In this article, you will get an answer to the question “What is eating my succulents at night “ and you will also learn about why they are constantly invading your plants. We are going to cover how you can prevent them from attacking your plants as well.
What is eating my succulents at night?
There could be a lot of pests and other animals that hunt your succulents at night. They tend to depend on your beloved succulents for their dietary requirements. They usually prefer to consume the succulents as they have water-filled succulent leaves, and consequently, you may have to go through so many repercussions of this problem.
The animals who eat your succulents could vary depending on the location you live in. However, you are likely to encounter aphids, mealy bugs, caterpillars, grasshoppers, snails, slugs, birds, and so on. If you are a succulent enthusiast, I am sure you check on your plants every morning to see if they are growing well.
If you ever come across a situation where any pest or insect has attacked your beloved succulents, that will be one of the most heartbreaking situations you will be in. How upsetting would it be to discover that your plants had lost pieces of themselves over the course of a single night? So, if you have ever come across such a situation, this article will be helpful for you. Continue reading this article to gain a better understanding of the subject.
Why animal eat succulents?
The main reason for the animals to eat your succulents is that they have water conserved in their plant leaves. They do not eat succulents to gain nutrients, but because of their water-filled leaves. Many animals tend to eat soft succulents unless their spines would injure them. However, not all succulents are edible.
Further, there could be some that would be enriched with nutrients as well, for example, succulents like Opuntia cacti and barrel cacti. In addition to that, there are camels and alpacas that could consume spined cacti to fulfill their watering requirements. Camels have inherited papillae that would protect them from the spiny thorns of the cactus.
What birds eat succulents?
Many desert birds, including the Gila Woodpecker, Greater Roadrunner, and Elf Owl, would devour your succulents. If you wish to ascertain whether there are any birds eating your succulents, you need to first inspect the soil condition around the pot. If you notice any small, round poop along with some small white excrement, it is most likely the result of a bird eating your succulents.
They mainly depend on the succulent leaves, and you will spot the holes on the leaves. On the other hand, if you spot larger chunks missing and if you spot chew marks, it could be due to a larger animal attack.
Do possums eat succulents?
Possums could consume your succulents’ parts. They are omnivores and tree climbers. They mainly prefer to depend on the fragile new growth of the succulents, and they could create greater damage for the plants overnight. Possums could mainly consume your echeverias and the other succulents that resemble flowers.
Hence, if there are possums living around your area and if your succulents have lost major parts of their foliage, it could undoubtedly be the possums who attacked your plants. To overcome the attack of possums, you need to locate these plants in high, elevated places. In addition to that, you could plant spiky plants around the succulents, as those barriers would stop them from reaching for your plants.
Do squirrel eat succulents?
Squirrels eat succulents. One might find the squirrels cute and enchanting. However, they could climb along the plants and chew your beloved succulents. You could practice several measures to prevent them from attacking your succulents. Once the squirrels eat your succulents, you could spot chewed-up leaves, uprooted plants, and holes as well.
They also consume a large portion of the succulents. Squirrel attacks are relatively easy to spot because they leave jagged tear marks on the leaves. They usually do not finish eating the whole leaf. To prevent them from reaching your plants, you could use natural predators such as dogs and cats to keep them away from the plants.
On the other hand, if you are not a pet lover, you could purchase predator urine from the stores. In fact, you could spray dog urine on the plants to keep the squirrels away from the succulents.
Do chipmunks eat succulents?
Chipmunks do eat succulents. In fact, they would prefer to consume the fruits and the seeds of the cacti and the succulents as well.
What insects eat succulents?
Scales, Aphids, whiteflies, ants are some of the insects which could attack the succulents.
Scales
The size, color, and shape of scales may differ from one another. Armoured scales and soft scale insects are among those that can cause garter damage to your succulents. If you notice tiny brown bumps on your succulents, it could be due to a scale invasion.
Scales are fond of the succulent sap, which will consequently make them more prone to diseases as well. To get rid of them, you could scrape them and remove them manually, given that they have not spread to a severe level.
Aphids / Green flies
Aphids could also form in various colors, and they usually suck on leaves, flowers, or the stem edges. What is more concerning is that they produce a sugary substance once they consume the succulents. Because of that, ants would be more attracted to these plants. There are several preventive methods that you could practice to keep them away from your plants.
Spider Mites
Spider mites could be spotted in red. They could be so dangerous as they could depend on the plant’s sap and go unnoticed for a longer period too. When they start to consume your succulents, you will see how they start to become lighter in color, which will end up being white right throughout the plant. To overcome them, you could use rubbing alcohol.
