant with animals thatll only live about a year bc i get so attached, i only caved now bc i found some really cheap LOL

and in response to ur earlier msg, h membranacae are SO sick!!! they were my number one priority mantis to get before i found d lobatas, and i still wanna get some eventually, i love big mantises sm

[Catsplat18]

Transferring from a different thread

I actually did have a CB Hierodula membranacea. I believe I got him as an L3. It was amazing watching him grow -- absolutely insane to wake up to an animal that doubled in size since I went to bed! How on Earth do they fit their next instar underneath their exoskeleton?? I loved this species, vivid green contrasting with lilac-colored legs, and impressive length. Although he and the rescued female I had were different species and sexes, I wonder if being accustomed to humans since hatching influenced his personality -- he had no fear of me and never struck. If so, that would be an amazing example of nature vs. nurture in a rather primitive being (compared to us -- compared to other arthropods, these guys are gods among mortals), or at least conditioning. Jeez, I love insects. You'll have to test this with your brood! But maybe we should take this conversation to 🕷 Invertebrate Enthusiasts 🕷 lol. Not sure if mantids belong with aging dogs and cats .

Which species are you keeping now? I am so curious. I feel like most popular pet arthropods live a surprisingly long time, but mantids (and phasmids -- boy do I wish I had some of those!!) have such a short life cycle. This makes it easy to own a wide variety of species without the commitment of, say, owning 20 different tarantulas that all live 20 years each if you're lucky. Not that I'd be opposed to that...

Yeahhh I feel like the most personable invertebrates end up with the shortest lifespans as for mantis species, currently i have 2 Deroplatys lobatas! they're still babies but in their last few molts on the topic of short lifespans, I'm also getting 6 baby jumping spiders soon, who are also cursed with a short lifespan </333 i wouldve got them even sooner but im always hesitant with animals thatll only live about a year bc i get so attached, i only caved now bc i found some really cheap LOL

and in response to ur earlier msg, h membranacae are SO sick!!! they were my number one priority mantis to get before i found d lobatas, and i still wanna get some eventually, i love big mantises sm

Aggg I know right!! Jumping spiders, too, seem extremely intelligent. The way they move and look around just screams awareness, like they actually think and judge, making decisions rather than acting purely on instinct. It's a shame they have such short lifespans. Because no offense to them, but my hissing cockroaches are dumb as rocks. Yet they live at least double, up to quintuple, the lifespan of the average mantis or jumping spider.

Omg Deroplatys lobata is one of my dream species! Congrats! I am so jealous. I'll trade you my dried-out, dead H. membranacae for one of your live D. lobata...

And now you have me hooked on the jumping spiders! What are you getting? Stop leaving cliffhangers . I had a male Phidippus johnsoni for a while. I named him Devil's Advocate, since I saved him from getting stomped on. Super cute little guy with gorgeous coloration, and took down flies that were bigger than him. Wish I had gotten some pictures. Good luck with your slings!

[Leo & The Moths]

Aggg I know right!! Jumping spiders, too, seem extremely intelligent. The way they move and look around just screams awareness, like they actually think and judge, making decisions rather than acting purely on instinct. It's a shame they have such short lifespans. Because no offense to them, but my hissing cockroaches are dumb as rocks. Yet they live at least double, up to quintuple, the lifespan of the average mantis or jumping spider.

ughh ikr, my longest lived species rn are a vinegaroon and blue death feigning beetles, the vinegaroon has a surprising amount of personality but i dont think my beetles have a thought in their heads...

