New additions to the red zone

[Adventurebro]

Its been about 3 , 4 weeks when we brought home our first set of blue death feigning beetles . Now we have a total of 8 and planning to get more ..we have 2 wholly beetles, 2 blue death feigning , 2 diabolical death feigning, and 2 smooth darklings. What a mix and each has thier own personality lol.. we are very new to the hobby of owning and keeping beetles and its cool ...this is a pic of my girlfriend's meet and greet lol

 

[Adventurebro]

Its been about 3 , 4 weeks when we brought home our first set of blue death feigning beetles . Now we have a total of 8 and planning to get more ..we have 2 wholly beetles, 2 blue death feigning , 2 diabolical death feigning, and 2 smooth darklings. What a mix and each has thier own personality lol.. we are very new to the hobby of owning and keeping beetles and its cool ...this is a pic of my girlfriend's meet and greet lol

 

[Adventurebro]

We call this our redlight district lol because out blues are always mating and now our woollys are doing the same..and funny thing is almost everytime we look in the tank their gettin busy lol ... enjoy

 

[mantisfan101]

Beetle mania!!! They’re amazing and each one has their own unique characteristic or quirk to them. They’re pretty much invincable and last long, but only if they could be bred much more readily...

 

[davehuth]

Hi, how is your new group of desert beetles doing after a few months? Are you still enjoying them, or have you got any more? I'm wondering if you've noticed any larvae burrowing in the sand? Wooly Darkling Beetles will reproduce in captivity readily when conditions are right. Thanks for including pictures in your original post!

 

[AceXprt]

Hi, how is your new group of desert beetles doing after a few months? Are you still enjoying them, or have you got any more? I'm wondering if you've noticed any larvae burrowing in the sand? Wooly Darkling Beetles will reproduce in captivity readily when conditions are right. Thanks for including pictures in your original post!

I’d love some more information on breeding wooly beetles. I have about 15 of them. I’ve been trying to breed them but can’t seem to get them going.

 

[davehuth]

I’m no expert, and am near the beginning of my first attempt at breeding this species. All I can do is describe my set up.

I have 16 wc beetles on a deep (4+ inches) substrate mix of 1:1:1 coconut fiber, sand, and decaying leaves/wood, kept slightly damp. I provide bark and leaf hides and stick structure to climb on. Adults are mostly active despite room temps on the cool side (65-72 F). I keep vegetables, fruits, and protein on the surface in small amounts. Larvae appeared quickly — so quickly in fact that I suspect one or more females may have been gravid when they were collected.

I’m sorry That’s all I can tell you for now, I’ll post on the arachnoboards next year to report whether or not my set up was sufficient for a self sustaining breeding group.

 

[AceXprt]

I’m no expert, and am near the beginning of my first attempt at breeding this species. All I can do is describe my set up.

I have 16 wc beetles on a deep (4+ inches) substrate mix of 1:1:1 coconut fiber, sand, and decaying leaves/wood, kept slightly damp. I provide bark and leaf hides and stick structure to climb on. Adults are mostly active despite room temps on the cool side (65-72 F). I keep vegetables, fruits, and protein on the surface in small amounts. Larvae appeared quickly — so quickly in fact that I suspect one or more females may have been gravid when they were collected.

I’m sorry That’s all I can tell you for now, I’ll post on the arachnoboards next year to report whether or not my set up was sufficient for a self sustaining breeding group.

Have you been able to get a larva to pupate? Or raise any of the larva to adulthood? Ive heard this species is pretty easy to raise in captivity but I’ve not had any larvae. I’m in a 90% sand 10% coir substrate.

 

[davehuth]

Have you been able to get a larva to pupate? Or raise any of the larva to adulthood? Ive heard this species is pretty easy to raise in captivity but I’ve not had any larvae. I’m in a 90% sand 10% coir substrate.

This is my first attempt, and I've been at it only several weeks, so i haven't noticed any pupae yet. From what i can see, the larvae are still quite small. They seem to be avoiding the most damp areas, so I'm going to dampen only one side of the container and let the other side dry.

People with more experience than I have set the moisture gradient to be vertical (so it's more damp near the bottom of the enclosure, more dry near the surface). I haven't gone to that trouble yet, but I'd switch to a vertical gradient if the larvae don't thrive.

I spot the larvae hanging around at the surface near where i place apple and sweet potato, but i can tell from their tunneling that they also motor through the entire depth of the substrate. I presume this is because I've mixed decaying wood and leaves mixed throughout the sub. My goal was to give them reason to disperse because the enclosure is on the small side and I hope to avoid overcrowding.