Has anyone had success keeping "cleaner" beetles with feeder insects? Are they worth the hype?

[Wayfarin]

I used to order super worms for my bearded dragons, and I have thrown a few worms with my roaches as a experiment to see what would happen. i was going to try to breed the beetles and just wanted to see if i could mix them to save space.I was curious about the pupaes survival, given the super worms will munch on their own siblings pupae. They hatched out in the roach colony just fine, given the roaches were well fed, I had several large beetles walking around in there. I never kept up with them because their exoskeleton wasn't the greatest for my beardies. As far as a time frame, I do not remember at all, It was a careless experiment for sure

I've been interested in the idea of dual/mixed species cultures for some time now.
I'm also testing creating complementary "symbiotic relationships" between certain species in captivity, which is why the concept of cleaner beetles made me interested.

I'd imagine that buffalo beetles are better than dermestid beetles. Not only because they are slightly more omnivorous, but because they themselves (especially their larvae) can be valuable for use as feeders for some species. In a way, they're nothing more than small mealworms.

Superworms can be quite predacious. One person noticed that superworms may attack roaches within minutes or maybe hours.
I've experienced that they sometimes shun even dead crickets, and overall prefer plants.

When given nothing but mealworms and Styrofoam, they prefer Styrofoam, only attacking mealworms after pupation occurs (they seriously feed on Styrofoam).

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I've been interested in the idea of dual/mixed species cultures for some time now.
I'm also testing creating complementary "symbiotic relationships" between certain species in captivity, which is why the concept of cleaner beetles made me interested.

I'd imagine that buffalo beetles are better than dermestid beetles. Not only because they are slightly more omnivorous, but because they themselves (especially their larvae) can be valuable for use as feeders for some species. In a way, they're nothing more than small mealworms.

Superworms can be quite predacious. One person noticed that superworms may attack roaches within minutes or maybe hours.
I've experienced that they sometimes shun even dead crickets, and overall prefer plants.

When given nothing but mealworms and Styrofoam, they prefer Styrofoam, only attacking mealworms after occurs (they seriously feed on Styrofoam).

I had 20 Alphitobius diaperinus larvae and they didn’t survive in my dubia bin I’d have to try significantly more. Regular mealworms survived but I don’t know if the roaches eat, the pupa . Just started trying it out .

 

[444 critters]

I had 20 Alphitobius diaperinus larvae and they didn’t survive in my dubia bin I’d have to try significantly more. Regular mealworms survived but I don’t know if the roaches eat, the pupa . Just started trying it out .

Seems like you have been struggling with the dubia themselves though.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Seems like you have been struggling with the dubia themselves though.

yeah Alphitobius diaperinus larvae don’t tolerate the dry conditions? My orange head roachs are harder to keep they chew at each other even cannibalize.

 

[444 critters]

yeah Alphitobius diaperinus larvae don’t tolerate the dry conditions? My orange head roachs are harder to keep they chew at each other even cannibalize.

Yeah all roaches are different. Like I said the dubia shouldn't get any protein in their diet, cuz the uric acid, orange heads on the other hand, requires high protein intake. Or they will eat each other, and any other species placed inside..

 

[Kada]

Back in the day we would import 20k crickets from the states and they always had loads of dermestid beetles in them. Didn't seem to harm much but didn't pay attention. Often wondered how customs could be so lazy

I probably wouldn't mind keeping them with dubia and maybe some other roaches if they work.

 

[444 critters]

Back in the day we would import 20k crickets from the states and they always had loads of dermestid beetles in them. Didn't seem to harm much but didn't pay attention. Often wondered how customs could be so lazy

I probably wouldn't mind keeping them with dubia and maybe some other roaches if they work.

Dermestid beetles work well, but they will fly out of the enclosure every chance they get, Buffalo beetles do not. But they reproduce waaaay to fast for me.

They are like herpes, once you have them, it's for life

 

[Kada]

Not flying is certainly a bonus. Off topic, how are Buffalo beetles (Alphitobius diaperinus?) at cleaning flesh off bone? We sometimes do skeleton work for fun, would these work well at that?

 

[444 critters]

Not flying is certainly a bonus. Off topic, how are Buffalo beetles (Alphitobius diaperinus?) at cleaning flesh off bone? We sometimes do skeleton work for fun, would these work well at that?

I Googled it, and they said that they will clean the flesh off the bones, but they damage bone unlike the dermestid beetle.

I will say the Buffalo beetles tear up the oranges I put in for the dubia. They love them, so do their larvae

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Dermestid beetles work well, but they will fly out of the enclosure every chance they get, Buffalo beetles do not. But they reproduce waaaay to fast for me.

They are like herpes, once you have them, it's for life

I had no idea they flew around like that, I’ve seen sites suggest both type of Beatles. As a cleanup crew.
how many
Alphitobius diaperinus do you need for a medium size Dubai colony say 500+ ? Obviously 20 didn’t work .

 

[444 critters]

I had no idea they flew around like that, I’ve seen sites suggest both type of Beatles. As a cleanup crew.
how many
Alphitobius diaperinus do you need for a medium size Dubai colony say 500+ ? Obviously 20 didn’t work .

They will eventually.. Just give it time. I started with a handful that came with crickets. Now I have 1000s I can't get rid of.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

They will eventually.. Just give it time. I started with a handful that came with crickets. Now I have 1000s I can't get rid of.

wow
Think they died of shipping shock or dehydration I was about to add them and they were goners. That was a few months ago . Until I find a job I’m out of luck. They either pay to little or want to much experience.

 

[Wayfarin]

Dermestid beetles work well, but they will fly out of the enclosure every chance they get, Buffalo beetles do not. But they reproduce waaaay to fast for me.

They are like herpes, once you have them, it's for life

Yeah, we get larder beetles in our house, which are dermestid beetles. I didn't think that they could fly, but they can fly.

Evidently, they can only fly when warm. I believe that, because they often fall into plastic containers and die of starvation or thirst.

Buffalo beetles are tenebrionids. I have seen tenebrionids spread their wings, but I have yet to see them take off, even when warm. But I've had more experiences with mealworm beetles than buffalo beetles.

As for the reproduction, buffalo worms can be used as feeders for some small insectivores, and they are not unlike mealworms.