While I was digging up and relocating perennials in our flower gardens, P was digging up the lawn. Once I realized what he was doing (But Mom, I’m hunting ants!) I redirected him to dig in an unoccupied part of the garden. Perfectly harmless, right? Now in addition to the worm farm we have growing in a small canning jar in our kitchen and an ant farm with nearly all dead ants at grandma’s house, we have dozens of pet pill bugs. He couldn’t bear to give them up and I couldn’t bear to see them die.
I had a really hard time getting him to stop hunting pill bugs, “I’m looking for buddies. I’m not going to catch them, I’m going to look at ’em.” He did pause momentarily to ask that I film him telling my co-workers how to find pill bugs. When I finally insisted he stop, he started decorating their homes, “”You know, Mom? They need beds. I know exactly how to make beds. They need rocks. Pick a leaf off, put it on the rock and then they’ll go to sleep.”
Now the pill bugs (or roly polies, a P calls them) have several nice homes in a variety of my flower pots. They are livin’ large, sleeping in their super posh stone beds and exploring their new soil, bark, leaves and pine cone digs. We plan on keeping them as pets as long as they’ll have us…or stay alive. Which ever comes first.
I’d say a long as they live outside everything is good. Roly polies in the bedroom might not be a good plan.
Definitely an outside pet!