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BugsInCyberspace.com

Arachnoboards Username
Bugs In Cyberspace
Website
http://shop.bugsincyberspace.com
Previous Review/Report Link
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/bugsincyberspace-www-bugsincyberspace-com.107780/

Reviews summary

39
 
95%
0
 
0%
0
 
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2
 
5%
Overall rating
4.80 star(s) 41 ratings
Quality
4.85 star(s)
Variety
4.95 star(s)
Communication
4.83 star(s)
Packaging
4.93 star(s)
Price
4.83 star(s)
Absolutely Brilliant!
Purchase Date
February 29, 2024
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Great variety of inverts
  • Professional service
  • Unbeatable prices
  • Practical shipping options
  • Excellent care for animals
Mr. Clausen has created a brilliant company for bug enthusiasts throughout the US. His reputation over the years has been getting better and better, so when I saw an imperfect M. tohono for sale on his site, I thought I would try Bugs in Cyberspace for the first time.
My M. tohono arrived in perfect quality and was very active and healthy. The shipping, a major concern of mine, worked exactly as described. Additionally, the packaging for the specimen was appropriate and included a heat pack to keep my pet healthy and happy. Mr. Clausen was kind enough to correctly edit my order one day before it shipped, too.
Honestly, after this experience, I wish I had tried Bugs in Cyberspace sooner. I will continue to order from it as its variety of invertebrates expands. Mr. Clausen is the man for invertebrate care, and his company simply can't be beat!

M. tohono 1.jpg M. tohono 2.jpg M. tohono 3.jpg M. tohono 4.jpg M. tohono 5.jpg
Great buying experience, horrible spooder experience!
Purchase Date
9/27/22
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
1.00 star(s)
Variety
4.00 star(s)
Communication
2.00 star(s)
Packaging
2.00 star(s)
Price
1.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
No
Pros
  • Great communication before/during purchase
Cons
  • No live animal labeling on package
  • Absolutely zero communication after purchase was sent out
  • Knowingly sold us an elderly spider at full price
  • Show cases his great communication and follow up after purchase on his social media
My girlfriend and I had no reservations making a purchase from bugs in cyberspace ( Peter ) due to the many recommendations from several YouTubers. His communication was great at first. He answered questions and was sure to only send the spiders we were purchasing when weather would permit. We purchased 2 adult regal jumpers ( granted he does have a disclaimer saying there is no way to tell how long the mature spiders will live as they are not captive bread)and they were promptly shipped out to us. At this point we thought we were getting the great experience we were expecting.

As we arrived to the fed ex store in the morning we were very excited to receive our new pets. When we told the clerk our name for our package she quickly went to retrieve it, and no fault to them, as the box was unlabeled for live animals, spun the box in her fingers and was less than gentle putting the box on the counter. Both my girlfriend and I winced as it happend. None the less we quickly went home to get them into the new enclosures we had ready. The first spider we moved in was very sluggish but we thought the icepack may have slowed her down a little. although after transfering her into the enclosure we immediately noticed the spider was unable to climb on the walls or any other slightly smooth surface.... We quickly reached back out to Peter in hopes of some guidance and clarification. We are not the most experienced of keepers but this spider was very clearly and elderly adult. We tried out best to accommodate her with everything we could. ( Smaller terrestrial stly enclosure that was previously webbed by another inhabitant, special food( which has been refused profusely, and hydration, although within 3 weeks of receiving the spider and monitoring her multiple times a day she has started to deflate and we woke up this morning to one of her legs falling off.

We have yet to hear back from Peter. And to be fair, we are human and we drop the ball on communication sometimes. What I am uspet about is the lack of communication that one of the spiders we were receiving was elderly.
2 members found this helpful.
Honestly the best
Purchase Date
01/13/2022
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Excellent health of specimens
  • Rotating selection
  • Good variety of niche inverts
  • Excellent packing
Cons
  • None
This was the first online invert dealer I ever encountered as a young hobbyist and I still very much remember most of the specimens I purchased as a pre to early teen from this website. I took a break from the hobby for a number of years although would often pop back in and check the selection wishing I had time/money for a new pet. Slowly got back into things starting a year or 2 ago and I have to say Peter is still my favorite online invert dealer. I really appreciate the focus on native species and under appreciated inverts that are often ignored in favor of novelty(why pay over $100 for an Asian vinegaroon import when the native species is so similar anyway?). I’ve made countless orders by now and never had a DOA, and the one time I thought I did the specimen came back to life somehow a couple days later(still one of my oddest experiences in the hobby tbh). Peter will very often throw in freebies, and 2 or so months ago sent me an email a while after I purchased some creeping water bugs asking how they were doing as they were a new species for the site. I informed him that they unfortunately refused to eat and died a couple days after receiving them. Without me even asking he sent me 2 new ones which are still alive and even grew a little(I’ve learned that these guys seem to only want to eat fruit flies and nothing else regardless of size). His prices are also consistently cheaper than anywhere else, with some specimens having as huge a difference as $14 on BIC vs $30 elsewhere. His custom substrates are also excellent and I use the oak flake soil supplemented with oak chips for any of my wood eating species. Definitely recommend as my first choice for new invert pets.
Consistently excellent
Purchase Date
June 29, 2021`
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Good prices
  • excellent service
  • high-quality inverts
Cons
  • limited and inconsistent stock
I recently purchased a desert hairy scorpion (h. arizonensis) and some dubia roaches from Peter. A few years ago I bought 5 blue death feigning beetiles. The beetles are beautiful and still going strong. The scorpion is gorgeous and looks to be in excellent health.

