# Macropanesthia rhinoceros



## james (Oct 25, 2005)

So I got my first young ones the other day and I was thinking man maybe they don't get as big as I thought. 
James

SEE BELOW


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## james (Oct 25, 2005)

*Oh My God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

So today my adult pairs came in and I was speechless. These are the most impressive insects I've ever handled.
James
www.blaberus.com


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## dtknow (Oct 25, 2005)

Mind popping a ruler up against those things? And maybe add in an adult Madagascar hisser for comparison? They look pretty impressive to say the least.


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## james (Oct 25, 2005)

*rhino's*

The pictures don't even come close to showing the girth of these beasts. They where chowing on the oak leaves I gave them.
James
www.blaberus.com


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## Malkavian (Oct 25, 2005)

WoW :shock: those are HUGE!   I assume they're a "pet" or colony species rather than a feeder?


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## Farom (Oct 25, 2005)

Thats crazy!  How much will you be selling the babies for, and when do you think you'll have them available?  

  Thanks,
Andrew


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## james (Oct 26, 2005)

*Rhino's*

I have an ad in the classifieds, but they are expensive. They do live 10 years so you get a lot out of them compaired to most insects.
Thx,
James
www.blaberus.com


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## Ecilious (Oct 26, 2005)

You lucky, lucky *******. They are truely beautiful, what are you feeding them?


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## brachy (Oct 26, 2005)

Hi
Nice pic and lovly animals . This webpages of roachs is your ??? This is very great. congrats. I would like to lots of species


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## Gsc (Oct 26, 2005)

Wow James (I just emailed you!), they are huge...my 2 yr olds are tiny like your little one... They say they are sexually amture at 4 yrs...thats a huge jump in size for 2-3 years!

What substrate are you using... Do oak leaves work?

Everything I read online says sand... It looks like you are using a soil mixture...IMO, a soil mixture would work much better.....  I'm feeding mine dried Eucalyptus (sorry about spelling) leaves I got from a local health food store.... I have oak trees in my yard... maybe I'll try some oak leaves.... 

I'll bug ya (no pun intended) later on your setup...I think I'm ready to get an adult pair from ya!  

FREAKIN' mindblowing...I've been looking at those pics for a good 20 minutes straight... I love 'em!


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## james (Oct 26, 2005)

*Roaches*

I feed them oak leaves but will experiment with some Eucalyptus. I've heard there is more than one type and it can kill them if it's the wrong one.  So I'll have a two year old too test it out. I was also amazed at there size when I opened the box my eyes popped out. lol . Also, for the persom that asked the website is mine and I have many other species not on the site and other crazy inverts.
Thx,
James
www.blaberus.com


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## Gsc (Oct 26, 2005)

uh oh...hope its the right type... Will any species of Oak leaves work (we have post oak in my region)?

James is a great guy with A++++ roaches...I've ordered from him many times...he worked hard to import these guys!  I'm excited to be getting an adult pair!


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## Cirith Ungol (Oct 26, 2005)

Feeders? I guess not! I'd not raise one of those for 8-10 years in order to feed it to my blondi! I'd be heartbroken... I also suspect those guys would fight back bigtime if a blondi tried to play with them!   

But I'd love one as a pet (or two... a married couple). So oakleaves and eucalyptus is the only stuff they eat? Not *anything* else?`

I'd never get any of those leaves here I bet!


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## james (Oct 26, 2005)

*food*

Like most species of roaches the would eat any hardwood leaves to it can be a different type of tree. My friend keeps one that does eat dog chow. Never thought I could have this much fun with a roach.
James
www.blaberus.com


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## dtknow (Oct 27, 2005)

Hmmm...do the males have horns on the pronotum like hissers do also? It looks like it in that last photo.


