Beedrill
Arachnoknight
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2017
- Messages
- 156
Hey guys,
So I have a short story and a few questions.
So back in early spring, I noticed a massive surge of earwigs in our area
(European Earwigs, Forficula auricularia). I was seeing them everywhere. I did some research and found that they can be kept fairly simply, so I grabbed up a bunch of them and set up an enclosure. For a while they were very active and ate well. However, after a few months, I stopped seeing them and food went completely uneaten. After a while, I assumed they had died for unknown reasons. So, to my embarrassment, I stopped adding food or water. That was about a month and a half ago. I don't know why I didn't just check to see if they were in there, jut poor judgment I guess. Either way, I wanted to clean out the enclosure just to get it out of the way, and while I was doing so I found them all just as healthy as ever. I couldn't believe it! I felt pretty bad for abandoning them, but they were all still plump and seemed lively.
So now for the questions.
Do they require very specific conditions to breed? I was expecting babies by now since they are an invasive species and can also be considered a household pest. I'm also aware that they have a pretty carnivorous tendency, so I supply them with fresh killed crickets so that they wont eat each others eggs.
Is there any particular way to tell male from female?
Do they not eat very much? I was under the impression that they had cockroach like appetites. However, today when I added the first food available to them in at least a month, they refused it.
Thanks in advance!
So I have a short story and a few questions.
So back in early spring, I noticed a massive surge of earwigs in our area
(European Earwigs, Forficula auricularia). I was seeing them everywhere. I did some research and found that they can be kept fairly simply, so I grabbed up a bunch of them and set up an enclosure. For a while they were very active and ate well. However, after a few months, I stopped seeing them and food went completely uneaten. After a while, I assumed they had died for unknown reasons. So, to my embarrassment, I stopped adding food or water. That was about a month and a half ago. I don't know why I didn't just check to see if they were in there, jut poor judgment I guess. Either way, I wanted to clean out the enclosure just to get it out of the way, and while I was doing so I found them all just as healthy as ever. I couldn't believe it! I felt pretty bad for abandoning them, but they were all still plump and seemed lively.
So now for the questions.
Do they require very specific conditions to breed? I was expecting babies by now since they are an invasive species and can also be considered a household pest. I'm also aware that they have a pretty carnivorous tendency, so I supply them with fresh killed crickets so that they wont eat each others eggs.
Is there any particular way to tell male from female?
Do they not eat very much? I was under the impression that they had cockroach like appetites. However, today when I added the first food available to them in at least a month, they refused it.
Thanks in advance!
