12 Cool Insect Pets

12 Cool Insect Pets: Which Insects Are Best To Keep?

Many people across the world have found (and are still finding) that insects make wonderful pets. Not only are they small and unobtrusive – but generally they are quieter, cheaper to feed, and less likely to maul young children than the average cuddly mammal.

Insects as pets are almost universally attractive to children… and supply a much needed intellectual stimulus to many adults. What more could you ask for?

Below you will find 12 different pages of our site, each of which provides detailed care instructions for a different insect pet.

Best Insect Pet Options

• Pet Stick Insects

• Pet Crickets

• Pet Millipedes

• Pet Scorpions

• Pet Ground Beetles

• Pet Rhinoceros Beetles

• Pet Butterflies

• Pet Praying Mantis

• Pet Tarantulas

• Pet Cockroach

• Pet Woodlice

• Culturing Springtails

Each one of these bugs, from a Praying Mantis to collection of Woodlice, can make great pets for children (or adults!). They are a fantastic way for kids to learn to love insects, and see how they live, feed, sleep & mate! When choosing which insect to keep think about what kind of environment they need to thrive, what they eat, and also how long they’ll live for – a cricket for example might only live for a few weeks. A small bug hotel or fish tank can make a enclosure, but make sure air can get in and they have enough (of the right) food and water.

Watching a caterpillar transform in to a butterfly, and undergo the four stages of metamorphosis, is a magical experience for young and old. Seeing how an Ant colony organizes, grows, constructs and communicates is fascinating, and there are some great Ant Farm kits available which come complete with a viewing window allowing you to observe all the action! Stick Insects are another one of our favorite bug pets as they are so unusual, stealthy, camouflaged and look almost alien like!

Enjoyed this? Read: The Insect Thorax: Complete Guide

There are a number of competent amateur societies around the world, who welcome beginners – and and have at their fingertips far more information than I can reasonably supply here.

It may be best to reach out to them and become a member, if you are seriously considering providing a home for a pet insect.

• The Bug Club is a generalist, aimed primarily at the young at heart.
• The Phasmid Studies Group deals mostly with Stick-Insects
• The Mantid Study Group for people who like Praying Mantids.
• For European Arachnological Societies For Tarantula Keepers in Europe