Asbolus verrucosus feeding question

[Anonymity82]

I've found a lot on WHAT to feed them but nothing on how often to feed them. Every day, every other day? I'm also open to suggestions on what else I could feed them. From what I've read they're mostly herbivores but will chow down on dead insects too. Tonight is the first time I tried an apple, took about 3 minutes before one found it and is now going to town.


Side note:
I have had an explosion in mites due to my negligence so I was going to clean out the two mainly attacked cages but then I noticed mites everywhere and I do not have the time nor do I want to spend it cleaning out dozens of enclosures. I'm buying predatory mites again and this time I'm going to try and make sure at least one of my enclosures is damp enough to hopefully sustain pred mites for many months to come. Wish me luck!

 

[Smokehound714]

Try offering some deshelled sunflower seeds. All of my tenebrionids love them, and I'm sure asbolus is not an exception.

 

[Anonymity82]

My search for the how often answer is still out there.

I have found that black death feigning beetles' behaviors with moisture are quite different. I have two blacks with the blues. The blues try their damnedest to get away from ANY moisture I put in there. If I spray they stop playing dead and scuttle off! The blacks make their way to the dampened substrate for a bit. They do leave it but they're not one bit afraid of it. Today I'm trying cricket gel to see how they react. So far both blacks have nibbled on it. Blues are not yet impressed but we'll see when the lights go out.

 

[pannaking22]

I switch out the food on mine once or twice a week. If you forget occasionally and don't switch out food, they'll be fine for a few extra days.

I mostly give them carrots, but variety is always good, so I've given them grapes, dog food, oats, and cucumber before.

 

[Trailblazr80]

I've been keeping food in my tank everyday. I switch out fruit every two days to avoid fruit flies. Mine seem to really like cucucumber, tropical fish flakes, and canned crickets. They seem to be big on the protein. I've tried lettuce, sweet potato, zucchini, carrots, and green apple with mixed results. Just recently I am also trying moistened cichlid pellets, dog/cat food, also with mixed results. Oh, and a little wheat bran and oats. The oats always seem to get tossed out of their dish, and I can't really tell if they are eating the bran.

I'm going to try that sunflower seed idea!

 

[Anonymity82]

I saw a black death feigning beetle in the crushed dog food but all the blues seem to be just hanging out in one corner lately. Not sure what that's about.

 

[Smokehound714]

they like protein alot. protein is very difficult to obtain if you lack the ability to kill things.


id go easy on the protein though, im unsure of how much is bad for them, so i play it safe- one seed a week for each of them, the rest is boiled veggies.


staying in a corner is likely stress behavior, though ive seen similar behavior in the wild, during their breeding season. I guess they just feel safer balled up in one corner. many tenebs from different genera do this. My ironclads and eleodes will pile up together when i open their enclosure, along with very interested isopods that are unsure of what's going on. hahaha

 

[Dean Rider]

When and what to feed Asbolus verrucosus.

My recommendation is to always have a dead cricket or two along with some vegetable matter available and replenish or replace as needed, similar to trailblazr80.

A group of researchers presented an abstract to The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology which implies that these guys can survive three months without food. This does not mean they are happy about it, but suggests that like pannaking22 mentioned, if you need to skip a few days, or you want to go on a vacation, you should have no problems. However, I also agree with the post by cacoseraph that these guys do want to eat a “HUGE amount”.

I recently got very excited when I witnessed, and caught on video, one of my females laying an egg. I was equally distraught when she turned around and ate that egg! I decided to forgo having a pretty display tank in favor of a messy tank with lots of debris and edible bits laying around. My hope is that the beetles will not be hungry, will have a harder time finding their own eggs, and will have a more appealing choice of what to eat aside from their own eggs. I want larvae.

The web is full of lots of success stories as far as what the adults are willing to eat. They are opportunistic. However, the scientific literature indicates that dead, dried insects are the favorite food. Seventy percent of the gut contents of wild-caught specimens is insect-derived, and in controlled choice tests, they prefer dried insects over freshly killed ones. My experience is consistent with these observations, but I have not tried many seeds, vegetables or fruits.

