Hey gang, recently came to the conclusion that I want to start keeping beetles as pets! I know the general “advice” that gets said as I’ve been doing my research, but I’d like to know some more specific info before I take the plunge!

1) social beetles. ( I already know about bfdb’s/ flower beetles but I’d love other interesting recommendations!) I want to have multiple beetles in the enclosure as I’ve seen many people say that a lot of the “solo” beetles can be boring to keep at times as they spend most of their time hiding away etc. I want to have a species of beetle that is more than happy to be kept in groups as this not only increases my odds of seeing them kicking about when I go to have a look, but also I love the idea of watching them socialise with one another!!

2) size of enclosure. Ideally I want to give my beetles as much space as I can just to keep it interesting, but is there a general rule of thumb?

3) clean-up crew. I’ve seen a lot of people talk about “hiring” little bugs to help maintain the enclosure, but I’m wondering if there’s a sort of “best” type of bug for this task.

4) feeding. Ive seen people say veg, fruit, kibble, etc, but what is, ideally, the most healthy thing / mix of things to keep your beetles happy.

Thanks for your help in advance! Happy to be starting my invert journey, I plan to keep mantis and other cool critters once I have some experience under my belt!!

Hi! I have been interested in keeping animals for a long time.

Context:

I used to have a BAD fear of invertebrates, but I have been accustoming myself to bugs, and have grown quite a fondness for them!

I am 19F, and I am in college so I will be moving quite a bit. I am NOT getting one while I am in the dorms, and I plan to do a bunch of research to make them as happy as possible. I have had dogs and a bearded dragon (we had him for 3 years then we gave him to a family that could put more time into him for personal reasons). No kids will be around the bug other than college kids but I will do my best to keep them FAR FAR away from my precious baby.

My main requirements:

1. Not an INSANELY large enclosure, I will not skimp on size but I dont want a massive vivarium.
   
2. Beginner friendly, not necessarily SUPER low maintenance
   
3. Legal obviously
   
4. No ants pls
   
5. Docile, preferably nothing lethal to humans and maybe small dogs (depending on if my mom lets me take my dog w me lol) but idrc about handling honestly
   
6. Reasonably priced for a college student (i am willing to spend money and save up and i hope to get a job)
   
7. Hardy

Bonus
- cool looking, colorful, chill

My Phidippus regius, also my first ever pet spider. Now around 6 months old

Currently using for a jumping spider, and more than likely will continue to do so, but i’m curious if there’s anything else that could be comfortable in there (once she passes, as i know its almost her time..) I’d love to keep more spiders, I know most arboreal tarantulas are too big, but I’m open to pretty much anything, I am very comfortable with critters. I LIKE critters I can handle on occasion, but not necessary!

Heya. im getting some blue death feigning beetles soon ( freshly emerged from their pupa preferably), i have the tank, i know their feeding schedule and foods, i know how to keep them safe and happy, i know how to protect them and i currently dont have any pets. i just wanna know tips from other people who raise them, and also some ideas for tank decor and enrichment

Has anyone figured out a good way to transport live fruit flies to an enclosure. I've been having trouble with that.

Hello I’ve been looking into Blue death feigning beetles and I have a couple questions
First what’s yalls favorite care guide
2 if you could make a “shopping list” for someone just starting to keep them what would you put on it
3 what’s something that you would recommend that isn’t common in care guides

As it says in title, I’ve raised about 50 superworms to adulthood in the last few weeks and this is the only one that’s emerged like this, it was quite active at first but now it seems to be lethargic. It’s definitely done emerging it doesn’t seem to be like it’s stuck in the pupae

Hi, I am a petsmart employee, and we now carry Death feigning beetles. i set this up according to our stores care guidelines, but I know they usually arent too great. I have a sand mix as the substrate, some hides and leaf litter, stones and driftwood.

Really loving these guys a lot, and I want them to be happy during their time here. Any recommendations for improving their QOL while they stay?

