Housing: Two or thee assassin bugs can be kept in a five gallon tank. Make sure the lid is mesh if you have more than one and either know you have opposite sex bugs or aren’t sure if you do or not, since nymph can fit through surprisingly small holes when they hatch. If you want to use a tank with larger ventilation holes, super glue mesh over them to prevent escapes. Include a hide or branches. They need to be upside down to molt.
Lighting: No additional lighting necessary.
Temperature: Normal to warm room temperature, between 65-75 degrees.
Feeding: We feed cricket twice weekly. Feel free to try over prey animals. You can be generous with the number of prey since assassin bugs are voracious eaters. They insert their proboscis into their prey and fill it with digestive fluids and then suck the digested innards out again after a few minutes. As such, their bite is extremely painful. Do not handle these bugs.
Watering: Mist tank well when feeding. You want the substrate damp but not sopping. Maintaining the right level of dampness helps eggs hatch as well, so don’t over wet the substrate. Water dishes are unnecessary. They drink directly from the sub and also get fluids from the prey they eat.
Substrate: We use a mixture of 70% cocofiber and 30% peat moss. Do not use pine or cedar shavings since the resin is dangerous for most insects.
