Bess beetle care

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

I am keeping my bess beetles in a 5 gallon glass terrarium. I have a mixture of eco earth, cypress mulch, and sphagnum moss. I have two pieces of soft rotting wood in the enclosure. I mist twice a day. I have had one of the three die. Is there anything I need to add to the care that I do, Is there anything I need to stop? I also must mention that I am housing Cryptocercus punctulatus with the beetles.

 

[pannaking22]

I'd add a lot more rotting wood and make sure they're kept dark (you can cover the enclosure to help with that). Bess beetles tend not to do all that well in captivity for one reason or another. If you got them as adults it's also hard to say how old they are. I kept a small group a few years ago and the deaths were spread out over about 4 months before the last one died. A friend kept another group, larvae included, and managed to keep them going for over a year, but he was never able to get the young larvae to really grow. He kept the enclosure covered in cloth when he wasn't checking on them, so I think that might have really helped.

Alternatively, you can try placing a large rotting log in there with them and see if they bore in and try to colonize it.

I'd probably separate the roaches from the beetles, but if you have enough rotting wood they'd probably be alright together.

 

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

I'd add a lot more rotting wood and make sure they're kept dark (you can cover the enclosure to help with that). Bess beetles tend not to do all that well in captivity for one reason or another. If you got them as adults it's also hard to say how old they are. I kept a small group a few years ago and the deaths were spread out over about 4 months before the last one died. A friend kept another group, larvae included, and managed to keep them going for over a year, but he was never able to get the young larvae to really grow. He kept the enclosure covered in cloth when he wasn't checking on them, so I think that might have really helped.

Alternatively, you can try placing a large rotting log in there with them and see if they bore in and try to colonize it.

I'd probably separate the roaches from the beetles, but if you have enough rotting wood they'd probably be alright together.

The two species seem to be cohabiting the enclosure pretty nicely. The wood takes up most of the enclosure.

 

[pannaking22]

Ok good, if there's that much wood in there I'd say they should be good together. I'll be curious to see what happens if you get larvae from the bess beetles. Good luck!

 

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

Ok good, if there's that much wood in there I'd say they should be good together. I'll be curious to see what happens if you get larvae from the bess beetles. Good luck!

I hope I get some. I only have two, I haven't sexed them. Every time I go into the woods I always look for more.

 

[pannaking22]

I always loved looking for them when lived in Illinois. I never got larvae from mine unfortunately, so I must have been missing some sort of stimulant they really need.

 

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

I h

I always loved looking for them when lived in Illinois. I never got larvae from mine unfortunately, so I must have been missing some sort of stimulant they really need.

I have heard it is hard to breed them in captivity.

 

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

Bad news: One passed away, I only have one left.

 

[pannaking22]

Ah, sorry to hear that. Thankfully it sounds like you can go out and look for more, so you should be able to bolster your numbers quite nicely next year!

 

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

The last one passed away today. I guess they must have either been old or maybe I wasn't providing something they needed.