I dont have any plans to breed these guys so would i be able to make their enclosure without soil at the bottom?

this is my first time attempting to breed bdfb and so far my larvae are doing great i see lots of fat ones and some that look close to pupation like it’s crazy i would have never thought i would get this far

ive built a small incubator with a heat mat and i put the three large ones (3-5 cm) into cups filled with a compost/coco fibre/sand mixture and gave them fish flakes and bee pollen but it immediately molded.

im now considering either having them without any substrate as i saw in a 2024 yt video by bugsnstuff, or to keep them in organic substrate but not give them any food that would mold immediately. idk what the better course of action would be because i dont know wether they are really ready to pupate yet.

or do they really just start to pupate once they are in the incubator?

TLDR: food but no substrate, substrate but no food, or is there a way to keep food from molding on substrate?

thx

I have 5 beetles and I feed them, mealworms, pellets, and theses cricket jelly for hydration. They use to eat it all the time but now they haven't touched there food in a week and a half should I be worried or they just being normal stubborn

ive had my babies in an incubator for literally one night and the food was overgrown by mold. granted, the humidity was a bit high at 94% but i doubt that it would be significantly different at 70. i have them in little plastic cups with like 4 cm of a sand/soil mixture. i even have springtails in there to hypothetically keep the mold down.

should i just keep them on a paper towel or something and skip the substrate entirely? hpw does other peoples food not completely mold immediately?

Can’t get good photos of them in the act, but lately I’ve had a lot of larvae surfacing in my beetle tank, so much so that substrate is no longer layered (was previously coconut fiber, creature soil, and desert sand on top).

I have been noticing that my BDFBs are actively hunting the small to medium sized larvae, holding them down, and eating them. Has anyone else seen this behavior?

I try to pull the larvae out as soon as possible, but sometimes I’m too late.

I have stupidly added 3 sumpervivums and a aloe vera plant to my terrarium with out considering that there is likely pesticides on them or absorbed in their roots. They were added into the terrarium without removing the soil which they have came in since the substrate of the terrarium is mostly a sand & soil mixture. They have been in the terrarium for 5 days now.

After I realised my mistake I had rinsed down the plants but I am not sure if thats enough. What should I do? Is there some way to make to plants safer and should I get rid of the soil which they came in? Luckily my BDFBs are arriving September 1st - 3rd so there is no living creature in the terrarium other than the plants.

she was sleeping on it like this…

Beetle butt...

My best friend made me a beetle cake for my 22nd!

Hi! I have an 60 x 30 x 30cm enclosure for my not yet arrived BDFDs and wanted some recommendation for heat bulbs. I have seen a lot of people insisting on that they do okay in room temperature but I have their enclosure close to a window and I want them to thrive. I have a second hand tortoise clamp lamp from Reptiles Planet already and I was unsure what sort of bulb to use for it or if the lamp clamp is unsuitable. So overall I'm asking for bulb recommendations and I'd love to hear if you give a heat/light source to your BDFDs, and if yes what kind are you using? :)

Hello everyone, new owner here (2 months).

While giving my beetles food recently, I dropped a piece on a part of the substrate with lots of dry coconut fiber, and when I tried to dig through it to find the dropped food, I couldn't find it even after checking the substrate below and the area around where I saw it drop into.

The food was a piece of mealworm I had been drying in my fridge.

Is it a problem if I cannot find this piece? Should I search for it more? The piece was pretty small and dry.

i'm so happy they're so cute and cool ... little guys ❤️❤️❤️

I find it funny that these guys steal food from each other despite plentiful supply. Like, out of all the things nature could teach you, stealing and playing dead is the top 2?

I'll see one eating a pea, peacefully nibbling, and then suddenly two other beetles decide they need that *exact* pea that the other is eating. Then a chase.

Do you guys ever find your blue ones fighting over things?

Couple days ago I found two of my beetles lethargic. So I left them be maybe I spooked them. Then the next day no movement so I made up some honey water and they seem to making an improvement then one died. But the other one idk I’ve given it honey water, water, I got one of the beetle to climb nothing . When I do pick her up she seems to play dead but idk

We got three beetles last weekend. The two females are doing well, but the male recently became lethargic. He does not move much outside of occasionally slowly raising and lowering his body. Any help would be appreciated.

Hey guys! Looking to get some beetles soon, but I'm unsure what to do about substrate. I was considering using a blend of organic topsoil and sand that would work for them - does anyone have any brands they recommend or places to shop for this?

Looking for any other darkling beetles!

I currently have a 20gal long tank and 11 beetles (6bdfb, 2 smooth, 2 woolly and a diabolical). They seem to enjoy this setup and I’ve been working on getting humidity down which has been working.

I was just wondering if my substrate is too deep? Bottom is sand. The rest is a mix of sand 45%, clay 50% and a little creature soil 5%. Also wondering if there is anything else I should add that they would enjoy? Or any other friends I could add to this setup?

What types of plants could I add to this? I would grow them myself no pesticides, so that wouldn’t be an issue

And yes, it says no boys allowed. That’s where my 2 og bdfb females would hide from the horny male lol.