Omg Deroplatys lobata is one of my dream species! Congrats! I am so jealous. I'll trade you my dried-out, dead H. membranacae for one of your live D. lobata...

hmm.. unfortunately ill have to pass on this generous offer... but if i can manage to find a man for my lobatas i might get some mantis babies just have to hope i can actually get a male, the only time ive ever seen lobatas for sale (in stock) was when i bought mine months ago... hopefully some more show up soon lol. i see so many dessicatas and truncatas, poor lobatas are going underappreciated

And now you have me hooked on the jumping spiders! What are you getting? Stop leaving cliffhangers . I had a male Phidippus johnsoni for a while. I named him Devil's Advocate, since I saved him from getting stomped on. Super cute little guy with gorgeous coloration, and took down flies that were bigger than him. Wish I had gotten some pictures. Good luck with your slings!

im getting Phidippus audax babies!! have been a dream since i got into keeping bugs, so im thrilled haha. p johnsonis look so cool, ive never seen one in person, im jealous
it is insane how strong baby insectivore bugs can be though. every year we get hoardes of sundew assassin bug nymphs, and we also get tons of huge crane flies. since crane flies have literally 0 defenses, i put one and a sundew nymph into a container to see what would happen. i did not realize just how much bigger the crane fly was til i saw them both in the container and i was like oh theres no way but this sundew nymph literally grabbed the crane fly's legs and started using them like a lasso, this crane fly was at least 3x the sundew nymph's mass. itd hold on when the crane fly tried to fly and flew with it, and eventually got to the fly and got its meal, it was the most dramatic thing id ever seen

[Catsplat18]

ughh ikr, my longest lived species rn are a vinegaroon and blue death feigning beetles, the vinegaroon has a surprising amount of personality but i dont think my beetles have a thought in their heads...

I have a blue death feigning beetle too! I'm not actually convinced it's alive. It might be a blue pebble that magically moves around the tank. Because I stg I have never seen it eat. Anything. Ever. I've had it for over a year now.

I had a giant vinegaroon... it was one of my dream arachnids. Unfortunately it stopped eating and died. I had it for about 2 years and it never molted in my care. It once went under its water dish for a month, so I left it alone and hoped it would molt, but no, it was just too lazy to exist for a bit (honestly my spirit animal). It was going strong for a while after that, but yeah, it went on a hunger strike to the point I had to pre-crush insects and lift it to its chelicerae and hope it would grab on after tasting the juices. Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't. I have no idea what caused this issue. It used to be so active, performing crocodilian-like death rolls on its (live) prey and bulldozing dirt around faster than my brother when playing Minecraft. Still... I would really love to get one again. RIP Kraken. Tbf it was a wildcaught subadult, could've had a parasite or something, or maybe it was actually super old and just stunted... there's no way of autopsying a vinegaroon, I'm afraid. Next time I'll try to get my hands on a captive-bred one (or ideally, get a pair and breed them myself).

hmm.. unfortunately ill have to pass on this generous offer... but if i can manage to find a man for my lobatas i might get some mantis babies just have to hope i can actually get a male, the only time ive ever seen lobatas for sale (in stock) was when i bought mine months ago... hopefully some more show up soon lol. i see so many dessicatas and truncatas, poor lobatas are going underappreciated

Keep me updated!!

im getting Phidippus audax babies!! have been a dream since i got into keeping bugs, so im thrilled haha. p johnsonis look so cool, ive never seen one in person, im jealous
it is insane how strong baby insectivore bugs can be though. every year we get hoardes of sundew assassin bug nymphs, and we also get tons of huge crane flies. since crane flies have literally 0 defenses, i put one and a sundew nymph into a container to see what would happen. i did not realize just how much bigger the crane fly was til i saw them both in the container and i was like oh theres no way but this sundew nymph literally grabbed the crane fly's legs and started using them like a lasso, this crane fly was at least 3x the sundew nymph's mass. itd hold on when the crane fly tried to fly and flew with it, and eventually got to the fly and got its meal, it was the most dramatic thing id ever seen

I'm sorry for laughing but when you called it a lasso I snorted. Poor crane fly lol. I used to catch those things with my bare hands and feed them to my cat when I was in elementary school. So many predators... But it's fun to watch. I think the most dramatic thing I've ever seen was a red-tailed hawk soaring with a huge rattlesnake dangling from its talons.

What other inverts do you have, and what's on your wishlist?

[Leo & The Moths]

I have a blue death feigning beetle too! I'm not actually convinced it's alive. It might be a blue pebble that magically moves around the tank. Because I stg I have never seen it eat. Anything. Ever. I've had it for over a year now.