Do slugs eat succulents?
Slugs or snails are fond of consuming the succulent leaves. They are so smart, as they stay hidden until nighttime arrives and only then start attacking the plants. Try using the beer trap to overcome the slug attack. You only have to pour some old beer into a dish and bury them in the ground, and the slugs will end up sinking in the beer.
Do grasshoppers eat succulents?
Grasshoppers could also depend on succulent leaves particularly during their feeding session. Eliminating the grasshopper is very difficult. Birds are quite attractive toward these.
Do cats eat succulents?
Cats can sometimes eat succulents. They are the type of animals who will get bored and tend to nibble on the succulents. They could go ahead and consume these plants since they are very much attracted to them. Having said that, there could be succulents that are toxic for cats, and they could even consume them unknowingly and end up getting allergy reactions.
If you want to ascertain whether your cats have consumed the plants, you could see the shredded leaves
You could consider growing them in cages to protect the succulents from cats. When you place them in cages, ensure your plants are still getting sufficient sunlight and your cats cannot harm them. in addition to that there are cat repellent sprays also
Do caterpillars eat your succulents?
Caterpillars may also prey on your prized succulents as they chew their way through the leaves. There are chemicals that you could utilize to overcome them. However, we recommend avoiding doing that, as it could be harmful for other insects as well.
Other animals who love to eat succulents
- All rodents’ types – They very much like to feed on the plant’s fruits, pads and the seeds as well. You could commonly spot this during the dry season when they are lacking food.
- Several mouse species – They would also prefer to depend on the fruits and on the seeds of the plants.
- Peccaries – They are more like pigs which you could commonly spot in America, and they could be so annoying as they could consume almost all parts of the plants including the spines.
- Reptiles – For example reptiles such as iguanas and tortoises are renowned for consuming fruits and pads of cactus and the succulents.
What is eating my indoor succulents?
Mealybugs, aphids, scales, and ants may be the primary predators of your indoor succulents. If you could spot patches of brown or white, that is an indication to let you know that the aforesaid pests have invaded your plants and consumed them.
What should I do to save my succulent
What should you do to save your succulents from birds?
Whenever you figure out that your succulents are constantly being consumed by birds, you need to act faster and take the necessary actions to overcome this. So, in case you have coconut liners on your pots, first and foremost, you need to take them off. Unless they could gather around those and start attacking the succulents as well. Apart from that, birds tend to consume your succulents when they are starving for water.
You already know that succulents have water conserved in their leaves and the birds find this very interesting.
However, you could be tactful in placing a spot where the birds can bathe so that they will be less attractive towards them. In addition to that, ensure that your succulents are free of any pests or bugs. Unless birds are quite invasive towards them, they will end up attacking the bugs as well as the leaves of the plant too.
Check closely on the soil of the plants where you could spot any pests or bugs there and if so, immediately get rid of them.
Moreover, if there are any nests around your succulents, they will continue to look for more spots and ultimately make nests in your pots. So, to stop them from approaching your succulent garden, you could simply make them scared. I recommend using scarecrows, bird deterrents, fake owl status, etc. Not only that, but you may also use glowing objects that create reflections to scare them too.
Finally, if the birds are starving, they would still come and consume your succulents
In that circumstance, you could try placing a spot where you could feed the birds separately. That will make them busy eating.
What should you do to save your succulents from other animals?
If you notice your succulents are missing a large portion of their leaves, it could be because another animal has eaten your plants. So, to prevent them from attacking your succulents, you could consider covering the soil with some rocks or even with a top dressing, which will make it difficult for them to dig into the soil.
Furthermore, you could use a motion activated sprinkler to deter the animals as well. It will start watering whenever any animal approaches the plants. Moreover, you may cover the plants during nights whilst using a curtain or a mesh. However, keep in mind that your cover has holes so that it will have a proper air circulation around the plants.
Apart from that, you could consider sprinkling some cayenne pepper around the plants since they are natural repellents for animals, particularly rodents. Try growing the plants in a mini greenhouse if you have so many succulents in your garden. You could protect the plants from both animals and rainfall when you do this. Finally, you could bring them indoors so that animals will think the plants are not there anymore.
Finally
Hope this article was informative and you could clear all your doubts with regards to this subject. Hope now you know how to overcome the animals attacking your beautiful succulents and what you need to do.
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