Keeping Beetles

[JLDomestics]

I was wondering how to keep beetles alive. What do they eat, do they need moisture, etc. I caught a carabid and a silphid and was wanting to keep them alive since I already have these species on pins. One is Pasimachus elongatus and the other is Heterosilpha ramosa. I was going to put them on moist coco bedding and give them a log or rock to hide under.

 

[beetleman]

yup, that's how i keep my carabids,not too wet substrate(slightly moist),lot's of places to hide,they will most likely burrow too like mine,and they love mealworms/waxworms. good luck with them!

 

[JLDomestics]

Ha it seems the right person answered my question! Thanks, they been digging alot and are alive. How long do these beetles live for? I am going to keep every Pasimachus elongatus beetle I find and put them in a 10 or 20 gallon. What would one do in order to get them to breed? Do you mist the substrate at all? How often should they be fed? Will they eat crickets?

Also I was wondering what a tribe is, taxonomically speaking.

 

[beetleman]

i keep their substrate alittle moist not too much,when it dries you can mist it but not soak it, they can be kept togther with alot of room for breeding,if they breed,i haven't bred pasumachus,it would cool if ya got a bunch to try,i tried but with no luck they will attack crickets/waxworms/mealworms,and even very small pinkie mice(but i wouldn't go that :razz: route too messy) mine are all seperate,sometimes they fight with each other,you can use a very small bottlecap for water,and feed about twice weekly or maybe more if you like they are great eaters, ive had mine for about a year now(different ssp. of carabids) they can live up 3-4yrs! maybe longer quite hardy that's why l love em! as for "tribes" i believe it's classification of ssp. good luck,now your in the world of predatory beetles:clap:

 

[JLDomestics]

Thanks. What about silphid care?

 

[beetleman]

ive never kept them but i know they feed on carrion,and they bury their food also,you can proberly set them up like the others,deep semimoist substrate,etc. as for food,dead animals(birds/mammals) i don't think they would eat dead insects(though it's worth a try) or you can try frozen thawed pinkie mice,or adults.

 

[JLDomestics]

It seems after only a day the P. elongatus ate the silphid. Oh well. Yesterday I caught 4 more elongatus, so now I have a total of 5. I also caught some other cool carabid. It is about half the size of elongatus, has much smaller mouth parts, but it this real brilliant green colour, and they have brown legs.

 

[beetleman]

yeah, those pasimachus are savage the green beetle you found sounds cool,maybe it's a pubescent ground beetle?(chlaenius ssp.) another little "stinker"

 

[JLDomestics]

Yeah what is that scent that the elongatus give off?

 

[beetleman]

it's stinky aswell but not as bad as the others;P

 

[beetleman]

now take a fiery searcher(colosoma scrutator) man! that stink will knock ya down, i love these things but i can't deal when they start shooting off