What are Land Invertebrates?
Invertebrates are animals that have no backbones. Ninety-nine percent of all the animals known to science are species without backbones. Terrestrial (land-dwelling) invertebrates include arthropods (insects), and arachnids (spiders).
The phylum, Anthropoda, contains all the invertebrate animals that have jointed legs and stiffened exoskeletons (usually made of chitin), such as insects, spiders, crabs, myriapods, and scorpions.
This Anthropoda phylum is a huge group of invertebrates. It has more varieties
of species than any other phyla!
Why Land Invertebrates make good pets
Land Invertebrates make ideal pets in many ways. They are very quiet and most require very little space to house them. They are also easy to take care of with a minimal amount of cleaning and virtually no odor.
People have a variety of reactions to these animals; from disgust as they see a cockroach scampering across their kitchen floor, to enjoyment when they think about a shrimp or lobster dinner, or with awe when they see a beautiful butterfly. But no matter which type if invertebrate it is, their interesting appearance and behaviors make them a fascinating group of animals.
Probably one of the most common invertebrates enjoyed by all types
of pet lovers is the popular hermit crab. Many other invertebrates along with
the hermit crab are now becoming increasingly popular. Many of the more docile
invertebrate species are now readily available in pet stores. Invertebrates can
make interesting and unusual pets.
NOTE: Some invertebrates are not for the beginner!
Invertebrates that are potentially dangerous should only be kept by an advanced hobbyist.
Be sure to learn about the invertebrate you are interested in
to determine if it is right for you!
Is an Invertebrate pet right for you?
Other than hissing roaches, hermit crabs, millipedes, stick
and leaf insects, and some of the mantids, most invertebrate pets are
best not handled. As with marine fish, the excitement comes in designing
and creating an exotic jungle forest or an arid desert habitat in an
enclosure in your home. Many of the invertebrates on the pet market are
very quick, stress easily, will jump and injure themselves, or may deliver
a very painful bite or dangerous sting. Many should only be kept by advanced
keepers with plenty of experience keeping potentially dangerous animals.
In each group presented on these pages, we suggest that a keeper starts
small, with one or two of the hardiest and calmest species, to gain the
important experience required.
Read, question, explore, and weigh your realistic abilities, physically, financially, and emotionally, and if you decide to enter the world of invertebrate keeping and breeding, this web site should be helpful in beginning your journey.
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Housing Types:
Cages or Enclosures for Invertebrates:
There are nearly as many different kinds of enclosures
as there are invertebrates being kept. Some keepers use plastic shoe boxes
and sweater boxes while some keepers use plastic jars and other containers.
Glass aquariums, commercially available screen cages, acrylic boxes, and many
other enclosures are commonly available at local pet stores as well as
reptile and insect shows.
The type of invertebrate being kept will dictate the type of enclosure
that you will need. Here are some of the enclosures that
work well in keeping captive invertebrates healthy and “stimulated”.
- Plastic Containers:
Plastic containers such as sandwich tubs, shoe boxes, sweater boxes and gallon jars are available in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and prices. They are typically inexpensive and easy to find.
When used for keeping invertebrates, it is best to modify the lids or sides of these containers to allow airflow. This can be done easily with a small drill or an inexpensive soldering iron to make air holes for these enclosures. (A soldering iron should be used outdoors or in a well-ventilated area to avoid buildup of dangerous fumes.)
With a little ingenuity you can take the plastic lid off a plastic gallon jar and cut away a "window” in the top with a small saw, dremel tool, or sharp X-acto knife. Over this hole, you can hot glue a small section of window screen (available at a local hardware store). This modified lid works great for a wide range of invertebrate pets.
- Terrariums:
Glass and acrylic terrariums can be wonderful enclosures for
invertebrates. A lower profile terrarium works well for terrestrial species
and vertically oriented terrariums work best for arboreal (tree dwelling) species.
As the invertebrates grow, they will of course need larger and larger enclosures.
Aquariums are also relatively inexpensive and can be adapted as
a terrarium. They are available in a variety of sizes and look nice when set
up in a special part of a keeper’s home. Unlike terrariums they do not
come with a screen top, which provides for necessary ventilation. However,
secure screen tops are available for many sizes of glass aquariums and are
usually easy to find at local pet stores.
Custom built aquariums are also popular and if a keeper has the tools, they can be built inexpensively in a variety of sizes.
- Outdoor Enclosures:
Some keepers choose to keep their invertebrates outdoors for all or part of their lives. Outdoor enclosures in moderate climates can provide the ultimate environment for your invertebrate pets. Be sure that you provide outdoor enclosures with secure screen covers that allow sunlight in and keep predators out. Predators of invertebrates can take many different forms such as birds, cats, mice, and even ants.
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Housing Requirements:
The housing requirements for most cages and terrariums consist of four
basic elements; heating, lighting, floor covering, decor and cleaning. The items
used to supply these elements sometimes overlap, as in heating and lighting.
Heating and Lighting:
- Nocturnal Invertebrates:
As most invertebrates are nocturnal (active
at night), most keepers feel that expensive UVB-emitting bulbs are not important.