Peter has always been quick to respond to email inquiries and thoughtful in his responses. The dubias were an afterthought and he added them no problem, providing an email link for easy one-click payment.

Shipping was $40, which seems to be standard for live invert shipments, and his prices consistently seem to be the lowest.

I wholeheartedly recommend!
Great experience purchasing from them
Purchase Date
January 15 2020
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • great communication
  • Good selection
  • great packaging
  • Received healthy specimens
Cons
  • Some inventory is only available seasonally and so, often unavailable on the site. But this is nitpicking, great service
I have nothing but positives to say about bugsincyberspace. I've ordered twice from Peter, and each time everything has arrived happy and healthy. I particularly liked that he packed the springtail starter cultures in a vial of moss rather than a deli cup with charcoal. I'm newer to bioactives and the other time I have ordered springtails I received them in a deli cup of charcoal that had been completely shaken in transit and nothing had survived. I know that is the usual shipping method but it makes so much more sense to ship them safely in the moist moss and let the customer add them to a charcoal base. Anyways the spiders I received were also in great shape, and Peter was kind enough to respond quickly and consistently with me in a lengthy email chain about the best options for substrates etc to emulate the trap door spiders habitat. He also has a great selection of mantises and other invertebrates. All in all great experience and will be my go to shop for certain spiders and clean up crews.
Rude
Purchase Date
April 21st, 2020
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
3.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
1.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
3.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
No
Pros
  • Wide Selection of Specimens
Cons
  • Cherry Picks Reviews
  • Will send you demeaning emails if you post poor reviews
  • Unwilling to work with customers
Specimens were packaged amazingly.

I purchased a spider from this website where the picture depicted was female and the description alluded to it being female based on lifespan expectations.
My specimen molted into a mature male just 2 months after I had received the specimen. I contacted the seller in a very calm manner with my concerns (the specimen will only live for another 6 months and was advertised as living "years and years" after recieved.)
The seller refused to work with me in any fashion to provide compensation.

I posted a 2 star review and he sent me a very demeaning email featuring the following phrases:

"lol, I see that bad review you left on my site but of course it is inaccurate and misleading."

"This is common knowledge for anybody who has been in the spider hobby for more than five minutes."

"I understand that you are probably young and have time to burn, but your perspective on the situation is out of touch with the reality of how the hobby works and you don't want to go out there and burn bridges with all the wonderful people in the hobby by posting reviews..."

"It sounds to me like you are getting advice from somebody who is also not in touch with how the hobby works." (I had asked my friend who has been owning tarantulas for 5+ years what I should do)
6 members found this helpful.
Purchase Date
4/27/2020
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
I ordered 8 millipedes from Bugs In Cyberspace. My initial order was on 4/23/2020, and then another order on 4/27/2020 when a species I wanted came back in stock. He was able to combine both orders into one order and ship them both together! His communication was great and he's working so hard to meet the demands of our hobby during these unprecedented times while also supplying quality educational entertainment.

In addition to this, I had even requested a certain color form of one millipede and he was able to deliver (see attached golden form o. ornatus! I wanted one in between the chocolate brown and bright golden that verged on orange so I could name it 'Rust'.) Along with all the others, the o. ornatus I requested came and had even been labeled as 'Rust' to fit in with my other two (Rot + Ruin!)

7 of my 8 millipedes arrived in great health. They're all active and are eating well and adjusting to their tanks. One millipede died shortly after arrival, but we're in communication to see what can be done and I have faith that it will be good for us both. After all, accidents happen and the fact that I lost only 1 and they had to travel from Portland to Nashville during the chaos of shipping during the pandemic is honestly pretty good. Looking forward to doing business with him and getting more millipedes in the future!

