_Jd   _Jd   Jared T   _Jd  

 #2070754

 Silverfishies

 #2070775

 Silverfishies

You guys ready for seemingly pointless info?

Upon a bit more researching I’ve found better information on silverfish that leads me to believe that the babies could have been laid a while ago & not recently in the tank, maybe long before the last time I cleaned the tank. Maybe they were laid around the tank’s location in the house, in a crevice of plastic in the tank, or elsewhere around the tank & just happened to get into the tank. Most likely through a light in the ceiling, my lizards main tank is directly under a light fixture built into the house. The bigger one was darker than most silverfish, maybe it means he was an adolescent, & still fairly young. I’m not 100% sure that the baby was even a silverfish because it moved so fast, but it was tiny, it was white, & it moved almost exactly like silverfish do. Good news is there probably weren’t a lot of them, they lay ’clutches’ with just a few babies, though all the sites with any information don’t really agree on anything at all except size of the egg*UGHHHG*. This may be due to the fact that there are like a million different kinds of silverfish half of them dating back to dinosaurs, they live for like 6 years, & each study has it’s own conclusions because of all of these factors. Still I can use the advice on what to do...

See my anger:

Info on silverfish from Orkin: "The eggs are laid in groups of two or three"... "Initially soft and white, silverfish eggs toughen and yellow after a few hours. In ideal conditions, the incubation period for silverfish is 43 days." "Upon hatching, silverfish are white in color, although they develop to become silver or gray in adulthood. Silverfish emerge from the egg fully formed, but smaller than mature adults. Nymphs undergo six or seven molts before realizing their full size and silverfish continue to molt throughout their lives. A silverfish may experience up to 66 molts during its life."

Info on silverfish from animals.jrank.org:"The eggs are about 0.04 inches (1 millimeter) long and are longer than they are wide. At first they are soft and white, but after several hours they turn yellow and then brown. The larvae resemble small adults." ..."and may live for up to six years."

Info on silverfish from micropest.com: "Silver fish can lay up to 50 eggs at one time, which can hatch between two weeks up to two months after being laid."

Info on silverfish from kiwipc.net: "Silverfish require between four months and three years to grow from an egg to an adult. Silverfish may live up to eight years, and moult up to eight times." ... "moult up to four times per year"... "females lay clutches of about one hundred eggs, usually in a crevice. If conditions are too cold or dry, silverfish cannot reproduce."

Info on silverfish from Bluestarbugs.com: "Adults can live from 2 to 8 years and lay eggs in small groups containing up to 50 eggs.... "A female normally lays less than 100 eggs during her lifespan of two to eight years and under ideal conditions, the eggs hatch in two weeks, but may take up to two months to hatch. The young nymphs are very much like the adults except for size and may reach maturity in 3 – 24 months. After each molt, silverfish must mate if viable eggs are to be produced (a silverfish could molt up to 50 times during its lifespan)."


The most ’trustworthy’ sites I’ll give direct links too. I found a couple .edu sites that had seemingly better information. entomology.ucr.edu which had multiple sections on the most common silverfish, their differences, & one on their close & strikingly similar counterpart, the Firebrat. The other site was ifas.ufl.edu which had more to do with getting rid of them, but contained a some very direct, clear, & organized information that has more to do with what I’m looking for.

I dunno, I doubted many of you had ever had this problem, because silverfish are fairly rare & mostly seem to stick to bathrooms and near pipes, but I figured I’d do some of the research if it helps you guys better answer my question.

 #2070838

 Silverfishies

 #2070863

 Silverfishies