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## T. Dawson (Oct 27, 2005)

I read something about how these guys are full of cyanide because of their diet of euculyptis leaves in the wild.  I don't know if thats true, but I wouldn't want to risk them as feeders... though I don't know that I'd want to go to the trouble of raising them for four years just to feed out the young every so often; it also sounds like they aren't the most prolific of roaches.  I can't remember the site that I read this off of, but it was an Australian based site that sold them and kits to schools and other educational institutes.  
   All in all these are a VERY cool species - that my wife says that I'll never get heh heh.  Congrats James!!
   Oh and by the way, you mentioned "other crazy inverts", what else you working with?  Any beetles, mantids, or phasmids?
Trevor


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## Gsc (Oct 27, 2005)

These roaches are used as "pets" and not for feeders.  Thick exoskeleton, SUPER low reproduction rate, ULTRA slow growth rate... too many other "feeder/pet" species to choose from for feeders.  James has a bunch of other rare and unusual roach species he's working with!


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## james (Oct 27, 2005)

*feeders*

Never going to happen. If you where ever lucky enough to breed these guys I highy doubt you would be feeding $100+ roaches to any animals. I have boatloads of feeder roaches but these will never be one of them. Other inverts are T's, vinagaroons, whipscorpions, and beetles. I may get some mantids when I have more time. Orin (mantid assasins) has a great invert magazine he puts out a few times a year that always has great stuff in it. I highly recommend it to anybody looking for some good insect reading. Now I just need to find Megaloblatta longipennis and I will be a happy camper.
James
www.blaberus.com


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## Scythemantis (Oct 28, 2005)

Longipennis...my OTHER dream pet aside from macropanesthia. Both impossible for me to get.

I had heard they ate any type of eucalyptis, but I suspected that might not be the case. Be sure to post your findings so noone screws up in the future! Especially those of us who would have to save for MONTHS to spare $100 on an insect.


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## brachy (Oct 28, 2005)

Hi
Your roachs are very nice. You have got lots of species  :clap:  :clap: If i buy some species, but You are very far and i haven t got many


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## james (Oct 28, 2005)

*roaches*

There are folks selling roaches close to you. Do you speak Russian? Send me an email.
James
james@blaberus.com


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## beetleman (Oct 29, 2005)

i just got 1 of these little tankers(male)   :worship:    really cool little guy, can't wait until he get's huge so i can walk him :}  anyway i'm in fla. where would be a good place to get dried euclp(spelling)leaves? the garden shop sells euclp. mulch will that work? as for substrate i'm useing sand mixed with jungle earth, thanks any info on the dried leaves situation would be great,i know they will eat other items as well.


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## Gsc (Oct 30, 2005)

I used James's idea and added soem dried Oak leaves ontop of my substrate todat.  I got my dried Euc. leaves from the local Natural Food Store...They are organic and chemical free...the roaches are still alive, so they must be ok for them!  Good luck...I can't wait to get in my big adult pair from James!


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## beetleman (Oct 30, 2005)

excellent! thank you so much for the info, he was sent with some oak leaves,so that should hold him for awhile,good luck with yours also, man the adults of these guys are amazing HUGE!! i'm gonna wait awhile and i'll pair him up


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## Atrax robustus (Nov 1, 2005)

James saw yours and thought you might like to see mine ooh err   
took a few quick snaps of my 5. The last two I got cost me £20 a pair and they're about 2 1/4" long bargain or what!


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## jojobear (Nov 1, 2005)

*Congrats James*

Another roach to add to my wishlist   It is still a little rich for my blood. Though Christmas is coming up and what will I do with all that extra money? I will just have to admire it from afar for the moment. I am glad though there are some here and they are going to good breeders and will more readily available in the years to come.


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## Anthony (Nov 2, 2005)

That is one beautiful and impressive bug, long lifespan also.


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## JustBugs (Nov 3, 2005)

*Macro rhino*

Since you have them James, I'm assuming that they have proper documentation and were legally imported? If so you really have me drooling!!  :clap: 
I was really curious as we've had plenty of sources to obtain them from but just could never get past the mountain of paperwork and the requirements of the USDA.  :? 



