Ladybugs are little beautiful insects that live in the garden or inside the house. Ladybugs can temporarily move into your home during the cold season in search of warmth. Ladybugs are bright-colored, and most people believe that they bring good luck to them.
So, can you keep ladybugs as pets? You can keep ladybugs as pets in your home. They are beautiful and have other benefits too. Ladybugs are low maintenance pets; you do not have to spend a lot of time taking care of them. Ladybugs usually feed on smaller insects that feed on plants. If you keep ladybugs as pets, they can help control pests in your garden or house plants.
Ladybugs are great to have around. You can easily catch a few ladybugs in your garden, or you can wait until fall when they move into buildings in search of warmth. Read on to find out more about ladybugs as good pets, if they are poisonous, and anything bad about them.
Are Ladybugs Good as Pets?
During the warm seasons, you can find ladybugs flying around displaying their bright colors. If you feel like keeping one or two in your house or garden, you should do it. They are easy to catch, and, sometimes, they fly into your home on their own. Unlike other pets, you do not have to walk or drive to the pet store to get one.
Ladybugs are great pets due to their low maintenance. You do not have to spend a lot of time and money to keep ladybugs in your garden or house. You can choose a small container with several holes for air circulation. For moisture, drop a moist paper towel into the container once in a while.
When it comes to feeding, you can easily find aphids on the underside of leaves in your garden. If you are keeping more than two ladybugs, put some leaves in the container for them to lay their eggs.
Ladybugs come in different colors and sizes, brightening up your house or garden. Most ladybugs are red with tiny black dots, making them look like a great piece of artwork. When you have ladybugs crawling and flying around in the garden, the environment looks better. Ladybugs add more color to the garden compared to other animals such as slugs. You can also use the container keeping the ladybugs as a beautiful feature in your house.
You can also play with your ladybugs but not in the same way as other large pets like cats or dogs. You can hold them in your hands or put them on your shoulder and let them crawl around. Ladybugs are also a fun pet for older children that understand how to take care of pets. However, due to their small bodies, you ought to be careful when handling them. Unnecessary pressure can crush their little bodies.
When playing with your ladybug, make sure you are gentle not to trigger its defense mechanism. Ladybugs produce a yellow discharge from their joints. The discharge has a foul smell that keeps away the predators. If the ladybug releases the discharge while you are entertaining guests, some of them will not like the smell. Other pets can also be harmed if they come into contact with the discharge.
Ladybugs are also good at pest control. Ladybugs primarily feed on aphids. Aphids live in gardens where they feed on the leaves of various plants. If left uncontrolled, aphids cans increase in number and destroy plants in the garden.
Ladybugs start to feed on aphids during their larva stage and continue into adulthood. If you keep ladybugs in your home, they can reduce the number of aphids in your garden.
Ladybugs are also important in preserving the environment. Most people will use pesticides to control pests in their gardens. Pesticides can help control pests, but they also cause harm to the environment and other insects, such as bees. Ladybugs are a good alternative for pesticides. Instead of spraying harmful chemicals on our plants, you can keep ladybugs that will eat all the small insects that live in your garden.
Ladybugs are outside animals; they love to fly around and eat other smaller insects. You can stay with them until their death, or you can release them after some time. It is recommended that you should release ladybugs during spring. Do not release ladybugs on plants that have been sprayed with pesticides, and it is dangerous to their health. You should release your ladybugs during dusk or early evening when it is warm outside.
Are Ladybugs Poisonous?
There are thousands of ladybug species. You might be wondering if ladybugs could be poisonous to you or other pets in your home.
Ladybugs are not poisonous to human beings. If your pet ladybug bites you, the bite will not affect your health in any way. Ladybugs use the yellow discharge to keep away predators, but it cannot harm human beings. However, the smell of the discharge can cause discomfort to people with low tolerance to foul odors. If you are allergic to ladybugs, it is best to stay away from them.
Ladybugs are poisonous to some small animals, such as lizards. If they eat the ladybugs, they could die. If you are keeping a lizard as a pet, ensure that they do not feed on ladybugs. The poison comes from the yellow discharge ladybugs produce when they are threatened. If a lizard eats many ladybugs, the discharge could poison it.
To large pets like dogs, ladybugs cause mild side effects if consumed. If your dog eats some ladybugs, the ladybugs’ yellow discharge will produce different reactions from the dog depending on how many ladybugs the dog ate. Common side effects include drooling, drowsiness, and vomiting, but they only last for a short while. If your dog consumes ladybugs and starts to vomit or drool for a long time, visit a veterinarian.
Some birds also experience nausea if they feed on ladybugs. The bright colors of the ladybug are the first warning predators get if they approach the ladybug. If the bird chooses to eat the ladybug, the yellow discharge is the final warning. The yellow discharge makes the ladybug taste awful, and the bird will start to experience nausea. The bird will avoid eating ladybugs in the future because of the appalling taste and nausea that follows.
What Is Bad About Ladybugs?
Ladybugs are beautifully colored insects that help with reducing the number of unwanted insects in your vicinity. However, they have their downsides.
One bad thing about ladybugs is their smell. It is awful and can cause discomfort to the guests. They also leave yellow spots behind every time they secrete. If you have many ladybugs in your home, you might have to clean up after them. Their colors might be beautiful, but the yellow spots they leave behind on furniture and clothes are not.
There is also a type of ladybug with a bad reputation. It is known as the Asian lady beetles, which were introduced in early 1900 in California to control the aphids, and now they are an invasive species and have overtaken the local ladybug species in America.
The Asian lady beetle is also aggressive and can bite dogs and cats. Asian lady beetles also tend to attach themselves to the roof of a dog’s mouth when they try to eat them. It can be an uncomfortable feeling for your pet. Always check your dog’s mouth if the Asian lady beetles move into your house or garden.
To avoid choosing Asian lady beetles as pets, you need to know the difference between them and the good ladybugs. Good ladybugs are bright red with dark spots on them, and they have a black head with white cheeks. Asian lady beetles have a white “M” mark under their head where their wings meet. They have bigger white cheeks compared to the good ladybugs. Their color ranges from orange to red.
When in search of a warm place to live, ladybugs can fly into your home in large numbers. Having a small number of ladybugs as pets is manageable, but thousands of ladybugs can even destroy the house. During hibernation, ladybugs tend to barrow into the wood structure, and if they move into your home, they can make numerous holes in your walls. If you do not want ladybugs coming into your house, make sure you seal all the windows and ventilation.
You Can Keep Ladybugs as Pets
Ladybugs make beautiful pets in the house and the garden. They are easy to find and maintain. One of the most important roles ladybugs plays at home is pest control. A single ladybug can consume up to 50 aphids every day, ensuring that your plants are safe from destruction by aphids.
However, ladybugs can be a nuisance if they come into your home in a large group. The Asian lady beetle is also aggressive and can bite you or other pets. Before you decide you keep ladybugs as a pet, you need to know how to choose between the good ladybugs and the bad ladybugs. Once you choose the good ladybugs, you should learn how to take care of ladybugs.
