How often do assassin bug moults fail?

[Flammendehaar]

I have 9 Psytalla horrida nymphs currently. I did have 10, but last night one failed to moult properly and I found it this morning I knew this was a possibility but it still sucks to see (these are my first inverts so I want to raise them well). How much should I be bracing myself for this to happen in future?

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

It's pretty common in crowded setups, but can be minimized by giving them more space per bug with lots of vertical or diagonal bark etc. to hang from. As long as they have proper molting surfaces mismolts usually occur because they're disturbed by other bugs while molting. When they cannibalize it usually happens during molting as well.

If your remaining nymphs are really valuable to you and you want to minimize the chance mismolts or cannibalism as much as possible, I would suggest separating them into individual setups until they reach maturity. But generally as long as they're well fed and have enough space they have a good survival rate when kept together.

 

[Flammendehaar]

It's pretty common in crowded setups, but can be minimized by giving them more space per bug with lots of vertical or diagonal bark etc. to hang from. As long as they have proper molting surfaces mismolts usually occur because they're disturbed by other bugs while molting. When they cannibalize it usually happens during molting as well.

If your remaining nymphs are really valuable to you and you want to minimize the chance mismolts or cannibalism as much as possible, I would suggest separating them into individual setups until they reach maturity. But generally as long as they're well fed and have enough space they have a good survival rate when kept together.

Thanks for the reply.

I didn't think what they're in now was especially crowded but I am new to this. They're in a nursery pot currently:



I was going to keep them in there for a few moults before moving them into a much larger tank I have. Should I just move them over now? My concern was over them not finding food easily since its just so big in the tank (an exo terra vivarium, 30cm x 30cm x 45cm); will they actively hunt and not go hungry despite the size of the space?

They are valuable to me but I don't have room for the many little pots required to house separately. I do think, judging on where I found it, it probably chose to moult in the most popular real estate in the pot and may have been knocked off. It was one of two that are lagging way behind the others in terms of moults so I was concerned about how easily it would moult.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

I would definitely move them into the bigger setup. It looks like there's not that many places to molt given the number of bugs in the enclosure and its not surprising that one mismolted. They're good hunters and have no problem finding their prey in a bigger enclosure, plus they can last weeks (probably months for bigger specimens) without eating if necessary and mismolts are a much bigger danger than starvation.

I wouldn't call it "too" crowded overall, you'll probably end up having to keep them at even higher densities when they start breeding, but its not ideal considering you only have a few and want to ensure survival.

 

[Flammendehaar]

I would definitely move them into the bigger setup. It looks like there's not that many places to molt given the number of bugs in the enclosure and its not surprising that one mismolted. They're good hunters and have no problem finding their prey in a bigger enclosure, plus they can last weeks (probably months for bigger specimens) without eating if necessary and mismolts are a much bigger danger than starvation.

This is great to hear, thank you. I've been itching to get them in the nice big tank! I guess I won't see much of them while they're so small in there but them finding food was my biggest concern. Knowing they'll have room to grow and moult and I won't have to fuss about with the smaller pot (which stinks to high heaven after just a few days of them killing stuff) is great. I was only doing it as I'd seen people on youtube keeping nymphs that way but if its not necessary that's good to know.

 

[Flammendehaar]

They're now scattered to the four winds in their new home. Here's hoping they do well!

 

[Joey Spijkers]

View attachment 443329

They're now scattered to the four winds in their new home. Here's hoping they do well!

I always had them in a similar enclosure. Rarely any mismolts.