Attachments

One member found this helpful.
Purchase Date
02/20/2020
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Excellent communication
  • Excellent packaging
  • Excellent pet bugs
Cons
  • None
Peter always has great communication and pet bugs! Whenever I'm in the neighborhood for purchasing I always check his website first! The packaging is always top notch and I always feel safe purchasing from him. He really cares and it shows.
Purchase Date
2018-04-24
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Excellent service, pre and post order.
Cons
  • N/A
Peter was a pleasure to order from. Specimens arrived on time, and it was clear that time and energy was placed into packaging my order. He was accessible via email for all of my questions pre and post order. I will not order from anyone else moving forward!
Purchase Date
2017-09-21
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Excellent communication, takes full responsibility for his sales, wonderful customer service. Prompt delivery, perfect quality goods, and true compassion for his insects. Best dealer around.
Cons
  • Nothing. Never in my many purchases have I ever found something I would actually complain about.
Peter is phenomenal. He is not only providing the absolute best quality insects available, believe me I've searched far and wide, but he's also always there to help a beginner along. I have harassed him late at night with questions about insects and he's always been willing to help me explore the world of bugs. He truly cares about insects, he keeps a very active instagram that's awesome to watch and shows just how much respect he has for insects, watching that alone would convince you to give Peter your business. Overall, I'm really happy that Peter and his business exist, I feel more comfortable purchasing from him than from any other seller. Peter is genuine, and that means a lot in the person you're buying from.
.
Purchase Date
2017-06-25
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Great communication, quick shipping, and top notch bugs!
Cons
  • None
Won a free $30 from BIC on FaceBook, got a vinegaroon and some darkling beetles from him, they all arrived safe and sound, the vinegaroon was in perfect condition, and he sent a free beetle as well! :D All in all it was a great transaction, as usual, I've ordered from him a couple other times, always a great experience! A++!!
Purchase Date
2017-04-17
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Peter is always professional with his responses and prices are great. Packaging is always top notch and ships fast. Great selection of true spiders as well as tarantulas.
Cons
  • Nadda.
BugsInCyberSpace is my go to dealer website. I'm looking forward to doing more business with him in the future. Peter is super helpful when you can catch him. Quite a busy guy, but it takes a lot of time and effort to be the best.
Purchase Date
2017-04-17
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • All animals are alive and healthy
Cons
  • No Cons.
I ordered 2 inverts from Mr. Clausen, they arrived alive, healthy, and ready to sting. I highly recommend Bugs In Cyberspace. The quality of the bugs you get is top notch no broken legs or missing antennas, does a great job packing the animals in such small containers, and prices are pretty fair. I see no downsides, other then the selection of bugs you can choose from is short. Overall great experience compared to some others.
Purchase Date
2017-03-15
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Our first mantis (for me and my 7-year-old son)! It's like bringing home a puppy (without the pee pads!) Ordering from Peter was an amazing experience. His e-mail responses were fast and really informative. He was very patient as I ordered my very first mantis ever.... (a delicate Cryptic), priority (not express) and asked him to ship it to Flagstaff AZ (very cold) via Phoenix (bug boiler :dead:). Unfortunately, everything goes through Phoenix.
Despite all this, he was very kind to me. He nudged me in the direction of a hardier species and waited patiently with me while the planets aligned and the weather became favorable in both locations so that I could have my 3-day shipping. :shy: I seriously don't know how he does it, that was a lot of work for the sale of one baby bug. Our little guy arrived healthy and happy. My son and I watched him eat the head off his first fruit fly.... and it was so darn cute! (obviously not for the fly - but the mantis is freakin' adorable!)
And Peter refunded me the $3 difference in price between the Cryptic and my Golden Hierodula - I told him not to worry (call it a PIA fee) but he said his wife would insist and they refunded it. I also bought the mantis starter kit - they do a nice job with it - you get the decorated deli cup, substrate, food, and a spray bottle - a super nice nursery set up.
mantis & flower.jpg

We are really enjoying our baby mantis, and will definitely be buying from him again!
Purchase Date
2017-01-31
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • -Nice packaging -Freebies -Quick shipping
Cons
  • -None that I can think of!
I won a raffle on the Insectboards forum a while ago (the purchase date is inaccurate, I cannot recall when I received the items and I cannot find anything regarding when it was shipped so I used the closest date I can think of) for a Deco Cube of my choice and I chose the Roach Deco Cube which included things such as substrate, corkbark, bag of leaves, jelly (for the roaches), and pellet food. Peter even offered to give me 3 free domino roaches which I accepted. I was not in contact with Peter as the owner of Insectboards purchased the items for me since I won the raffle. When I received the package, it turned out that Peter gave me 4 domino roaches! What a great guy to say he was going to give me FREEBIES and gives a freebie of the freebies xD. These are my first ever roaches and they are fun to keep. All came healthy and lively. Next time I'll be the one making the purchase that's for sure!
Purchase Date
2017-01-11
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Peter was accommodating with my order when I needed to make a change and my pair of P. paradoxa arrived in perfect condition. I can't imagine how busy he must be, but he was always quick to reply to my emails and very friendly.