Kenn Mease
Just Bugs


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## Scythemantis (Nov 3, 2005)

I've heard that along with their size and longevity they have a longer memory span than normal roaches, making them seem more "intelligent" in captivity. I'd be interested to hear what owners think. It sounds logical, though I imagine it just means they grow accustomed to handling like some arachnids.


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## Gsc (Nov 8, 2005)

I just recieved my adult pair from James today- They are MASSIVE- Pictures don't even begin to describe how cool the adults are...now I can't wait for my three 2yr. olds to get big!  Hopefully next year I'll be able to offer CB baby Rhino Roaches on the US market....I'm glad a handful of people here in the US have them and are working on breeding projects also!


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## james (Nov 9, 2005)

*Ken*

I have a very good working relationship with my argricuture department and I have all my paperwork with the USDA. As you well know (I'm sure) you need a permit to receive roaches from outside the US, but you also need a permit to ship to each State. Now I know you along with many others don't have this permit to ship even the most common species like hissers and lobsters, and I have also have not gotten approvel from every state. Bottom line is it's a quite market with lots of good people and you might want to consider keeping it that way. I only applied for permits because I knew there would be people out there gunning for the roachers and I'm close to the top of the list. With that said there are a lot of other insects in this same sitution that are handled in similiar manners everyday by responsible people. Next time an email offline might be more appropriate.
James


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## ilovebugs (Nov 14, 2005)

wow. I was about to make a thread about this haha.

I just found out about these earlier today (on your other pose in for sale/trade)
I did alot of searching around and reading. 

I read about one guy who was able to train a couple in seven days to come to his call, going through various obstacles. I think you should give that a try, and let me(and everyone else) know if that really works.

I would be most interested in raising a breeding pair. they sound amazing.

http://www.insectfarm.com.au/pets.html check out thier price list. that was the best I've seen.

I will deffinately keep an eye out for good prices on these. it would be awesome to get one of these while they are so new to the hobby. (my mom and girlfriend will just have to deal.)


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## Gsc (Nov 14, 2005)

The Australian Insect Farm (link you gave) is in AUSTRALIA...that's why they are cheap.  They cannot ship to the US without all the proper paperwork and permits.  James had battled for years to get these and was finally able to leaglly (with permits) get them from overseas.  

The insect farm is awesome but they will not ship to the US.

I've kept my eyes out for years for these and finally this handful had made it to the US.  If you're looking for a deal, the best is to wait a few years until they are established in the US hobby!


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## ilovebugs (Nov 14, 2005)

Gsc said:
			
		

> If you're looking for a deal, the best is to wait a few years until they are established in the US hobby!


I think I'll probably end up doing that. I don't have alot of cash these days, nor do I feel like going through a big hassle, although it would be worth it if I could get it.

I forgot to look if they shipped overseas and what all would be involved in that.

thanks


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## pioneer (Aug 6, 2006)

Those Are Awesome insects check out this one


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## Kevin_Davies (Aug 6, 2006)

is that an Macropanesthia rhinocerus?  looks more like a species of Rhino Beetle.


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## Gigas (Aug 6, 2006)

Kevin_Davies said:
			
		

> is that an Macropanesthia rhinocerus?  looks more like a species of Rhino Beetle.


i think he saw Rhinocerus and decided to show off lol


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## Takumaku (Aug 7, 2006)

Gsc said:
			
		

> The insect farm is awesome but they will not ship to the US.
> 
> I've kept my eyes out for years for these and finally this handful had made it to the US.  If you're looking for a deal, the best is to wait a few years until they are established in the US hobby!



The insect farm will ship to the US with the proper permits of course.  When I was filling out my USDA permit to have a few rhinos imported in, they were very helpful answering all my various questions.  If I ever get my permit, I'll be sure to order from them.


