Meet My Assassin Bugs — The Misunderstood Predators Living in My Crypt

Today I updated my Assassin Bug enclosure and thought it would be a perfect time to talk about them and share with you. I get asked WHY DO YOU HAVE THEM, HOW COULD YOU HAVE THEM AS PETS, THEY ARE SO SCARY, THEY ARE UGLY and so on.. So today I'm going to teach you about them and about why I love them.

Welcome to my 3rd blog post of many to come!!

ASSASSIN BUGS:

They have a very intimidating appearance and creepy factor but the saying "they are more scared of you than you are of them" is very correct. Lots of people know them because they have been bitten by them or have seen them one way or another, and yes they can bite however it's rare. It's usually when they are starving or cornered as a last resort, so like sticking your foot in a shoe and they bite your toe. Got to imagine being them, what would you do to save yourself? Just like any animal, even us humans, we will fight to save ourselves.

They are very curious and love to explore. They are very communal creatures yet still love their space. I can relate. There are a few types of assassin bugs out there, however the type I have develop two big spots as adults that can turn red or white and the ones I have are white, they don't show up until fully mature or almost. As they grow they also develop wings but rarely use them. It takes them roughly 6-9 months to grow fully and mature. If taken care of properly they can live 1-2 years after their last molt (which is also when they grow the wings).

They can hunt in packs or by themselves, they will sit still at a high angle and wait to drop onto their prey. They can eat lots of types of prey but in captivity the best things to feed them are crickets, Dubia roaches, or red runners. I prefer to feed them crickets and dump in a good amount once or twice a week. If you do not see any prey in the enclosure they are probably starving and will resort to killing each other and we do not want that.

How do they eat? I find this fascinating and slightly spooky haha. In my words, they have this appendage on top of their head that once they capture their prey, they use it to pierce the body and suck out the insides like a nice milkshake.

Humidity for them is low, they get most of their moisture from the food they eat. However I do a quick mist over the entire enclosure once a week, not soaking anything just a mist. One side has some moss I keep damp so they can choose to go there if they need any humidity to help with molting or mating.

When and Why? I got my Assassin Bugs a few months ago while I was at a pet store. No one was interested in these 4 and I'd never had anything like them before so I said WHY NOT. I had no idea what I was doing or how to set up their enclosure but I jumped all in.

Originally I had them in a big critter carrier, the longer ones that are not very tall, and found out quickly (because one died after or during a molt, just like a tarantula this is a very vulnerable time) that it's not good for them as they need space to hang to molt and even mate, but at the same time they love to be crammed into small areas to feel safe. So after learning this I moved them to a 5 gallon tank with a mesh lid. They thrived and grew bigger than I thought they could.

But I found I wasn't done, I needed more. So I went on Morph Market and found someone selling babies and ordered 10 (because chances are not all will survive growing) and put them into a smaller enclosure where they can find their food easier. And GROW they did.

Leading me to today: Now that the babies are at least half the size if not bigger than the adults, I can move them all together. The question was what size enclosure they should go in. For me I want it to be as natural as possible and self-sustaining to a point (I'll add food a couple times a week). I was given a 29 gal tank for free and thought well what perfect timing, this will be amazing for them.

The tank sits roughly 19 inches tall so I had to figure out the best way to fill it, as they need height, cramped areas, and places to explore. It's best to move them all at once so they can find their spot rather than try to take one already claimed. So I got to work, added a ton of wood pieces, cork bark pieces, dirt, leaf litter, and some moss. Anything I could to fill the space.

Once the enclosure was done I had to move them, and even though I love them it can be intimidating because they move fast. And even though it's rare that they'll bite and I've never been bitten by them IT CAN ALWAYS HAPPEN. You also want to be careful because even though they have a shell-like armor they are still fragile and you do not want to hurt them during the move. So one by one they went into the new enclosure until all were moved from both smaller enclosures. All together I found 10, 3 adults and 7 younger ones (I'll keep watching the old enclosures for a little while to make sure I didn't miss any). After that I just stood there for at least 20 minutes watching them explore and run around. They are honestly so cute and fun to watch. I hope they live happily in their now forever home and have lots of babies for meeeeeee.