Questions about communal desert beetle enclosure.

[GemTheBirder]

New to the hobby and forum (forums in general, honestly) so please let me know if I'm doing this incorrectly. I recently set up a Critter Keeper (Large) to keep some beetles in using a sand/coco fiber mix, cork bark, cholla wood and smooth stones. I will be receiving 4 death feigners (3 blue and 1 smooth) next Wednesday from Bugsincyberspace and have a few questions before they arrive.

1. Am I missing anything ?

2. Is this enclosure large enough for 4 beetles? If so, will it hold more and how many?

3. Does anyone have suggestions on other species that keep well with these species? I saw Aquarimax's post about Red Velvet Ants being kept with feigners, which sounds awesome. Wondering what other keepers have had success with

 

[davehuth]

Congrats! These exact beetles are what drew me into the hobby of invert keeping and they've brought me a lot of joy the past year.

Pretty much any dry-loving Tenebrionid beetle or ecologically close desert dweller can live together in one of these communal enclosures. I've even heard of people keeping a scorpion in the tank (which seem to not much prefer the armored elytra of most adult Death Feigners).

I have many desert species in my own tank, including Eleodes, Edrotes, Asbolus, Zopherus, Nosoderma, etc.) I see you have a mister next to your set-up, make sure you mist only one corner of your enclosure, these desert animals really do prefer it bone dry and get their moisture from the occasional fresh vegetable and once a week misting of the corner. I keep my damp corner a little larger to encourage egg laying, and also for a cockroach I'm planning to add (I'm told they're abraded by substrate that includes sand however, so burrowing cockroaches in a sand tank might suffer).

You could add even more structure higher up in your enclosure (sticks, twigs, "platforms"), and many of your beetles will climb all over the place. This will also give them opportunities to get some "alone time" if they need it.

A rule of thumb that's been useful for me is to keep anywhere from 5 to 10 beetles per gallon in a tank with plenty of hides and climbing structure. So a 5 gallon fish tank could hold up to 40 or 50 medium sized beetles if you set it up well. I don't pack it quite that full myself, but i do like a crowd so there's always something interesting going on. They don't seem to mind bumping into each other. You can measure your Kritter Keeper to estimate its volume with this online calculator: http://www.firsttankguide.net/calculator.php

Good luck on your new adventure and keep us updated about how it goes for you!

 

[Aquarimax]

New to the hobby and forum (forums in general, honestly) so please let me know if I'm doing this incorrectly. I recently set up a Critter Keeper (Large) to keep some beetles in using a sand/coco fiber mix, cork bark, cholla wood and smooth stones. I will be receiving 4 death feigners (3 blue and 1 smooth) next Wednesday from Bugsincyberspace and have a few questions before they arrive.

1. Am I missing anything ?

2. Is this enclosure large enough for 4 beetles? If so, will it hold more and how many?

3. Does anyone have suggestions on other species that keep well with these species? I saw Aquarimax's post about Red Velvet Ants being kept with feigners, which sounds awesome. Wondering what other keepers have had success with

Your enclosure sounds good to me!

I keep two different Eleodes sp. with my death feigners (both blue and black) in addition to the velvet ants. If you do keep velvet ants in a Kritter Keeper, make sure they cannot escape through any of the vent holes in the lid. They can climb smooth surfaces fairly well, and could probably scale the sides of the Kritter Keeper.

I agree with @davehuth...that is plenty of room for your 4 beetles, and you do have room for more. I am keeping 10 beetles and 2 velvet ants in a 3-gallon bugarium, with branches and rocks to climb on and hide under. It seems to work quite well. I don’t know that i would add any more beetles to my bugarium, although perhaps I would consider one more velvet ant.
It’s a very fun community...the velvet ants (particularly one of them) bustle around, reminding me of hummingbirds with their energy. The beetles go crazy when they are offered something they like, and different species seem to prefer different foods and have different activity levels.

 

[GemTheBirder]

Thank you both for the quick detailed responses. Lots of great info to glean! I think I will do as you suggest, davehuth, and add a platform or two for a upper "layer". I will research the suggestions for tank mates also. Thanks again for the great responses guys.

P.s. Shout out to Aquarimax! I'm watching your live stream as i type this. Your YouTube channel is fantastic and helped fuel my interest in this hobby. It's definitely the reason I started keeping Isopods. I would love to see a video on your desert communal if you're taking request! Keep up the great work dude!

 

[davehuth]

P.s. Shout out to Aquarimax!

Rus really is one of the most encouraging and enthusiastic voices to welcome new people into this interesting hobby with solid knowledge and helpful advice.

 

[Aquarimax]

Thank you both for the quick detailed responses. Lots of great info to glean! I think I will do as you suggest, davehuth, and add a platform or two for a upper "layer". I will research the suggestions for tank mates also. Thanks again for the great responses guys.

P.s. Shout out to Aquarimax! I'm watching your live stream as i type this. Your YouTube channel is fantastic and helped fuel my interest in this hobby. It's definitely the reason I started keeping Isopods. I would love to see a video on your desert communal if you're taking request! Keep up the great work dude!

Thank you very much ! I am glad to hear that my channel has been helpful! I always appreciate requests, and As it happens, I have already begun work working on a video about my desert communal vivarium...so your request shall soon be granted!

 

[Aquarimax]

Rus really is one of the most encouraging and enthusiastic voices to welcome new people into this interesting hobby with solid knowledge and helpful advice.

Why thank you! That is very encouraging!

 

[AmphibianAddict]

New to the hobby and forum (forums in general, honestly) so please let me know if I'm doing this incorrectly. I recently set up a Critter Keeper (Large) to keep some beetles in using a sand/coco fiber mix, cork bark, cholla wood and smooth stones. I will be receiving 4 death feigners (3 blue and 1 smooth) next Wednesday from Bugsincyberspace and have a few questions before they arrive.

1. Am I missing anything ?

2. Is this enclosure large enough for 4 beetles? If so, will it hold more and how many?

3. Does anyone have suggestions on other species that keep well with these species? I saw Aquarimax's post about Red Velvet Ants being kept with feigners, which sounds awesome. Wondering what other keepers have had success with

The tank looks A okay! It’s definitely big enough for 4, a good rule of thumb is one beetle per gallon.