To observe nocturnal species, you can use a light fixture with a
blue or red bulb mounted within the enclosure. These lights allow you to
watch the animals at night while not
interrupting their nighttime activities.
- Diurnal Invertebrates:
In nature, diurnal (active by day) insects and arachnids move between hot, sunny areas and cooler, shaded areas to regulate their metabolism behaviorally. You can mount UVB-emitting bulbs in fixtures over mantids and species that are diurnal. You can also use bulbs that emit both UVB and heat mounted in a ceramic fixture on a sturdy screen top for all diurnal species, especially mantids and phasmids.
- Hot Environments:
A creature from a hot, sunny environment is going to require plenty of environmental heat in its enclosure. But keep in mind that most desert species live in deep burrows that remain somewhat cool and humid, even during the hottest days of the year. You must give these desert species access to a cooler, more humid area in their enclosures.
For those species that require hot, arid environments, you
can add a small wattage heat lamp over their enclosure and use heat tape or
heating pads under one end of the enclosure, the “hot” end. Be
careful not to place an invertebrate’s shelter directly over this heat
source as heat will be trapped in the shelter and can reach lethal levels.
Glass enclosures will heat up to dangerous levels very quickly. Be sure not to put glass aquariums outdoors on sunny days. Also, aquariums near a sunny window can trap warmth. They will heat up very quickly, potentially killing your pet.
Water and Moisture:
Be sure to provide enough water or moisture for your pet. In captivity,
many invertebrates die from dehydration. Even desert-dwelling animals will
need access to water. Provide water in a shallow dish or spray the area underneath
their shelters with water once or twice a month to keep it moist. Inexperienced
keepers kill many invertebrates from simply not offering their pets enough
moisture.
- Water and moisture requirements:
Depending on its life in nature, a captive invertebrates will
require anything from a damp, humid enclosure with frequent mistings to an
arid habitat with low ambient humidity and only its prey item as a source
of water.
For more tropical enclosures, daily or twice daily spraying may be required. For forest enclosures, less frequent spraying or a drip system may be enough.
- Drip System:
Place a plastic container with a perforated bottom on the screen top of the enclosure. Fill the container once a day with water and let it drip into a dish in the enclosure. During a “rainy season”, also spray the enclosure once a week. We feel that our drip system helps keep moderate humidity in the enclosure by allowing the water to drip into a small space of the cage.
Many captive invertebrates that require high humidity also require well-ventilated enclosures. This can be difficult to achieve as a well-ventilated cage typically does not stay humid and an enclosed cage stays humid, but air within it can become stale, mold can grow and become dangerous for the animal within.
Substrates (floor coverings):
There is a growing movement in the hobby for the establishment of beautiful and elaborate vivaria for invertebrates. The business of selling driftwood, cork bark, live moss, misting systems, colorful sand, and supplies is thriving. Many keepers, especially those keeping only one or two special pets, are choosing naturalistic setups for their invertebrate pets. Substrates are an important addition to the look of these naturalistic setups.
- Sand and Coconut Bedding:
A mixture of damp sand and coconut bedding such as T-rex FOREST BEDDING works well for many invertebrate's enclosures. It is not only natural, it holds moisture well and the acidity of the coconut bedding seems to keep the development of mold or fungus in check in the more humid enclosures.
- Sand and Peat Moss:
Many keepers use a mixture of damp sand and peat moss for their
enclosures. This mixture works very well for most invertebrates. It is
natural and the peat moss will hold moisture for several hours to several days
after it has been misted with a spray bottle.
There is some concern about invertebrates ingesting sand as they pounce on prey. However, healthy invertebrates will simply pass these small amounts of sand with their feces. This no doubt occurs in nature and seems to cause little or no problems.
- Paper Towels:
Small invertebrates, especially small tarantulas, are often kept
on paper towels, especially in the early days when they are kept in vials or
small containers. This is an easy to manage “substrate” as it is
inexpensive and easy to change when it gets dirty. However, for inexperienced
keepers, it is often difficult to determine when the paper towel is too dry as
it doesn't’t darken as does peat or sand.
- Vermiculite:
Vermiculite was a touted substrate in the early days of keeping tarantulas. Most keepers have moved away from vermiculite as a substrate for various reasons. Vermiculite often sticks to invertebrates (when it is dry and has become very lightweight) and swells if ingested, causing impaction and death.
Cage Decor:
There is no doubt that the addition of driftwood, cork bark, stable rock piles, and other cage decorations is important in keeping captive inverts healthy and stimulated. These decorations provide important hiding places which keep invertebrates less stressed and provides them with proper moulting areas.
Be sure that any cage decorations are firmly resting on the bottom of the enclosure and that the substrate is pushed up against the object. If a terrestrial species digs under a flat rock or other heavy object that is not resting firmly on the bottom of the enclosure, the object might settle onto the animal and crush it against the bottom of the enclosure. This accident is fairly common in the collections of beginning hobbyists.
- Decorations:
If you collect branches and other decorations from outside, be sure that they come from an area that is not sprayed with pesticides and that they are non-toxic. Rocks and stones can be sterilized in a light bleach solution (one part bleach to five parts water) and then scrubbed with a soap-filled sponge and rinsed thoroughly before they are added to the enclosure.
