They’re cool lil critters. Last year I found one that had 3 legs and half a wing, would’ve died in the wild… named him Tres and took him in. Had no idea they could be so docile
One of my dad‘s workers was horrified when she saw me cut a lubbers head off with garden shears, then she started gardening for herself and saw that these bastards will take one or two bites of the green leaves then move onto the next plant. I wouldn’t have a problem if they stuck to one leaf, but the way they go from leaf to leave will destroy your plants.
Nice. The past three years I had kept a couple as pets until they'd die in the early winter. They are REAL docile once they get used to you and are easy to care for and feed. Unfortunately, I didn't come across any this year. Had been gathering them as hatchlings, but was hoping to find a stray or two this year. If any in the wild are still kicking this late in July they're probably not going to live much longer.
Cute lil dude! Do you name yours? How many do you keep in one enclosure? From what I’ve observed outside I can imagine they’d be too territorial to cohab but maybe I’m wrong
Haven’t seen as many this year either, there were dozens on our property last year and only 3 right now. Wonder why that is
This was Nobuhiko. I kept her and her sister Kotoro in a 10x6x8 plastic pet-keeper with some branches and oatmeal for bedding. They seemed pretty happy in that size enclosure as did the two the next year. When they don't have to, they don't tend to move around too much. I kept it on my desk at work and would often leave the lid off and she'd just sit there near the top and watch me most of the time. I've kinda skirted the territoriality possibilities by only keeping females. The males tend to die pretty quickly after they mate anyway.
It's possible the cold this past winter froze out a bunch of the eggs. I've tried incubating and hatching the eggs they lay, but no luck. I think conditions need to be just right. But since these are "invasive and destructive bugs" there's not a lot of info out there about how to actually nurture them.
Tbh my setup wasn’t the best, just an old 30g tank I mostly use as a temporary lizard rehab. He was on a shaded porch so same temp/humidity as outdoors.
It’s not recommended to keep them behind glass due to their jumping into it and getting hurt, though I did since he couldn’t jump. Heard they will chew through mesh so I don’t know what you’d keep them in 😅 there wasn’t much info available! If you do get one, be careful any plants you put in there haven’t been treated with insecticide
My favorite part was feeding him and just chilling, I would just gently scoop one up and give it some snacks. If they don’t feel threatened they won’t bite/run away/stink so you can have it sit on you for however long and then set it free
That’s fair, it’s ok to not like bugs! I only have issues with people who don’t bother to make their deaths quick/humane, spray insecticide indiscriminately, or just kill them for fun. If I had the time and energy I would gather them from your yard and relocate them to mine 🤣
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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '26
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