Hahaha, that's what my eleodes beetle is like. My bdfbs are surprisingly active, I had a stroke of luck and found someone who successfully captive bred and raised them, so maybe something to do with that? I'll scoop these beetles up and they don't have a care in the world, have yet to see them perform their playing dead trick because they're so chill lol.

The eleodes is a hermit in comparison, sometimes I'll catch em vaguely near the food but that's about it. Only other thing with him was when I gave them a shallow dish of water, he was so eager that i thought he'd manage to drown himself in it, stuck his head in over a minute at a time and the only reason he stopped for air is because I got nervous and nudged him youd think i never water these guys, the bdfbs couldve cared less about the water lol, now i water em with droplets (aside from fresh food) just because im worried about the eleodes drowning itself. every time that eleodes still acts like its the first time it's seen water in months, so dramatic

I had a giant vinegaroon... it was one of my dream arachnids. Unfortunately it stopped eating and died. I had it for about 2 years and it never molted in my care. It once went under its water dish for a month, so I left it alone and hoped it would molt, but no, it was just too lazy to exist for a bit (honestly my spirit animal). It was going strong for a while after that, but yeah, it went on a hunger strike to the point I had to pre-crush insects and lift it to its chelicerae and hope it would grab on after tasting the juices. Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't. I have no idea what caused this issue. It used to be so active, performing crocodilian-like death rolls on its (live) prey and bulldozing dirt around faster than my brother when playing Minecraft. Still... I would really love to get one again. RIP Kraken. Tbf it was a wildcaught subadult, could've had a parasite or something, or maybe it was actually super old and just stunted... there's no way of autopsying a vinegaroon, I'm afraid. Next time I'll try to get my hands on a captive-bred one (or ideally, get a pair and breed them myself).

Ohh, rip kraken I hope you're able to get one soon!! Or a breeding pair I've never seen mine do death rolls, but he's also not the most enthusiastic hunter lol

I got mine at a shady ass expo, a mistake but i was so desperate to get one asap. Saw one juvenile tohono vinegaroon left for $35. They said "hes cheaper because he's missing his tail, but it's just a minor flaw". Bought him, went home and found young adults on bugsincyberspace for $17.

Also found out missing a tail is not a minor flaw, but more like a blind person going deaf. Can't feel the vibration from bugs, took months to feed him because no matter what I tried just using touch wouldn't quite convince him something is alive. Either his food would stop moving (like how dubias hunker down) and he'd walk away to try and find where it went, or if it did move he'd still not quite believe it and keep prodding it until it DID get away, continuing a cycle of him looking desperately for his food and then chasing it away.

Atm he eats exclusively waxworm cocoons, because he can feel them move but they cant actually go anywhere. Jeremiah is a handful, never thought id receive an arachnid with special needs, but i love him dearly. hasnt molted yet but in fairness only got him to start eating just a few months ago.

Keep me updated!!

will def do!!

I'm sorry for laughing but when you called it a lasso I snorted. Poor crane fly lol. I used to catch those things with my bare hands and feed them to my cat when I was in elementary school. So many predators... But it's fun to watch. I think the most dramatic thing I've ever seen was a red-tailed hawk soaring with a huge rattlesnake dangling from its talons.

Woah, tbf i think that beats my assassin bug crane fly showdown by a bit, that's nuts think my best one was sitting at a lake and watching a bald eagle catch a fish just feet away from me, its def unforgettable lol

What other inverts do you have, and what's on your wishlist?

I have a lot rn haha, got about 15? species of isopods, scarlet and bumblebee millipedes, also have some termite farms brewing (but planning to sell those once they get started). my most immediate want rn is more flightless desert beetles, like eleodes, ironclads, other death feigning beetles etc. finally got just about all the supplies for a 40 gallon desert beetle tank ive been planning, so now all thats left is setting it up and getting a whole bunch of beetles!!

hbu, what other creatures do u have rn?