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## Genocide4Fun (Dec 28, 2007)

Thats like my Dream cockroach! Is there any way I could order those somehow? I want!


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## OldHag (Dec 28, 2007)

I dont know who's selling them right now. I traded some high end geckos for a pair of sub adults a couple of years ago. The male just BARELY matured!!!  They are beyond cool!! If you do get a chance to get a pair DO IT!! These guys look fake they are so amazing! They look plastic. Unbelievably HUGE, the pictures just dont do them justice!


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## KyuZo (Dec 29, 2007)

I was wondering...
are they very active?


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## roberto (Dec 29, 2007)

They spend almost all their time below the surface of the substrate. You will hear them constantly digging, but rarely see them. Every month or so the leaves I place in their enclosures disappear, and I find big oblong striped poops, so I know they are alive. I have no idea what they look like though.


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## KyuZo (Dec 29, 2007)

cool, now i know that i don't need to get one.


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## roberto (Dec 30, 2007)

No no no. You have to get one. They're rare.


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## KyuZo (Dec 30, 2007)

roberto said:


> No no no. You have to get one. They're rare.


Yea, i know that they are rare and large, but do you remember buying expensive tarantulas that are rare and have them turn out to be a pet rock?


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## roberto (Dec 30, 2007)

No one gets me.


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## KyuZo (Dec 30, 2007)

roberto said:


> No one gets me.


what do you mean?  i don't get you hehehe


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## OldHag (Dec 30, 2007)

My rhinos are very active! They dig all over, run around, pull leaves all over. They are pretty fun to watch.


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## KyuZo (Dec 30, 2007)

OldHag said:


> My rhinos are very active! They dig all over, run around, pull leaves all over. They are pretty fun to watch.


ok, that's what i want to hear.  Now i want to get some.   
hehehe
thanks for sharing


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## roberto (Dec 30, 2007)

I keep my rhinos in very deep substrate, they are very active but mostly below the surface. When they come up for more leaves, they are very industrious. They gather up all they will need and disappear into their burrows until they get a hankering for more. I have seen this occur many times, but mostly when I do maintenance they are below the surface as they are in the wild. Don't get me wrong, they are incredibly interesting and even exhibit a certain intelligence, but it seems that most people just want them because they are the rarest thing right now.


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## KyuZo (Dec 30, 2007)

roberto said:


> I keep my rhinos in very deep substrate, they are very active but mostly below the surface. When they come up for more leaves, they are very industrious. They gather up all they will need and disappear into their burrows until they get a hankering for more. I have seen this occur many times, but mostly when I do maintenance they are below the surface as they are in the wild. Don't get me wrong, they are incredibly interesting and even exhibit a certain intelligence, but it seems that most people just want them because they are the rarest thing right now.


No, i am only interested in things for their interesting behavior and colors.


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## Scythemantis (Dec 31, 2007)

I'm interested in them as the biggest and coolest-looking roach. If everyone raised them as a basic staple feeder and gave them away I'd still covet them as pets. I like to only keep 1-2 hissers at a time, even, so I can know them more personally as people know their spiders and pedes.


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## Tleilaxu (Dec 31, 2007)

pioneer said:


> Those Are Awesome insects check out this one


That looks like Straegus anteus. They live for about five to eight months. Raising the larva is a chore. For more information on breeding I suggest The Complete Guide to Rearing Grants Rhinocerous Beetle and other US Rhinocerous beetles by Orin McMonigle It has since been retitled.

Those roaches are awesome! I am glad they were finally able to be imported to establish a foothold in the hobby.


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## Genocide4Fun (Dec 31, 2007)

Scythemantis said:


> I'm interested in them as the biggest and coolest-looking roach. If everyone raised them as a basic staple feeder and gave them away I'd still covet them as pets. I like to only keep 1-2 hissers at a time, even, so I can know them more personally as people know their spiders and pedes.


I completely agree, though I wish I had a few hundred again, I love my two little Hissers.


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