Inchworms are small, colorful, harmless worms that can be found eating leaves. Inchworms are easy-to-maintain pets that are great for children. All it needs to be done is provide an inchworm with proper habits, feed them and let them loose when they turn into a moth.
Inchworms are caterpillars that turn into a moth. This particular species, known as the geometrid moth, belongs to the family Geometridae. The family consists mostly of moths and butterflies. If you know when and where to look for an inchworm, you can find them easily.
But remember that inchworms can be devastating for plants once the infestation occurs, so keep the number low. In this article, I will mention everything you can do to take care of an inchworm.
How do you care for an inchworm? [2 key features and steps]
Taking care of inchworms in the wild is easy as they are provided with the perfect atmosphere for their growth and development. Most of the time, you do not need to take care of inchworms, which are found in the wild, as nature provides everything for survival.
But things are different when you try to bring this wild worm inside your natural habitat. There will be no trees inside your house on which inchworms can feed, so you have to provide food for your inchworms and also a proper hand-made environment. Below are the two key features and steps to take care of your inchworm.
1. Taking care of your inchworm
- Preparing the habitat
To make a perfect habitat, you can buy a terrarium from a pet shop or make your own. To build a habitat for your inchworm by yourself, you will need a plastic or glass container with a lid on top of it.
Poke some holes to let the air flow travel in and out. But the holes should not be big as they will allow your pet inchworm to escape. Instead of a lid, you can also use aluminum foil or plastic wrap since inchworms are not that strong.
In this way, it will be easier for you to poke small holes with the help of a toothpick. Now that you have built a perfect habitat for your pet inchworm,adding some dirt or wood shavings is time. Inchworms do need sunlight, so make sure you put them around windows.
- Food source
Inchworms’ diet completely depends on leaves from different plants. Gathering food sources for your inchworm will not be a problem if you have some greeneries around your house. The best food source will be the tree where you found the inchworm.
Trim some from the tree as a food source for your inchworm. Collect some stems as they will add variations and colors to your pet house. Remember the tree where you found your inchworm and collect leaves from that tree.
- Check your inchworm frequently
It is important to check on your inchworm daily; there are many reasons for this. Inchworms need water much like any other worms and animals. The way they get water is from leaves. leaves have a tiny amount of water which inchworms rely on as their only water source. The leaves inside your pet house will also have water but the leaves will dry along with the water.
You will need to replace those dead leaves and stems. Consider spraying some water once a day to keep the leaves fresh for longer and keep your inchworm cool.
2. Spread of Infestation
- Look for damages
Infestation is a must when you have many inchworms inside your pet house. Look for the small holes on the leaves. The more the number of holes, the more infestation has spread. But do remember that inchworms might also feed during the night.
- Treatment from infestation
It can be easy to deal with inchworms since they are in a closed space instead of being on a large tree. You can directly spray insecticides on inchworms. It will make sure that the population of inchworms will decline and become manageable. If you don’t like to use poison on your inchworms, you can use natural pathogens like bacillus thuringiensis. You can find this compound online or at any garden shop near your house. Bacillus thuringiensis will only affect insects while keeping the plants and fruits safe.
What do baby inchworms eat?
Inchworms are fond of young leaves, flowers and fruits. Their diet consists of greeneries and they mean no harm to humans. Although inchworms can be found over a wide variety of plants, they are often found on oak trees, pine trees, berry bushes, apple trees and fir trees.
people also ask (FAQs)
How long does an inchworm live?
The lifespan of an inchworm is about a year. In a year an inchworm goes through a few changes including turning into a cocoon and then hatching into a moth. Their lifespan also depends on the time when they hatched from their eggs like during spring or fall.
Do inchworms poop?
Yes, inchworms do poop. Any living being that consumes food from their mouths does poop and inchworms are no different. Instead, inchworm poop is like a speck of sand. Although it will not bother you if the population is low.
But for a few people, it has turned into a problem. people discussed that inchworm droppings are raining all over their property.
Inchworms – Moving & feeding >> Check out the video below:
Conclusion
Inchworms can be a great pet to have and also for your child as well. It is an inexpensive way of having a pet and when you don’t have enough time or energy to play with pets like dogs and cats. Inchworms can be found in different colours and spots on their body which makes an inchworm more beautiful.
They are cute worms and will cause no harm to you or your surroundings as long as you keep them in a maintained way. According to me, an inchworm is perfect to be someone’s first pet and you can learn how to care for a pet.
