Critter Care

Containers: Use clear containers with holes in lids. If holes are large, e.g., made by a nail, put a piece of cheesecloth between the container and the lid so that small insects cannot fit through the holes. Terrariums and aquariums make great containers. Just be sure the lid fits tightly (and/or add cheesecloth). Large clear and semi-clear plastic containers also make good habitats, as do large mouthed glass jars. Those clear gallon jugs that some pet foods come in, make excellent habitats when turned on their sides.

Ants: You can make your own ant ranch by placing a clear one liter soda bottle inside a clear two liter soda bottle. Put cheesecloth, secured with a rubber band, over the one liter bottle so the ants don't get inside of it. Fill the space in between the two bottles with sandy soil. Cover the container with cheesecloth held by a rubber band. Add a few flakes of oatmeal and a few drops of water three times a week. Don't let food rot or let soil get very wet. Alternatively, you can build a feeding platform by placing a piece of cardboard on top of the one litter soda bottle and sprinkling the food on the cardboard. Add a jar lid with a piece of damp sponge for water.

Beetles: Put about an inch of sandy soil in the bottom of the container and add leaf litter. Add a petri dish or jar lid of water. Beetles eat ants, caterpillars, earthworms and slugs.

Caterpillars: Put 2 - 3 inches of moist soil at the bottom of the container. Add sticks or twigs and a large piece of bark. You plant whatever plant the caterpillar was found on in your container. This is their food source. Replace the plant as needed.

Centipedes: Put about an inch of rich, damp, woodland soil in the bottom of the container and add some leaf litter and bark. Put a few sow bugs in the container for food. (Add a piece of potato for the sow bugs to eat.) Spray the soil lightly every week, or whenever it is dry. Keep just one centipede in a container, since they will eat each other.

Crickets: Put an inch of sand in the bottom of the container and a piece of damp sponge in a jar lid. Crickets eat apples, carrots, lettuce, celery, seeds, and dry dog food. They like access to dark places, so add a toilet paper tube, half an egg carton, or a piece of crumpled up paper. The crickets need to stay dry, but keep the habitat a little moist. Crickets containers need to be cleaned every week.

Earthworms: Earthworms like it dark, so you'll want to surround your container with dark construction paper, held on with a rubberband. Fill your container with garden soil mixed with some leaf litter. Worms eat grass, lettuce, apples, potatos, coffee grounds, cornmeal, oatmeal, just about any vegetable. Chop them into small pieces. Keep the soil damp.

Ladybug Beetles: Lady bugs need space to fly, so make sure your container is not too small. They feed on aphids. Collect plant stems and leaves with aphids and place in a small vial or glass of water. Replace every three or four days, or when aphids are all gone.

Millipedes: Put about 2 - 3 inches of moist soil in the bottom of the container. Add an inch of bark and leaf litter. Feed them lettuce and weeds that grow in the forest or damp areas. Keep habitat damp, but not wet.

Pill Bugs & Sow Bugs: Put an 2 - 3 inches of damp soil on the bottom of the container, along with about an inch of bark and leaf litter for the bugs to hide in. Feed pieces of raw potato, carrots, apples, lettuce. Keep the habitat damp.

Slugs & Snails: Put about 2 - 3 inches of moist soil in the bottom of the container so that they can burrow. Add some sticks or twigs. Provide water by adding a piece of damp sponge. Feed them carrots, lettuce, celery, or apples. Crushed chalk will provide calcium for their shells. Keep habitat damp, but not wet, at all times.

Spiders: Put about an inch of slightly moist soil in the bottom of the container and add some sticks and twigs. Spray the soil lightly every week, or whenever it is dry. Spiders eat flies, sow bugs, crickets, mealworms, fruitflies and crickets. They need to eat something their own size every two weeks. Spray the soil lightly every week, or whenever it is dry. Keep just one spider in a container, since they will eat each other.

Remember to release your critters in the same place they were found. If your critters were purchased by mail, do not release them into your environment. Either maintain them in the classroom, find another home for them, or dispose of them by putting them in the freezer. Please be ecologically responsible.

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