Piine
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2021
- Messages
- 6
Prerequisite information;
Around nine(9) months ago I purchased eleven(11) Rhino Beetle grubs (Xylotrupes gideon), one was DOA, so I've had ten(10) for around nine(9) months. These were purchased from "Australian Insect Farm", which is pretty much the only source of Rhino beetles I've found here in Aus.
Each grub has it's own container, approx.12cm(5") squared containers. Their substrate consists of coco peat (organic, nothing but coco) and compost which is heavily plant material, from our food garden, and leaves.
I make sure to top up their food source (the compost) when I notice there isn't much left, and I change out around half their whole substrate every month or two or just when I notice there is a lot of frass. I make sure their substrate is not dry often and I mist their enclosures when I notice it get too dry.
The issue;
I've noticed some of my grubs getting significantly smaller and becoming yellow and "shrivelled", that is to say they are not round and plump like they used to be, I'd say the most one has shrunk is probably about 60% from it's largest size, I'm uncertain of whether shrinking is normal because I've never owned grubs before but I feel as if it might be of concern, two of these shrunken grubs have died and there is very likely a third, the reason that sparked this post, it seems somewhat freshly dead and I can't 100% tell, there is no signs of movement when I lightly brush the hairs on it with my finger, usually it would move at that, but I am letting it sit until I'm very certain it is dead. The two dead ones were very similar, no signs of response when touching them, I left them and let them sit until they became black and rock solid, and then let them sit for another two weeks after that just to make sure, as again, I've never owned beetles and wanted to at least give them enough time to make sure this wasn't pupating, I could still be wrong (Small note here; I went back and checked my care guide at the very end of this all before I posted and they do say it can take up to 6 weeks to pupate so they very well could have been but I haven't been able to find any information on them getting smaller before doing so) The two dead ones are gone (put into the garden somewhere) and I will be holding onto this third possible dead one for a while (Note again; I'll keep it for 7-8 weeks just to extra extra sure unless someone tells me otherwise).
As a note, I did mess up in January and let their substrate dry out a little too much, not completely but a lot. Not sure if that would effect them too much since half of them are still fine at this moment.
I have two grubs that are looking very healthy (plump and big) at the moment and two that I'm quite worried about as they are showing similar signs to the two/three that have "died", the others I'm uncertain of at this stage as they are not huge in size but they are not getting small and shrivelled like the others. I wish I had taken photos of what the two "dead" ones looked like, we'll see what happens with the third and I may update with photos.
TL;DR: Some of my grubs are shrinking, becoming yellow and shrivelled, and then dying(?). I'm caring for them as I've been told by many sources, including the information I was given by the seller. This is the first time I've owned inverts and I don't know what I'm doing wrong or if this is just how it is sometimes.
If anyone has any idea what could be going on and shed some light on this beetle newbie it would be very much appreciated. I'm honestly all around pretty upset as I really love beetles and was hoping to at least have some.
Around nine(9) months ago I purchased eleven(11) Rhino Beetle grubs (Xylotrupes gideon), one was DOA, so I've had ten(10) for around nine(9) months. These were purchased from "Australian Insect Farm", which is pretty much the only source of Rhino beetles I've found here in Aus.
Each grub has it's own container, approx.12cm(5") squared containers. Their substrate consists of coco peat (organic, nothing but coco) and compost which is heavily plant material, from our food garden, and leaves.
I make sure to top up their food source (the compost) when I notice there isn't much left, and I change out around half their whole substrate every month or two or just when I notice there is a lot of frass. I make sure their substrate is not dry often and I mist their enclosures when I notice it get too dry.
The issue;
I've noticed some of my grubs getting significantly smaller and becoming yellow and "shrivelled", that is to say they are not round and plump like they used to be, I'd say the most one has shrunk is probably about 60% from it's largest size, I'm uncertain of whether shrinking is normal because I've never owned grubs before but I feel as if it might be of concern, two of these shrunken grubs have died and there is very likely a third, the reason that sparked this post, it seems somewhat freshly dead and I can't 100% tell, there is no signs of movement when I lightly brush the hairs on it with my finger, usually it would move at that, but I am letting it sit until I'm very certain it is dead. The two dead ones were very similar, no signs of response when touching them, I left them and let them sit until they became black and rock solid, and then let them sit for another two weeks after that just to make sure, as again, I've never owned beetles and wanted to at least give them enough time to make sure this wasn't pupating, I could still be wrong (Small note here; I went back and checked my care guide at the very end of this all before I posted and they do say it can take up to 6 weeks to pupate so they very well could have been but I haven't been able to find any information on them getting smaller before doing so) The two dead ones are gone (put into the garden somewhere) and I will be holding onto this third possible dead one for a while (Note again; I'll keep it for 7-8 weeks just to extra extra sure unless someone tells me otherwise).
As a note, I did mess up in January and let their substrate dry out a little too much, not completely but a lot. Not sure if that would effect them too much since half of them are still fine at this moment.
I have two grubs that are looking very healthy (plump and big) at the moment and two that I'm quite worried about as they are showing similar signs to the two/three that have "died", the others I'm uncertain of at this stage as they are not huge in size but they are not getting small and shrivelled like the others. I wish I had taken photos of what the two "dead" ones looked like, we'll see what happens with the third and I may update with photos.
TL;DR: Some of my grubs are shrinking, becoming yellow and shrivelled, and then dying(?). I'm caring for them as I've been told by many sources, including the information I was given by the seller. This is the first time I've owned inverts and I don't know what I'm doing wrong or if this is just how it is sometimes.
If anyone has any idea what could be going on and shed some light on this beetle newbie it would be very much appreciated. I'm honestly all around pretty upset as I really love beetles and was hoping to at least have some.
