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Dawn
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| Posted: Feb 16 2008 at 5:14pm | IP Logged
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I am looking for advice on keeping ladybugs. Or I guess I should say, my 12 yo is. 
He has started rescuing the ladybugs that appear daily in our bathroom. We get them all winter long; I think they come in through the vent and I assume they are reproducing because we find tiny ones all the time. The sad thing is of course, they die fairly quickly.
Well, ds decided he'd seen enough.  So today he made a habitat out of a tupperware container with holes poked in the top. He made a base of potting soil, and put in a damp paper towel, a bit of sugar and a rhododendron leaf. We have no idea if this is a hospitable environment, but so far we have 9 ladybugs in there just from today. 
I know ladybugs eat aphids, but is there anything else that can sustain them? We could order aphids if that's the way to go. Has anyone else tried to raise (or I guess, rescue) ladybugs in this way?
And, final question: is this completely crazy?
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
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chicken lady
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Too funny Dawn, I thought you wanted to keep ladybug Maria P.
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organiclilac
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| Posted: Feb 16 2008 at 9:13pm | IP Logged
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Well, I found this if you are really dedicated to those ladybugs! Are they native ladybugs or Asian beetles? If they were real ladybugs, I think they'd be fun to raise, but I don't think I'd bother with Asian beetles. They've bitten me too many times to get any sympathy from me!
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Tracy, wife to Shawn, mama to Samuel (4/01) and Joseph (11/11), and Thomas (2/15)
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Matilda
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| Posted: Feb 17 2008 at 10:20pm | IP Logged
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Dawn,
I emailed you this information already but I am posting it here for anyone else without all the late night typos...
My youngest girl has always loved ladybugs and rescues them whenever she finds them. We found somewhere online that you need to put a damp bit of paper towel in the bottom of your ladybug jar so they can get water and you can feed them raisins that have also been soaked in water (to soften them up). I was skeptical, but she kept one in her little bug catcher for well over a month before we let it go in the garden. I changed the paper towel every couple of days so that it wouldn't get dried out or moldy. Sometimes if it just looked dry, I would sprinkle a little water on it. She said we were sending a rain shower for the ladybugs! The raisins won't get any smaller, so I would change those out every couple of days too or maybe once a week. You only need to give them a few at a time. Hope this helps. And no, you are not crazy. My little one named each and every one of her ladybugs (the current one is named Precious) and the ones that didn't make it were "buried" in the rose bushes. I have to admit...they were pretty low maintenance pets. In fact, I am considering giving her this for Easter.
She reminded me that one of her ladybugs, Laura (named after the First Lady : ) lived all winter long on water and raisins. We released her in the spring. She was very pleased to hear that your son was rescuing ladybugs too. They are very dear to her!
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Charlotte (Matilda)
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Feb 18 2008 at 8:33am | IP Logged
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Dawn,
We had lots of fun learning about and keeping ladybugs. I wrote all about how we kept them, and what they ate on this blog post. They actually lived for quite a long time on our counter! It's a fun project.
Hope your boys have fun.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
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ladybugs
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| Posted: Feb 18 2008 at 9:12am | IP Logged
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And just to add a little history:
Several years ago, I discovered that the Ladybug or Ladybird beetle is named for the Blessed Mother. You see, in the Middle Ages, the peasants were suffering and losing crops to a pest. They prayed to Our Lady and guess what?
Ladybugs were sent.
I'm sorry, though, I don't recall the source of this info, but......
Ladybugs rock   .
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Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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joann10
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| Posted: Feb 18 2008 at 10:30am | IP Logged
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We have always fed our ladybugs slices of apples, and they have always thrived.
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: ladybug advice?
