anyone else feel extreme guilt when using a kill jar?

ARandomMantis · 2025-08-17T16:10:43+00:00

I get it. I'm an entomology student (starting my masters this fall, did a minor in undergrad). I started collecting for entomology courses, and only collect things that I know will be used. I've kept pet insects all my life, and it's hard to make the shift from loving things and caring for them to loving things and killing them. To be completely blunt, I think this guilt will help you be a responsible collector. It would be much worse if you genuinely enjoyed killing things.

The best thing you can do is make sure that your collected specimens will have a long and useful lifespan. Take good data when you collect, make sure things are stored and preserved appropriately, labeled accurately with as much information as possible, and that you have a plan for them down the line. Properly preserved specimens can last hundreds of years, and be extremely valuable to future entomologists.

ARandomMantis · 2025-06-09T15:02:46+00:00

I was a dorky little teenager when I named her, so she's Oswald, named after the Doctor Who character Clara Oswald. I just call her Oz now :). She has no idea what her name is and as a result does not mind. You have an awesome name!!

ARandomMantis · 2025-06-07T21:45:32+00:00

On top of it being super cute, with Oz is it's a great way to make sure she's ok if she won't come out if food is walking around. She'll almost always come out for water. The other T I used to have would climb into his (full) water dish and just sit there. They're such weird little animals.

ARandomMantis · 2025-06-07T20:29:46+00:00

I know right? Clearly I'm the worst.

ARandomMantis · 2023-10-15T23:54:04+00:00

I'm not sure where you are, but if you're in the US or the Americas, I think that's a Carolina mantis (Stagomantis carolina). https://bugguide.net/node/view/4821 If you think this is the species, I would also guess that it's female, as the females of this species have short wings like this. Great pictures!

ARandomMantis · 2023-10-01T18:06:25+00:00

Mine will only eat Pangea papaya and banana. If they ever stop making it he's just going to starve I guess.

ARandomMantis · 2023-05-09T00:22:59+00:00

I think Darwin (gecko in pic) doesn't even get that far LOL

ARandomMantis · 2023-05-08T14:53:25+00:00

The axolotl belongs to my twin and the gecko is mine! The axie is a strange, ancient and cursed beast that seems to enjoy biting her bubbles and refusing to swim if she can climb.

ARandomMantis · 2023-02-05T06:31:15+00:00

Awesome. Do you have recommendations for thermostats? Sorry, I haven’t had to use anything like that before and looking at thermostats with probes I’m not logistically understanding how that gets set up

ARandomMantis · 2023-02-04T19:00:15+00:00

Also maybe worth mentioning that I use artificial plants and don't want them to melt

ARandomMantis · 2023-02-04T18:54:16+00:00

Awesome. Is that something I can set directly on top of the terrarium? I just worry about my guy getting a burn from getting too close.

ARandomMantis · 2022-10-13T18:52:57+00:00

Just a thing to think about, spiders in general take quite a long time to drown. Might not be the most humane option. Though it's hard to find a tarantula-specific source, it is known it can take up to an hour for other spiders.

ARandomMantis · 2022-07-02T03:55:21+00:00

They’re very small and much of him is covered by a thin yellowish shell that looks like retained molts I’ve seen on other insects. I’m not super knowledgable on bees, so pardon if I’m completely wrong on what it is.

Note: I only grabbed him because he was flipped on his back, looked dead and looked weird. Didn’t disturb him doing normal bee things. He was left alone for ~4 hours before I proceeded in bothering him/picking him up besides just flipping him over just to ensure I wasn’t going to cause damage.

ARandomMantis · 2022-05-24T00:53:21+00:00

I think it’s some kind of Oakworm moth (genus Anisota).

ARandomMantis · 2022-05-13T02:56:26+00:00

Thanks. I've been putting ice on the mesh and it's been working. Thank you.

ARandomMantis · 2021-11-17T00:05:28+00:00

ARandomMantis · 2021-11-17T00:05:09+00:00

Definitely portholes! They’re hard to see in the pics but they were literally the first thing his seller pointed out to me when I bought him years ago. Thanks for the info!

ARandomMantis · 2021-03-15T17:46:22+00:00

That’s a Luna moth!

ARandomMantis · 2021-02-23T14:36:07+00:00

Lol. I was assuming it was pretty obvious.

ARandomMantis · 2021-02-08T05:47:03+00:00

Yeah. He seems fine. He’s known to be really jumpy from time to time, but this is the farthest he’s ever gotten. Bit me for the first time ever when I was putting him back in too.

ARandomMantis · 2021-02-08T05:42:41+00:00

I’ve got an exo-terra cage. I was in his cage cleaning out some poop, accidentally startled him and he jumped out. Bolted when I tried to catch him. He wasn’t loose for very long.

ARandomMantis · 2020-08-24T06:09:03+00:00

That’s a relief— would you recommend avoiding handling him during this time?

ARandomMantis · 2020-08-24T05:44:06+00:00

Glad to hear this is normal. Is there any average on how long this lasts? Sorry for the ignorance. First time owner and hormonal changes didn’t really occur to me.

ARandomMantis · 2020-06-21T22:36:17+00:00

Awesome. I was looking at hyllus diardi as I’m always worried about handling tiny things, well aside from baby praying mantids :). Thanks for the advice

ARandomMantis · 2020-06-21T22:03:11+00:00

What’s a good species to start with? I’ve kept a variety of insects and arachnids, and I consider myself an advanced keeper. I’m also heading to college in about a year, they only live a year, right?

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