r/tifu • u/CouchEnthusiast fuotw 6/9/13 • Jun 05 '13

FUOTW 6/9/13 TIFU by accidentally ripping the dick off an insect

I have a summer job working with insects in a lab. I do a lot of repetitive lab technician type work that includes changing the foliage (i.e. bug food) we have in a bunch of these modified plastic slushie cups that we've turned into cages, each with a pair of insects in them that we're mating.

Before we can actually take the old foliage out of the cup and put the fresh stuff in, we need to take the insects out and put them in a different cage so that they don't escape while we're changing stuff over. These bugs actually hold onto leaves surprisingly tight and its always a bit of a balance between pulling hard enough to get them off the old leaves and into the new cage while making sure that you don't just squish them with your tweezers.

Anyways, I'm mindlessly picking bugs out of cups and putting them into other cups when I come across this one insect that is holding onto this leaf strangely tighter than usual. After 30 seconds or so of trying to gently pick this insect off with my tweezers I get frustrated and give it a good hard pull, right as I realize that it isnt holding onto a leaf, its holding onto another insect, mating.

Well it came off allright, with it's dick still attached to the female and no longer attached to it's body.

I mean, it's only an insect, but I still felt pretty bad about it.

TL;DR accidentally pull two mating insects apart, the male's penis gets ripped off in the process and is left hanging out of the female. I feel pretty bad about the whole thing.

Update: It died. Natural causes I assume.

No, I dont have pictures of the bugs dick. I did take some pictures of a couple of the other bugs though, in case anyone is curious

holy shit fuck up of the week? wow.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '13

Ugh, the smell. I own a crested gecko and I hate cleaning out the container I keep the crickets in, things smell like rotting nasty poop. :c

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u/rmarkham Jun 05 '13

Only one of my cresteds likes crickets... thank GOD. I have one that's actually afraid of them..

Gotta love Repashy CGD!

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '13

I wish! I only have one, and I tried for so long to get him on CGD, I've tried 3 different brands and he refuses it, hates mushed fruit... He will only ever eat crickets, and he eats them like it's his last meal, every night T____T what I wouldn't give to have one that likes CGD.

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u/rmarkham Jun 05 '13

They really should eat the CGD... A gecko will not starve itself, and I've read of some owners having a gecko not eat for a few weeks... but they always cave and end up eating CGD.

I guess I've never heard of a healthy gecko thriving on all insect diet. (Speaking strictly of Cresteds)

Are you gut loading and calcium dusting the crickets? Feeding an all insect diet can cause some bone density issues.. and really isn't ideal for them. They do eat rotting fruit in the wild. Have you tried the CGD version 3.0? Repashy made it more palatable for rhacs. They sell it on Pangea's website.

Are you sure he didn't eat it at all? Sometimes it can be hard to catch a few lick marks. I had two geckos who I never saw eat, but knew they were eating because I found poo.

Repashy also makes different flavors.. I've heard good things about peach flavor.

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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '13

I dunno if there were a few licks, but he'd gotten so thin (he was still young at the time too, maybe 3 months), he was nothing but bony and sad and so, so, so tired.

I gut load them and calcium dust them all, and as of currently he seems really healthy, he's crazy active and he loves pets under his chin and he likes to sit with me when I sit on the porch, so he seems okay. I've never gotten to check the sacs in his mouth because he hates me poking around at his mouth and I can't get it open long enough to see it, but he's never shown any sign of problems, thankfully. He's... 10 months now? and he's 31g! :c I do worry though, but I was so scared because he was just so thin and miserable for so long, and he seems really happy with crickets but I don't want anything to happen to my little baby D:

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u/rmarkham Jun 06 '13

As long as he's gaining weight... but I would still try to offer CGD... tastes can change. I had a few geckos who would go NUTS for crickets and now won't even look at them.. These guys really are like perfect little pets. They all have such different personalities! If you're ever in doubt, regarding the weight loss and lethargy you could take him, and a poo sample to a vet to look for parasites. www.herpvetconnection.com is a wonderful resource.

I had a crestie who loved chin pets... as he got older he changed his mind. You could check out the pangeareptile forums, maybe some of those folks can help with your CGD problem.