info on assassins

chuck

Arachnodemon
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i was thinking about getting a few red spotted assassins, but as i did a little research i found out that they could make you very ill if you were to be bitten by one.
also, what do they eat, from what i read, they seem to be a cross btwn mosquitos and beetles, do they suck blood or would they eat their prey?:?
 

Code Monkey

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They will readily take crickets or roaches. An assassin pierces its prey with its 'beak' mouth parts and then injects it with its venom and digestive enzymes, the liquefied bug goo is then sucked back up through the beak.

I wouldn't worry about being bit unless you want to handle them. They're awesome hunters but not aggressive in any way towards you. They can easily be manipulated with a paint brush to get them to go to where you need them.
 

chuck

Arachnodemon
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thats great news, disgusting, but great =D

are they communial
can 2 males live together w/o a female or w/o enough females?
how big of a tank do they need, i have a free small kritter keeper (9"Lx5"Wx7"H apx) is that big enough for 2?
how many offspring do they have at one time?
how long will the female be pregnant for?
how many times should they be fed, weekly?
is humidity and temp a major factor?
 

Wade

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Check out the book "Assassins, Water Scorpions and Other True Bugs". I think it's written by Orin McMonigle but I can't find the authors name in my copy. It has good husbandry info. You can get it from the publisher www.angelfire.com/oh3/elytraandantenna

or from companies like bioquip.

Wade
 

Steven

pede-a-holic
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are they communial
i've got 4 adult females living together with 3 male adults and about 10 little ones (differnt sizes), the females wil lay about 5-8 eggs a week., just feed them enough crickets and give them water by spraying on them daily.

they are in no way agressive or so, i handle them only for cleaning their tank and they just crawl on my hand and stay calm,...

Ow yeah, i don't have the red spotted, only the white spotted assassins

i've made a site about then when i was in school: http://www.platymeris.s5.com (only dutch)

greetz
 

Bob

Arachnoangel
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I have three giant orange spot from Orin. They are very shy and like dry conditions. Not agressive at all. Growing very fast. I keep all three together on dry vermiculite. No problems because I always keep a few crickets in the cage. Very easy to keep...I just don't try to pick them up to be safe. You can buy them now at Golden Phoenix . See link on Petbugs.com classifieds.

Bob
 

chuck

Arachnodemon
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thanks but i got my trusted supplier

what is "dry"? 60%?
i only ask b/c the substrate im using holds a lot of moisture (potting soil)

how small are these nymphs? are they small enough to climb out of kritter keepers?
 

arcane

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I don't know much about assassins, but from what I've read "Chagas" disease is spread through getting their feces/urine into eyes/open wound (which could be a bite).

Info on Chagas

Of course, it sounds like these are more parasitic rather than predatory type assassin bugs, but like Mom always said "wash your hands!"
 

Steven

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how small are these nymphs? are they small enough to climb out of kritter keepers?
the really small ones can climb out of anything (my experience) i got some pictures of eggs, nimfs, subadult, adult on my site : http://www.platymeris.s5.com (only dutch)

greetz
 

Wade

Arachnoking
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Originally posted by arcane
I don't know much about assassins, but from what I've read "Chagas" disease is spread through getting their feces/urine into eyes/open wound (which could be a bite).

Info on Chagas

Of course, it sounds like these are more parasitic rather than predatory type assassin bugs, but like Mom always said "wash your hands!"
Yes, this is a different type of Reduvid, commonly called the "kissing bug" for it's habit of biting people around the mouth while they sleep. What usually happens is the victim scratches at the bite and rubs infected feces into the wound.

Wade
 

Steven

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I have three giant orange spot from Orin
could you post a picture of them, never seen any of those.
i checked the link of Golden Phoenix but they don't have a picture link :(

thanx in a.

greetz
 

zoobugs

L.D.50
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Jul 19, 2002
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We've over 100 of the assassins in two ten gal. containers. They breed readily and we have nymphs all over the place. We spray them 3 times a week and feed them 3 times a week with crickets. They are fairly easy to maintain and they don't appear to be aggressive towards us, but then we don't handle them either.
 
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