HOW WE CARE FOR AND BREED FIREBRATS
The firebrat is a small, wingless insect in the order Thysanura. Its common name derives from the animal's silvery light grey and blue colour, combined with the fish-like appearance of its movements.
HOUSING
Firebrats are known to climb rough surfaces such as cardboard and paper so care is to be taken in housing them. I house my colony in a 27Qt Sterlite container with latches. This has a very smooth inside and prevents them from climbing the sides. Substrate of choice is DRY turface. You can find it on amazon or in our "Supplies" section. They key is to keep them hot and dry. Ventilation is not overly important as I open the container 1x-2x a week to feed and check water levels. Toilet paper rolls stuffed with expanded cotton balls provide egg laying sites. Cardboard rolled up into cylinders provide the hides.
TEMPERATURE
HOT HOT HOT.
They like it hot! Your target temperature on the ground level is 95F-100F. We achieve this with a simple reptile heating pad (link below). It is important to have a barrier (such as a piece of wood) to prevent the heat from escaping from under the heat mat.
Food/Water
Firebrats are not the smartest insect around and will drown in any open/standing water. To bypass this, we use glass test tubes with a cotton ball plug. This provides the water/moisture they need without raising the humidity in the tub. Food choices are fish flakes, our Feeder Chow, and chick feed.
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