- Shelters and Hiding Places:
There are a variety of reptile shelters on the market that can be easily converted to use with invertebrates. Some of the best are the natural-looking rock shelters and slabs or tubes of cork bark. Most of these are easy to clean and sterilize and are in sizes perfectly suited for invertebrate enclosures.
- Viewing your Invertebrate:
Cage decorations provide your invertebrate
pet with wonderful places to explore and also wonderful places to hide. Most
invertebrates hide as a way of life. When you provide them with hiding places
they use them, and this obviously cuts down on your viewing pleasure. It is
a fine balance but setting up naturalistic enclosures are worth the tradeoff
for the health of your animals.
For nocturnal invertebrates (most of them), we suggest setting up a light fixture above the enclosure that houses a red bulb. This red bulb will allow a keeper to watch his or her invertebrate pet as it explores its enclosure after dark. Feeding and other exciting experiences a keeper gains from his or her pet can be timed for this part of the day.
Scorpions, which fluoresce under UV light, can be watched at night using a simple blacklight fixture over their enclosure. Feeding, digging, moving substrate, and other activities in the dark are quite amazing to behold.
Cage Cleaning:
Keeping a clean invertebrate environment depends on which species your have, but most are very clean naturally and need to be cleaned only about once a month, or for some only every six months. Where you use a soil/sand mixture in the substrate, many invertebrate's feces will decompose into a crumbly black humus and blend into the substrate without any noticeable odor.
One thing all invertebrate enclosures need is regular maintenance.
This means removing any uneaten prey and noticeable debris regularly. This
will help to protect them from harmful micro-organisms and parasitic infestations.
You will also need to monitor your pet's water or moisture regularly, misting
the substrate or adding fresh water as necessary.
- Things you will need to do for your invertebrates
home:
- Everything you put into their home should be washed and disinfected. This
includes dishes, floor coverings, and cage decor. Never clean with a phenol
such as Pine Sol. Chlorine and alcohol based cleaners are tolerated much
better, but need to be thoroughly rinsed.
- Sand or logs that you collect from outside should be cleaned and bleached.
You can also sterilize them in a slow oven (120 degrees to 150 degrees)
for two to three hours.
- Wooden limbs can be sealed with polyurethane varnish to seal any holes
where parasites might be hiding.
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Foods and Feeding:
Many Invertebrates are primarily
carnivorous,
meaning they subsist on protein foods though some insects, such as crickets
will also eat vegetation. Specialized carnivores, subsisting on only insects,
and are called
insectivores.
- Feeding your pet:
Feeding both insectivorous and carnivorous species is usually
simple and straightforward. They will need a diet consisting of a
variety of live prey: Crickets, grasshoppers, mealworms, waxworms, flies,
moths, and occasionally pink or fuzzy mice may be required.
Small insects and arachnids will need to be fed small insects,
and as they grow they will require larger prey items. All captive invertebrates
should be offered a wide variety of prey rather than just feeding those that
are easiest to find at the local pet store or bait shop.
- Raising your own food:
Many keepers, especially those with large collections, also raise several types of feeder prey in connection with their invertebrate collections. This insures that their prey items are well-fed and healthy and provide the best nutrients for their captive pets. Some feeders such as crickets, fruit flies, and wax moths are especially time-consuming to produce.
One important aspect of producing your own prey items is that you can effectively control the health of the feeders and use them to provide your animals with the best possible nutrition. Gut-loading of crickets and mealworms is an important part of feeding your inverts. By feeding (gut-loading) your prey items a healthy diet, this is transferred to your animals.
We recommend adding a small “pile” of 5-6 of the items below to the cricket enclosure twice a week and definitely in the eight to ten hours before feeding your animals: Romaine lettuce,
Greenleaf and redleaf lettuce,
Mustard greens, Collard greens,
Dandelions,
Green beans,
Yellow squash,
Zucchini,
Carrots (shredded),
Sweet potato (shredded),
Apple slices ,
Orange slices,
Pears,
Cantaloupe,
Mango,
Papaya ,
Oats,
Wheat germ,
Corn flour,
Rice cereal baby food (dry),
Powdered milk,
Sunflower seeds (unsalted),
Bee pollen,
Tropical fish flakes,
and Spirulina flakes.
* We do not recommend ground dog food or cat food.
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Do's and Don'ts
- Learn about different types of invertebrates to be sure you get one
that will fit you and your lifestyle.
- A few of the more common invertebrates are handleable, while some of the more specialized invertebrates are best kept just for observing, not handling. Decide which type you are interested in so you won't be disappointed.
For example a hermit crab is easy to handle, but a large centipede can give a very painful pinch, not a handleable pet!
- If you know about the type of invertebrate you are getting, then you will
know what to expect!
- Be sure you are prepared to deal with feeding and cleaning requirements.
- Check on your pet every day. This will keep you aware of what's going on
with your invertebrate and you'll know if anything needs to be fixed or changed.
Have fun and enjoy this world of fascinating, intriguing pets!
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Author: Russ Gurley
Additional Information: Clarice Brough. CRS.
Edited by: Animal-World