I can't wait to get my A. versicolor and V. carolinianus from him later this week. :)
Purchase Date
2017-02-18
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • - Great communication - Packaged very well with a heat pack and lots of package stuffing to keep my roaches safe - Timely response to my questions - Great product selection, especially for roaches and millipedes - I even got a 15% off coupon for writing reviews on all of his products that I bought!
Cons
  • The only con in regards of the purchase that I can think of is that the delivery took a little while, but it is clearly stated on the site that Peter doesn't ship except on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. I also ordered right before a postal holiday, so that was an extra delay. I don't mind the slow-ish shipping, though, since the products are wonderful.!
I have bought around 5 or 6 times from Peter and he is the best seller I've come across by far.
Health
He takes amazing care of his bugs, and I've never received a sick one. He always includes a heat or cold pack if needed, free of charge. Some of my bugs have even molted while shipping and they were still alive! I've never received a DOA or anything of the sort, although I've had a few scares. Most of my bugs that I've purchased from him in the last year (didn't get into the hobby until then) are still alive and kicking, minus the ones who died from molt complications/injuries.
Customer Service
Peter is great to work with and he encourages you to ask any questions you have about inverts. He's helped me save a few lives before with his advice! He's also very generous: I've received a free mantis when mine passed away from a molting injury and I was asking why, plus he gave me the aforementioned 15% off coupon.
Selection
Peter has the largest and most varied invert selection of any online seller I've seen in the US. His largest group is roaches, but he also has quite a few millipedes, mantids, and beetles that I haven't seen elsewhere. Most mantids and roaches that you can get are very small, unfortunately, but his millipedes are usually 2 or 3 molts away from adulthood, which makes them great for handling right away. Sadly, he doesn't have very many tarantulas, but there's many other places you can buy them, so it's fine.
Prices
With few exceptions, Peter's prices are very reasonable and affordable. There are a few very expensive bugs, but that's due to their rarity in the US (looking at you, rhino roach). Most bugs on the website don't have prices anywhere upwards of $25, and those that do are worth it. Roaches are especially cheap, with most being somewhere from $1-4. He also offers some very cheap supplies on the website worth looking into as well as beetle jelly imports from Asia!

Overall, Peter is an amazing seller and one that I consistently return to. Some other sellers are one-trick ponies to me because they only have a few exclusive inverts that I can't find elsewhere, but Peter's selection and customer service keeps me coming back.

Items purchased:
Eublaberus sp. "Ivory"
Archimandrita tesselata
Henschoutedenia flexivitta
Simandoa conserfariam
Polyphaga aegyptiaca
Therea olegrandjeani
Therea petiveriana

Small Kritter Keeper
Purchase Date
2017-02-28
Transaction Type
Sale
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
I couldn't be happier with our new vinegaroon or the customer service provided by BugsInCyberspace.com.

Peter immediately responded to my inquiry in a friendly, efficient manner and fixed my mistake of accidentally providing incorrect contact info.

My vinegaroon is beautiful, healthy, and big. He looks better than any I've seen in pictures (although maybe I'm biased already? ;) I was slightly worried as I opted for the slower, less-expensive shipping method which does not guarantee a live critter upon arrival as does the express option, if I'm not mistaken. Due to the great care taken in packaging, our vinegaroon arrived safe, happy, and healthy. We are all thrilled! Thanks, Peter!
Purchase Date
2017-02-17
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Healthy bugs (vinegaroon with tail and feelers = A+)
Exactly as advertised and actually bigger than expected.
Good packing, heat pack.
Great communication throughout, including reminding me that this past Monday was President's day so shipping would be on Tuesday.
Website has a decent layout and very easy to navigate through the many invertebrate options Peter offers.

Bugs bought:
Giant Vinegaroon (Mastigoproctus giganteus)
Bold jumping spider (Phiddipus audax)
Red armed mantis/Hierodula golden (Hierodula venosa)

A+/5 stars, will buy from again.
Purchase Date
2017-02-10
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
I have made many purchases from Peter Clausen, he is one of my favorite people to work with in the invert world. Every purchase from him has arrived timely, safely, and with ne'er a DOA. I am currently waiting on an order from him that should arrive friday, when I will review him again.

In the past I have ordered and received:
2 Acladocricus sp millipedes
1 culture P. Dilatatus
1 culture Oniscus Asellus
1 culture A. Maculatum
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