Can I house Blue Death Feigning Beetles (Asbolus verrucosus) with a leopard gecko?

[DogPaste]

I've recently renovated the tank of my leopard gecko, and I want to include some invertebrates as a clean up crew and occasional sight in the tank. I know darkling beetles and morio beetles can live with geckos without much issue, but I'm not sure if death feigning beetles can. The tank has plenty of cover for insects, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't bite my gecko, but would they stress him or get eaten? I've attached a picture of the tank I have him in as well in case that helps.

 

[Poonjab]

I’d say your gecko would eat or at least try to eat them.

 

[Scorpiobsession]

Your gecko would definitely eat them, I'm not sure how hard their shell is but he could choke on them depending how big he is. I'm not positive but your gecko might try to eat the other beetles that are in there too. The problem is that geckos will try to eat almost anything, no matter how big it is (I had a baby leo think my finger was food). If he eats something too big then it is a possibility that he will choke.

 

[goliathusdavid]

It is almost always a bad idea to co habitate animals that would never naturally interact. These threads keep popping up and I keep repeating myself for a reason: it's a choice that almost never is in the best interests of the welfare of the different species. And, frankly, most bioactives that combine species from across the world are an "oh wouldnt this be cool" undertaking. Be wary of those.

 

[Matts inverts]

It is almost always a bad idea to co habitate animals that would never naturally interact. These threads keep popping up and I keep repeating myself for a reason: it's a choice that almost never is in the best interests of the welfare of the different species. And, frankly, most bioactives that combine species from across the world are an "oh wouldnt this be cool" undertaking. Be wary of those.

I always have bio actives with species that would be seen in the wild. I even use isopods native to a specific area. As far as beetles go, you can toss in mealworms or super worms with no harm to the gecko but the beetles will probably not live. They have a bad taste so the gecko would probably not eat more than one but it still isn’t recommended.

 

[Scorpiobsession]

As far as beetles go, you can toss in mealworms or super worms with no harm to the gecko but the beetles will probably not live.

That's not true, superworm larvae will bite and eat the gecko, I believe superworm adult beetles also can cause harm but I'm not positive.

 

[DogPaste]

That's not true, superworm larvae will bite and eat the gecko, I believe superworm adult beetles also can cause harm but I'm not positive.

Yeah, from what I've heard,, the larvae are harmful but the adults aren't a problem.