Sunflowers

I am ready to see some molting action! I wish I had a time-stop camera to increase my likelihood of catching the moment, but I don't. If the weather were warmer, I'd probably carry my box with me all over the place until I can watch the event. My thoughts are turned to molting because Crawly is nearly as big as the sunflower seeds he's been sucking down on. (Hm...I need to clarify the difference between siphoning and sucking; the terms are tricky.) Chibi has been spending a lot of time at the seeds today too! I'm thinking that having a good supply of seeds is really important in the life cycle of these bugs. I read some forum posts of people complaining that their bugs aren't growing, and I can't help but wonder if the bugs aren't getting enough to eat. Ever since I changed the seeds, it seems like the growth of both bugs have been much greater.

Feeding Hole

After coming back, I saw Crawly next to a seed with his proboscis out. It felt like I was walking into something a little bit naughty. I also caught a glimpse of Chibi by the seeds. It seemed like only yesterday he was so small that it would have been easy to accidentally crush him. (I'm so glad I can see them better now.) Those two are getting really plump again. I really like it when they molt because they turn this sort of bright red color for a while, which happens to be my favorite color. Anyways, I'm glad that they decided to come out into the open. They are more interesting when I can actually watch them!

At the Water Cooler

Today, Crawly and Chibi are hanging out underneath the water pad. Although they are often on the ceiling of the cage, they periodically like to hide away under or in between the layers of the pad. Maybe they'll molt again! They have been gaining quite a bit of weight.

Growing!

Crawly is getting HUGE! I wonder if he's getting ready to molt again. I feel like that would be his third time. Chibi is catching up as well. He's gone through at least two molts.

Buffet 2

I never notice them hanging out by the seeds this much before. I wonder how much time they're actually spending eating these seeds. I noticed sort of this brown splotch on the side of the cage. I wonder if it is waste products or something else. Is it possible for bugs to over eat?

Buffet

Crawly and Chibi seem to like the new seeds. They've been hanging out by the new seeds quite a bit. It's cute to see Chibi among the sunflower seeds because he's still really small. He looks like a little glutton.

Happy Valentines Day!

Today, I finally changed out all of the old stuff in the cage. I changed the old cotton pad, for a fresh one. (I also made sure it was damp.) Then I changed out the seedy looking sunflower seeds for a fresh batch. I hope Crawly and Chibi like it!

Lazy Saturday

The bugs aren't doing much today, but who can blame them? It's a good day to be lazy.

Guard

With Crawly being so big, it looks like he's guarding Chibi. They haven't moved much since yesterday. Chibi is "underneath" Crawly. They look comfy.

Dark again!

Crawly and Chibi got their dark color back again. They're looking really good!

Molted!

Crawly and Chibi molted recently. I'm surprised to see the shells after I woke up. Woe is me! No camera to document this occasion. What is amazing is how much more different Crawly looks! Chibi looks a bit like Crawly a week or so ago. It's also surprising to see that they molted at the same time. They are bright red and orange right now. (I'll have to check back and see if they become darker.) Also, it's interesting to see how the bugs are getting more and more elongated. They are still cute, but they are losing that round quality that made them look super cute! I can't wait to see what happens next.

Bigger II

Both bugs really are bigger! Crawly is about 6mm big and Chibi is about 2mm. The are doing well, but they seem to be sleepy. They haven't been moving around much lately.

Bigger

The buggers have been hanging out on top lately, so it's hard to tell if they had actually grown. It's probably just my eyes deceiving me. I had to open the cage to check the moisture levels. Everything looks fine!

Huddle House

The morning is kind of chilly today. Crawly and Chibi were found huddled together near the ceiling again. I started to notice that the seeds were beginning to darken in color. I wonder if it's because of Crawly and Chibi. I will fill one section with new seeds, and put all of the old seeds together and see what happens.

Breakfast

Today Crawly was just hanging around the top of the cage. Chibi was already at the seeds! There's no change in appearance in either.

Sleepy heads

The two guys are resting in the cotton wad. I'm glad no one got out today! There's a lot more debris around the cotton pad; it looks like poo! Which is great because someone must be eating. If the pad gets really dirty, I'll completely change it out.

Searching

Crawly is doing something weird! He's out in the middle of the cage, with his proboscis sticking out. He looks like he's looking for something! I thought it might be food, but he's walking toward the cotton pad. Chibi has finally emerged. I wonder if he's hungry.

I put a double layer of that fine nylon cloth, then closed the lid, and secured everything with a rubber band. The set up is not air tight, but hopefully, it will prevent any further break outs.

Snow Day

Today, the school is having a snow day, which is great because I might not have noticed that the middle bug got out! I saw the little bug sitting on top of the screen, which must have gotten loose somehow. I hope the middle guy is just hanging around, but it's unlikely. At least I was able to recover the smaller one. So now I'm back to two bugs, Crawly and Chibi (the smallest one; just named him). I'll have to be sure to take roll twice a day. Once before I go to sleep, and once when I wake up.

Developmentally, I'm sure that Chibi has grown. I think this may be his second or third instar. I found a casing this morning. Crawly is still doing fine. He's a more active bug, but I'm glad he stays in his cage. What's interesting is how he keeps himself clean. Well, I guess that's what he's doing...

Wow. I feel awful. The middle bug was on the outside of the cage, and I accidentally smushed him just now while I was picking up the cage to inspect the bugs inside. I wished they'd hurry up and get bigger! I don't like being a bug killer.

Well, before the bad news, I was going to write about how Crawly seems to be cleaning his proboscis. He takes his front two legs and moves them up and down along his proboscis, and he does something similar with his antennae. He cleans each antenna one at a time. I like how he waves them up and down when he walks. I wonder why he waves one more vigorously sometimes than the other. Do bugs have "handedness"? I also noticed the black pads on his back. I'm guessing that is supposed to be the wing pads I've been reading about.

I've been trying to figure out how big these guys really get. Crawly looks like he's is quite a bit older than Chibi. I don't know how much bigger the bugs get with each molt. Chibi looks like he's grown a bit, but he's not that much bigger.

I wish I had a camera to take pictures with. I had to return the one I borrowed yesterday, and there's a 24 hr limit before being able to borrow again.

I wrote a lot about Crawly because he's easier to observe. Chibi is still very, and he's hard for me to see. He also doesn't venture far from the cotton pad (when it is moist). I will try experimenting on different pad locations, and seeing if he will move closer to the food.

I may tape down the nylon mesh to the cardboard frame today. I may have said that I used cheesecloth earlier, but I was mistaken.

New House

Originally, I had these posts on my other blog, but I think that these bugs really deserve their own space! So I moved all of the previous post to Mushishi, and I will continue with my observations from here.

Snug As A Bug in a Wad

All the bugs are still alive! I'm happy! Crawly is up and about, but the other two are hiding in the cotton wad again. Everyone is alive and well. The pad is still moist, and there is plenty of food!