BDFB fighting — leg biting!

[Temjeito]

One of my death feigning beetles (Lenny) is missing the forefoot of one of his middle legs. I’m not sure how it happened, but he usually walks in his “knee” with the leg folded. Today I caught one of the other beetles *biting Lenny’s leg*. The guys are all really active, and lately there has been a lot of what I assume is mating or attempted mating, and what I would call “roughhousing” but this was the first time I’ve seen something that looked like real aggression. I didn’t think these were very aggressive creatures and I couldn’t find anything online about fighting. Has anyone else observed this kind of behavior? I’m wondering if I need to separate these guys.

 

[xXTristinaXx]

Have never seen it with mine, maybe you don't feed enough? make sure you give them veggies/fruit and protein.

 

[Temjeito]

They always have a fruit, broccoli, or green leafy veg, plus some dog kibble and some uncooked oatmeal. They were actually having their fight on a big spinach leaf I gave them this morning lol

 

[marsdex]

This surprised me when I first got BDFBs as well. Occasionally you will get individuals that are very aggressive about food or mates. Fortunately, they're really sturdy creatures. Usually they have to work pretty hard to actually damage one another. I'm sorry to hear about Mr. Lenny's disability but he'll be fine without a foot. I know what you mean about the aggression though - it does seem like more than rough-housing. The worst offender I had was chasing everyone down dragging them by the legs!

I had this problem when I only had 5 beetles. There were 4 males and 1 female, so the males were often bickering amongst each other and harassing the female. I removed the most aggressive male (named El Cabron) and put him into his own enclosure for a while. Later, I needed that enclosure for something else, and he seemed a lot less active while in there all by himself. When I re-introduced him to population, there were more beetles in the tank. He still would pick fights but was a lot less of a terror. I guess there was just more to focus on/deal with, to get his little mind off of sex? Who knows. I'd just recommend adding even more hiding spots, and if that doesn't work, buy more beetles.

And if all else fails, just put him in beetle jail!

 

[Temjeito]

Thanks. As it happens, I also have 5. Two females I think, but I’m basing that mostly on size and frequency of being mounted.
Going forward I’m going to cut their food into smaller pieces, so they can each have their own separate meal, in case they’re fighting over food (I usually put in uncut chunks or leaves).
Been toying with the idea of getting a few tank mates, ideally another type) but not sure there’s enough room in the 10-gallon tank. As it is these guys are constantly scrabbling against the glass like they’re trying to escape. Makes me sad.

 

[marsdex]

10 gallons is plenty of room, you can easily fit more beetles in there. They often end up sleeping in a pile together anyway! I don't really know a solid number for how many beetles per square inch or anything but I have at least 20-30 beetles (not all death feigners, lots of smaller ones) and 3 desert millipedes in my 10 gallon. It's very interesting to watch them all interact. Don't feel bad about them wiping the glass, it's just something they do because they don't understand the material lol. They seem to stop doing it as much when they settle in more or if they have a lot of other places to go. Put lots of sticks/vertical things to climb in there as well, you'll find they actually love to perch on them, and it increases the amount of usable space in the tank. But yes, cutting up the food is a good thing as well.