Here is the link to the abstract mentioned above:
http://www.sicb.org/meetings/2004/schedule/abstractdetails.php3?id=310

With a little time, I can provide a bibliography of the literature on this subject.
I will probably be posting a short egg-laying / egg eating video on my “blue beetle genome” channel at you tube.

Best of luck

 

[Dean Rider]

Cool. Others like the post. Thank you.
Here is the bibliography I promised:
1) Arcibald Weeks (Secretary). Entomological news. March, 1905. Presents accounts of George Englehardt and Jacob Doll on a collecting expedition to Utah and beyond by wagon. Indicates that in an inescapable cave with numerous dead animals which starved to death, Cryptoglossa verrucosus was abundant. I infer that maybe they can survive on the flesh of dead animals.

2) Gregory A. Ahearn. The Control Of Water Loss in Desert Tenebrionid Beetles. J. Exp. Biol. (1970), S3, 573-595
The author kept them alive on cabbage.

3) Paul D. Cooper. Components of Evaporative Water Loss in the Desert Tenebrionid Beetles Eleodes armata and Cryptoglossa verrucosa. Physiological Zoology, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Jan., 1983), pp. 47-55
The author used 7 parts flour and 3 parts blood meal (by weight) as food with cabbage also being available.

4) Paul D. Cooper. Seasonal Changes in Water Budgets in Two Free-Ranging Tenebrionid Beetles, Eleodes armata and Cryptoglossa verrucosa. Physiological Zoology, Vol. 58, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug., 1985), pp. 458-472
This is the best one. The author covers gut contents, food choice tests, and describes water content of local flora. The data indicates they eat more of dead dried insects than anything else.

My egg cannibalism video can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLISM0822EzUdnaFFYBBycw

 

[Trailblazr80]

I just stuck some cut up bananas in their tank, and they are loving it!

 

[Smokehound714]

They need some of meat-man's meat.

 

[Anonymity82]

Just curious what temperatures do you guys keep them at? Any special lighting? Thanks!

 

[Trailblazr80]

Just curious what temperatures do you guys keep them at? Any special lighting? Thanks!

At its coldest, my house has dropped to about 55 degrees, and that is when I use a 15 watt day blue heat bulb (even at night). I've found that this particular wattage delivers just enough heat, and really seems to activate the beetles. 70 degrees (even 65) and up, no heat. Some people don't use a heat source at all if they live in an area with a mild climate.

 

[Anonymity82]

cool, thanks! My house will be 78 for around 6 months and then 68-74 depending on the weather the rest of the year. Mine haven't been too active lately so I was growing concerned. Not eating much, spending most of their time. A very experienced person offered up advice saying that he uses an over head light for heat and light. His are very active. It's just not possible for me to do this right now though.

 

[Trailblazr80]

cool, thanks! My house will be 78 for around 6 months and then 68-74 depending on the weather the rest of the year. Mine haven't been too active lately so I was growing concerned. Not eating much, spending most of their time. A very experienced person offered up advice saying that he uses an over head light for heat and light. His are very active. It's just not possible for me to do this right now though.

I think you should be able to use a regular incandescent bulb. If you have a lamp with a flexible neck you might be able to position it over the tank.

 

[Anonymity82]

Since my last post I have noticed somewhat of a difference in their behavior. For some reason I didn't remember all the dried insect stuff but thanks again for all the info! I'll probably just buy a container of dried mealworms. They're a big hit for my rodents as well. The roaches will surely enjoy them too.

I finally decided to change up their enclosure a bit. They really seem to be enjoying it and this past two weeks I haven't seen anyone digging in the corner. I have witnessed some mating as well! I'm trying to leave one corner moist but I really need to deepen the substrate, it's only about an inch deep and just eco earth. Would like to get some sand in there to mix with it. Contrary to what I've read, the eco earth has never stuck to their feet from what I can see and they don't seem to mind walking around on it or digging in it. I'd assume if they didn't like walking on it they would spend most of their time off of it climbing on the cork bark or other pieces of decor.

Has anyone tried using water crystals? I've put them in there but haven't seen anyone mess with it. (sorry if this is a repeat question).