Desert Vivarium for BDFBs?

[ixodes]

Hi there,

New to the hobby; have taken care of hissers, mealworms/darkling beetles before in school, but never kept any as a pet. I am interested in keeping some blue death feigning beetles and darkling beetles and wanted to set up a desert vivarium for them. I have some concerns/questions about soil and setup, though, as I know they do best in arid and dry (i.e., not humid) setups. I haven't found a definitive guide and setups seem to vary wildly across the internet. I have some questions, if anyone has any experience with this or desert vivarium setups more generally:

• Would it be possible to plant some cacti in the setup?
• What kind of substrate would I need to use that would work for live plants AND not be too moist or humid for the BDFBs? I read that dirt can stick to their feet and exoskeleton, so I do plan on having a top layer of substrate of organic play sand and gravel.
• What kind of cleanup crew would be best? I can't imagine that isopods and springtails would do well in a desert environment. Are booklice a good idea?
• Should I do incandescent light on top of tank (5.5 gal, mesh screen lid) for light/heating? What wattage would you recommend?

Thanks so much in advance for the help!

 

[Aquarimax]

Hi there,

New to the hobby; have taken care of hissers, mealworms/darkling beetles before in school, but never kept any as a pet. I am interested in keeping some blue death feigning beetles and darkling beetles and wanted to set up a desert vivarium for them. I have some concerns/questions about soil and setup, though, as I know they do best in arid and dry (i.e., not humid) setups. I haven't found a definitive guide and setups seem to vary wildly across the internet. I have some questions, if anyone has any experience with this or desert vivarium setups more generally:

• Would it be possible to plant some cacti in the setup?
• What kind of substrate would I need to use that would work for live plants AND not be too moist or humid for the BDFBs? I read that dirt can stick to their feet and exoskeleton, so I do plan on having a top layer of substrate of organic play sand and gravel.
• What kind of cleanup crew would be best? I can't imagine that isopods and springtails would do well in a desert environment. Are booklice a good idea?
• Should I do incandescent light on top of tank (5.5 gal, mesh screen lid) for light/heating? What wattage would you recommend?

Thanks so much in advance for the help!

I have been keeping communal desert beetle setups for a couple of years. I will answer what I can:
I am not sure about cacti in the setup. the beetles are pretty touth, but I am not sure if the spines would damage the beetles or not. Some spineless succulents might be a safer bet.

i have had good results with Terra Sahara desert substrate in with my leopard gecko, and several succulents grow in there very well. that might be worth a try. Another option would be to keep the plants in pots with organic desert potting mix, and then bury the pots with the play sand/gravel mix.
In my opinion, desert beetles are essentially their own cleanup crew. I wouldn’t bother adding anything else.
I use a 26-watt CFL daylight lamp on my current setup. It is quite bright, and provides some heat as well, but not too much.
here is my latest video on my setup:

 

[BepopCola]

I've heard of people using booklice for their desert scorpion cleanup crews. I think it could work.

A couple of months ago I set up a viv for my death feigners in an old 29 gal biocube. It's too soon to say if my trial will work out in the long run but,
the sand is a good idea IMO, I have a deep layer of 75% play sand - 25% cocofiber,
it's about 5" deep, my rationale was to make it deep enough so that the top layer would always remain dry even when I watered the plants.
It seems to be working out so far, the beetles stay nice and blue.

I wouldn't trust the beetles not to scratch themselves when they inevitably try and climb a cactus,
I went with some random succulents in the sand area,
I also made a section in the back (separated with corkboard) with sandy "millipede substrate" and a top layer of orchid bark, for the springtails I hoped, I added a small spider plant, damaged Boston fern, and small pothos for no real reason. I have the tank tilted back slightly so any excess water will stay with the plants that can handle wet roots. Plus it helps keep the carrots from desiccating too quickly. The beetles seem to like it back there as well.
I do leave it uncovered save for a light fixture in the back with a 13w jungledawn LED, and two smaller purple growlights from walmart.

I will update this post if something goes horribly wrong with my setup. (p.s. The big rock is being supported by a bunch of urchin shells.)

 

[ixodes]

I have been keeping communal desert beetle setups for a couple of years. I will answer what I can:
I am not sure about cacti in the setup. the beetles are pretty touth, but I am not sure if the spines would damage the beetles or not. Some spineless succulents might be a safer bet.

i have had good results with Terra Sahara desert substrate in with my leopard gecko, and several succulents grow in there very well. that might be worth a try. Another option would be to keep the plants in pots with organic desert potting mix, and then bury the pots with the play sand/gravel mix.
In my opinion, desert beetles are essentially their own cleanup crew. I wouldn’t bother adding anything else.
I use a 26-watt CFL daylight lamp on my current setup. It is quite bright, and provides some heat as well, but not too much.
here is my latest video on my setup:

Hi, thanks for the reply! I think spineless succulents are a good idea. I was looking at BioDude's Terra Sahara substrate, but I think putting the plants in pots with an organic succulent potting mix or a layer of cocofiber and then burying them with sand/gravel on top might be a simpler/cheaper option for me. Thanks for the lamp recommendation as well - I'll probably go with a 26-watt CFL, too!

 

[ixodes]

I've heard of people using booklice for their desert scorpion cleanup crews. I think it could work.

A couple of months ago I set up a viv for my death feigners in an old 29 gal biocube. It's too soon to say if my trial will work out in the long run but,
the sand is a good idea IMO, I have a deep layer of 75% play sand - 25% cocofiber,
it's about 5" deep, my rationale was to make it deep enough so that the top layer would always remain dry even when I watered the plants.
It seems to be working out so far, the beetles stay nice and blue.

I wouldn't trust the beetles not to scratch themselves when they inevitably try and climb a cactus,
I went with some random succulents in the sand area,
I also made a section in the back (separated with corkboard) with sandy "millipede substrate" and a top layer of orchid bark, for the springtails I hoped, I added a small spider plant, damaged Boston fern, and small pothos for no real reason. I have the tank tilted back slightly so any excess water will stay with the plants that can handle wet roots. Plus it helps keep the carrots from desiccating too quickly. The beetles seem to like it back there as well.
I do leave it uncovered save for a light fixture in the back with a 13w jungledawn LED, and two smaller purple growlights from walmart.

I will update this post if something goes horribly wrong with my setup. (p.s. The big rock is being supported by a bunch of urchin shells.)

Thanks for the reply! I am leaning towards the cocofiber and sand layers that you describe here. I was tempted by the Terra Sahara substrate mentioned above but I don't think I'd need the oak leaf litter or the sphagnum moss and the price tag is a bit much for me considering that. I'll definitely be going with some succulents - some echeveria or a haworthia or something. Glad to hear your beetles are doing well in the setup