I wonder if I am the only one on this forum that likes to keep insects as pets. Not just going outside and catching bugs, but keeping and raising non-native insects.

I know mantises and phasmids are popular, some also keep chrysalises and caccoons of various butterflies and moths (Monarch butterfly and Luna Moth are especially popular) until they hatch... some even keep their caterpillars as pets and raise them to adult hood.

Personally, I have 4 Romalea microptera... which are large orange/yellow Lubber grasshoppers from Florida. Eastern Lubbers, they are called... very cool creatures! The largest is a female, who is larger than my middle finger - not counting legs fully extended. The males are also strange, eager to mate with the females, but females kick them off, but they keep trying to mate with whatever is underneath them... it's funny to watch because their behavior is exactly like the male Eastern Lubber in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tShVTSUPYJ0

I also have 4 Sphodromantis centralis... they are also known as the Central African mantis. They are 3rd instar (they've molted twice) and are still very small. They are kept in small plastic jars with plastic lids and holes poked in the top - that's what they were shipped in and they can be raised in these containers at least until L4. Around L4 or L5 they'll be placed in kritter keepers, but for now they are doing well where they are now. They are especially fun because there are two ways to feed them. One is to take a fruit fly from a culture and drop one in their container and wait until the bugger crosses the mantid's path... the mantis will snatch the fly and feast! The other alternative is to snatch a 'wild' fruit fly that is buzzing around my head at night when I am sitting by my computer and drop it into the container. If the fly dies in the process of capture, no problem... won't let a good fly go to waste... just hold it by the wings with forceps and carefully touch the fly to the tiny mouth of the mantis... they'll take it usually because they'll taste the blood (or hemolymph to be technical) and know it is indeed food.

African mantises resemble this when grown up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se07uLC1wno - it'll be a while before mine get this big.

Can't say I am. All bugs pretty much gross me out. Even like harmless Ladybugs gives me a bit of uneasy feeling.

This was a useful post and provided a nice kick-start for a thread someone started to discuss keeping insects as pets. Thank you for your contribution and stay the fuck out of here if you have nothing else to say. This goes for the rest of you as well. Sheesh...

Thank you.

I used to have two hissing cockroaches from Madagascar. Nice, gentle creatures. I accidentally stepped on both :[

The OP posed a question and he responded to it. Get that stick out of your ass.

Ooh... too bad. XP

My only experiences have been those I've captured... or rescued/found stranded in unwanted situations for them.

A mantis, which seemed to me like a miniature cat (I recall watching it drinking from a spoon and washing its face). Also a millipede (I know, not an insect). Oh, and of the most interestings pickings was a water scorpion. Sometimes it gave me the creeps since it could fly, but nothing bad happened. I fed it mostly with tadpoles and frogs. As soon as the rainy days had come to an end, I set it free.

I never has any insect pet, but my friend had a spider the size of the hand of a adult.She(or he, don't know), was big, hairy, ugly as fuck, slept 90% of the time and raised hell in his house every time she got off her cage.

Sadly, the dumb maid that was working for my friend at the time put the cage with spider under the sun and forgot her there for thw hole, so she died fried under the heat.

Well, since you seem to have reading comprehension problems in addition to a nice attitude, let's see if numbers and dates are more familiar to you.

I'd suspend you for a week, because that's what mentally pre-pubescent kids like you usually get here for acting like that, but I'd just forget to unban your account next week. It's easier for both of us if you just shut up and stop posting for that time period. If I see you posting before next week's Friday, I'll ban your account permanently. Sounds fair? No matter, that's what we'll do.

Cool! Thank you.

I am not intimidated, nor surprised by your behavior. I thought to myself that, if you were a mod (I had a feeling you might be but was not sure), you would surely be above abusing your "power" (:lol:) over something as petty as this. Apparently, I overestimated you. Goodbye.

OK, as you wish.

If someone feels this is abuse of power, I suggest contacting the owners or one of the other admins. I won't argue it if they reverse the decision after seeing the evidence.

Now, discuss bugs, but do so in a useful manner. Beware of stick insects, they seem to be treacherous here.

lol i thought this was about bugs?

how long do they normally live? i cant imagine them staying alive for more than a few weeks.

Napero derailed this thread.

Napero didn't derail the thread, he was doing his job.

Anyways, although not technically an insect, my brother had a pet Costa-Rican Zebra Legged Tarantula for a few years. The thing was pretty intimidating and was not the kind of tarantula you would pick up. A boring pet really, it would stay in the same position for days. It was fun watching it eat crickets though. The most exciting time with that thing was one day when my dad was showing it to my friends and accidentally left the top of the cage off; none of us noticed. The next morning I went to go walk upstairs, half-asleep, and saw the tarantula on the stairs just chilling. I woke my brother up and he stuck her back in her cage. He eventually gave it to a friend who appreciates it more than we do.

OK. Let's agree I did. I also have this button that says "lock", and I'm going to push it now. Happy?

I have a feeling we need to do something about completely unnecessary posts on the forum soon. They are getting too predictable and numerous. All this started with one of those, and it was the very first thing posted. And a couple of more kept this going, after I (almost politely) suggested otherwise. And now I'm irritated and one person is banned AFTER HE PERSONALLY ASKED FOR IT. Granted, there are certain... shall we say, environmental... things playing their role here, but why the hell is it so difficult to keep discussing things in a normal, useful manner, and actually thinking about the information content of your posts beforehand? If you sit in a McDonalds, and one of your friends starts talking about cars, it's quite OK to say "I don't know, I don't have a car" or something, if you really feel you can't contribute to the discussion in the social situation you are currently in and you think redirecting the discussion is a better option for everybody around the table, but is it really useful knowledge for someone who wishes to discuss keeping insects as pets on an Internet board to be told that someone in Alabama doesn't like ladybugs? Seriously? How about NOT telling everybody that, because from the point of discussing keeping fucking insects as pets, knowing that there's somebody on the board who doesn't like insects and doesn't intend to keep them as pets because of that, is as useful as most things Ralph Wiggum says on the Simpsons. Yes, it's a fact, but it's contribution to the discussion is less than nil, because it's just friggin' white noise added to the transmission. What happened to thinking before posting?

Yes, Napero derailed the thread. Let's hope the thread does not derail Napero.

And Orb, no more obviously ill-considered posts. Ever.

EDIT: If someone wishes to restart the thread, on a clean slate, feel free to do so. But I will keep an eye on it, and it better go without incidents.