I have a fully mature male T and I really need to get a better enclosure for him with better ventilation due to him being an arid species. Any recommendations? I’m wanting the dimensions to be around the size of a 5 gallon or bigger and the only ones I’m finding are tarantula cribs. And of course they’re amazing but, very pricey. I’m willing to do it but wanted to check to see if y’all had any other recommendations. Thank you in advance 🥰

I have two adult derby flower beetles in a 60x30x30 enclosure. I filled their enclosure with cork branches (They have enough free/floor space). They keep trying to climb the terrarium walls and one of my beetles ends up on the ventilation holes on the top of my terrarium. My female lost a few of her tarsal claws but my male is perfectly intact. Their substrate is a mix of coco coir and leaf litter. I'm not sure if they're stressed or just love to fail to climb glass.. Any suggestions? Down below is a similar terrarium to the one I mentioned

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I have noticed that the substrate in my A. geniculata's terrarium smells like mold if you hold a handful of soil up to your nose.

I have recently made some changes to the terrarium (digging up the soil, adding plants, etc.) and I have not found any visible mold growths in the substrate, on the decor, or on any other possible items.

I keep one part of the terrarium dry and one part more humid. The ventilation (mesh) takes up 70-80% of the lid and the top layer of soil dries out quite quickly, so I wouldn't call it bad...

Do I need to worry about this smell, or as long as there is no visible mold, can I leave everything as is?

My new pet

1. my dubia roach, Madagascar hisser, and isopod enclosure.

2. my 4 tarantula enclosures. (mix of live and fake plants) my g rosea is named bunny and I’ve had her for over 12 years!

Does anyone know any really variable invert sellers/breeders? speaking of niches beyond bug frenzy and minibeast, closer to Bugs4Pets for example.

I've been considering getting into keeping some more medically significant scorpion species in the future. In order to feel safe doing that I'd really love to get an acrylic enclosure with a keyed lock, just to be certain an escape isn't possible. Even if the enclosure tumbles it can't shatter or fall open. Maybe that's over cautious but it will put my mind at ease and make my wife more likely to be OK with the idea of a scorpion that packs more than just a beesting.

I've not seen a lot of enclosures like that online, does anyone have any leads on where you can get something like that?

hello! i recently moved into a new apartment which unbeknownst to me there were fleas in the carpet. i immediately moved all my live insects to another location and got the company orkin to come and treat the home. i called and they said it would be safe to bring back my inverts after 4-6 hours i do not believe this to be true i have my insects out of the house still however i have collected a few inverts to test the safety (some phasmids, mantids, katydids, and roaches) and they all seem to be doing fine it’s been 2-3 days of them living in the home. they’re on a plastic rolling cart which i have rinsed and set into my tile bathroom. does anyone have experience with this and if so how long/ how should i go about bringing my insects back home. thanks 😊

Hello,

So i just got these flower beetles yesterday as a beginner beetle keeper, and i had a question about their actions and their reaction to light, they are constantly just at one of the ends of the enclosure and "clawing" at the glass and I don't know if it's because of the lighting that is higher there (because of the sun) of if i did something wrong with the enclosure (sent some photos for reference, for the top of the enclosure it's a temporary fix until i tape the thing around it) i used flake soil for the substrate (12cm), used some branching and wood, beetle jelly for food, i misted it yesterday as well so I'm just curious and a bit concerned if i did something wrong in setting up the enclosure or if i stressed the beetles in any way because of that or is it that the lamp I'm using isn't strong enough? Or maybe it's an adaptation period for the beetles ? Do i need something more to the enclosure ?

Also they do climb and eat, although to get to the highest point and then try to go on the net i put, which i heard is logical for them for light and heat and all.

Thanks in advance ! Im welcoming all advices too I'm still learning and i want to care best for these little guys.

Just got 2 baby asian forest scorpions. Any tips for care is appreciated!! They’re about the size of a thumb fingernail right now.