Kids love looking after animals and it’s a great way to encourage nurturing and responsibility.
However, many children are looking for something a bit different to a puppy or kitten. Instead, they may be budding biologists with a penchant for creepy crawlies. If your family doesn’t mind having an insect or two as a housemate then there are some benefits for kids having one as a pet; namely they’re clean, quiet and don’t take much effort to look after.
Here are a few ideas for insects that make great pets for kids.
Stick Insects
These cool looking, spindly legged insects are found all over Australia and come in a lot of different species and sizes. They’re slow moving, don’t make sudden movements, and like to eat a variety of plants so won’t cost a lot to keep. They make suitable pets for both older and younger children who can be gentle as they are delicate creatures. You’ll need an aerated house or terrarium where they can hang comfortably on foliage.
Some different types of stick insects that are good for kids are:
- Extatosoma tiaratum – aka the Giant Prickly Stick Insect or Macleay’s Spectre.
- Aretaon (Trachyartaon) – has thicker legs, great for handling.
- Carausius morosus – common stick insect and easy to care for.
- Diapherodes gigantea – docile and green coloured.
- Aretaon asperrimus – aka Thorny Stick Insect.
Antlions
Antlion larvae are fuzzy looking beetles that are also known as doodlebugs. They’re docile, timid insects that don’t like to be handled too frequently, so they make great pets for younger children who are novice insect lovers. They like a sandy, arid habitat so a terrarium with a heat lamp is needed. Antlions live up to three years as larvae before they turn into a cool dragonfly.
Ants
Regular ants make fascinating pets for older kids because of their amazing ability to live in colonies and work together as a team. An ant colony enclosure is called a formicarium and has glass sides so you can observe the ants going about their business in the nest. Ants can live off sugar water and dead or live insects.
African Giant Millipedes
Large millipedes make good pets for kids as they’re docile, don’t mind being handled and unlike stick insects, don’t have legs that can snap off. Adults can grow up to 25 cm in length and can live between 7 to 10 years.
Millipedes are herbivores so they can eat soft vegetable or fruits cut up small, if it’s starting to decay even better. They like homes where they have room to move, at least twice their length and as wide as they are long. Floor covering is important as they like to burrow a bit, so a peat moss/soil mixture with pieces of bark is ideal. They also like heat and humidity requiring an undertank heater on a thermostat and a regular misting of water over their floor.
