ASSASSIN BUG BABIES
- Thread starter CellyBean
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Sorry to say I have no experience with them, only Orin is well experienced with the species (you might try sending a PM for help). In the meantime I would suggest smaller prey then. If you are using the larger Hydei fruit flies try the Melanogasters, or most likely they will do well with springtails if you have those.
I did some searching and found this care sheet which covers newly hatched nymphs as well near the bottom, so take a look.
okay so just in case people are curious here are my observations
they dont move around all that much and just tend to stick around the egg case
one of them though is more active and crawls around a bit
they ignore the fruitflies and will even move away from them
one of the babies i believe is dead as it has emerged half way from the egg yesterday and hasnt moved from that position.
they dont move around all that much and just tend to stick around the egg case
one of them though is more active and crawls around a bit
they ignore the fruitflies and will even move away from them
one of the babies i believe is dead as it has emerged half way from the egg yesterday and hasnt moved from that position.
Sarah K
Well-known member
I buy them online. bugsincyberspace usually has them. NEHERP as well. There are some other places to purchase them online as well, but I would specifically NOT recommend Josh's Frogs.
Good luck! let us know what you learn from Orin, as i am sure more than one of us has been curious about proper care for Assassin bugs.
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Sarah K
Well-known member
I ordered a springtail culture from them once, and could not find a single springtail in the culture! I brought it up with them, and they sent me a replacement, still did not see a single springtail! Ironically I usually like the site though, and there were other times I bought springtails from them,and they were fine, but after my last experience, I will not buy springtails from them again.
Orin should be a great help as he's written books about them, see here and here, and hopefully can help to get your babies eating.
I have never seen springtails at PetSmart, PetCo, or any other pet store - when asked I was told by a few stores they could special order them (which anyone can themselves online). I got my tropical white springtails from a "local" dart frog breeder (while on trip).
Honestly I'd be more than happy to ship several thousand springtails for the cost of shipping, but I don't have a local supplier for heat packs (as I'm out at the moment). So I would recommend Peter (BugsInCyberSpace) direct springtail link, but he only has the domestic/forest variety in stock at the moment. Looks like Rebecca (MantisPlace) has them here. Other searches only turned up more sites out of stock of any springtails.
luckily i have some springtails in my cricket feeder! so last night i moved all the babies into separate containers and put some springtails in with them.
and it turns out as i was moving the babies that they were actually stuck to the eggcase! thats why they werent moving around all that much.
two of the babies seem to be dead but the other three look like they may survive yet
plus i have another baby hatching right now as im typing this so that makes 6 in all that hatched
and it turns out as i was moving the babies that they were actually stuck to the eggcase! thats why they werent moving around all that much.
two of the babies seem to be dead but the other three look like they may survive yet
plus i have another baby hatching right now as im typing this so that makes 6 in all that hatched
@CellyBean Glad to to hear you have some springtails. Sorry to hear they dried to their eggs, and two died. Hopefully you were able to free the others and they will make it now. Best of luck.
Salmonsaladsandwich
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These guys (like most predatory true bugs) can handle prey much larger than themselves. They also don't seem to care if it's dead or alive from what I've read.
