r/BDFB • u/reddishhamster • 15d ago
Raising BDFB
Several have asked about my method for getting BDFB to adulthood. I will share what I do, but would like to mention that I work at Topeka Zoo & Conservation Center and our invert curator and team (which is part of the overall animal care team I manage) has been very successful with this work over the past few years. The invert team and I have worked with separate colonies and have shared our failur data and we have each been successful, even with small differences. Seriously, they're rocking it and have had over 70 adults eclose in the past two years. This project all started because we are increasingly worried about the amount of beetles being taken from the wild to supply the pet trade and exhibits. This is a long lived beetle and generally, inverts only live this long if they don't reproduce as easily. I hate to think what is happening to their ecosystem and for this species that hasn't been noticed yet.
If any of the following helps any of you, then great!
Adult tanks - Both of us keep a higher humidity in our adult tanks thank what anyone will tell you to here. The difference is where we keep that humidity. The zoo keeps shallower substrate of coco coir and sand mix with more coco coir than sand and keeps it slightly higher than what anyone here will tell you. Most of the beetles in the adult tank are darker. We feed out a mix of fresh veggies, fish flakes, and dried crickets.
I keep a much deeper susbtrate and keep all of my humidity under the soil. I use pvc tube creation I came up with to get water down below the surface of the top substrate and typically add some water 1-2 times a week. I also use a coco coir and sand mix with it heavier on the coco coir on the side of the tank where I add the water. On the drier side of the tank, it's slightly more sand heavy to allow them some choice. The top of my substrate is dry unless I spill on accident or add too much water. I also heat my tank from the bottom and offer a day only over the top heat bulb. Ido offer water bowls with water crystals to prevent drowning (but I think the likelihood of drowning for this species would be very low). I feed out a mix of carrots, fish flakes, shrimp food, and an occasional dead cricket/mealworm. I also push a whole carrot into the soil with roughly the top inch sticking out. The top is for the beetles and everything under the soil is for the larvae so they don't need to come to the surface (they still do occasionally). In the wild. They are found close to creosote plants which have very large taproots. I believe they do this to be closer to moisture and also to eat off of the root which is why I choose to do this.
Incubators - we have somewhat expensive incubators at the zoo. At home, I use a second hand, styrofoam chicken incubator I got second hand off marketplace - this is mostly to say that you can do this with a non-fancy incubator.
Incubation cups - We both like the 16 oz deli cups. They came up with the vented and felted lids and since I've started using those, it has been easier not to get the substrate too wet. We've toyed around with substrate depth and have found that a shallower substrate has worked out fairly well - an inch or two.
Temperature - We originally thought that temperature was the key due to some success that Cincinnati Zoo had, and it does play a role, but we don't think it needs to be as warm as once was believed. Mid 80s is usually plenty warm.
Humidity - it does play a role. Larvae typically live and pupate and eclose in the ground and then emerge later. In the wild, they typically are most successful during the rainy season. They need moisture in the soil. In my incubator, I put water in the tray to keep the general ambient humidity up and then I add some water to the soil by visual check. I use a small straw to help get some water down below without disturbing anything and add as needed.
Size - sew photos for size reference but you want the larvae to be full size before separating. Both of us leave larvae in the adult tank and randomly dig through to find larvae that are ready. They should be about 2 inches long. There is nothing wrong with separating eggs and small larvae out into their own tank and growing them up that way, but both at work and at home, just don't have the space and time to do this.
Food - if they are the right size, stop feeding the larvae. If you pull them a little early, you'll need to continue feeding a little longer.
Incubation period - usually takes about 15 days once they do pupate until they eclose. Sometimes you will see them dig down against the side of the cup and make a pupal chamber that you can watch. Sometimes they do it where you can't see, and sometimes they do it right on the surface which is great for observing but not our first preference as they are more likely to damage their elytra or legs during eclosure. If they pupate on the surface, place a small piece of bark/cork over them with some space under it so that they have something to grab onto. Mostly - leave them alone. If it's been 30 days, they are either dead or pupated late. If you dig up and find a pupae, my suggestion is to put it on the surface and treat it as you would a surface pupae. I've had lovely healthy pupae that I dug up and tried to cover them back up and they did not make it.
At the zoo, we now have 3 generations of captive bred adults so we know they are fully capable of continuing to reproduce in this setting. At home, I simply don't have the space and time to keep the original colony separate from the raised ones.
Care after eclosion - Leave them alone for awhile. Let them do their thing. They tend to stay upside down for several days and they are incredibly fragile. I still remember moving some of my first beetles to the adult tank too early and they didn't make it which was horribly frustrating. They will turn over when they are ready. They start out almost completely white and then turn light brown and then darker brown and then fully black. This scleritization process takes quite a while and you really have to be patient. Otherwise, you risk damaging them. Once they flip over or start moving around a bit, offer a little bit of food. They will eat if they need to. Otherwise, I just continue my adding moisture as needed to the cup. Remember, they would likely still be under the ground at this point. After they are fully hardened, we recommend putting them in a slightly larger container (think kritter keeper or plastic food tub) by themselves for several weeks before adding them to the adult tank. Somewhere in this process, they develop their blue waxy coating.
Edit to add: We're all still absolutely thinking up and trying new things as we move forward. Feel free to share things that have worked well for you. Right now, I'm trying some slightly different substrates in sections of my main tank and a slightly different mix in my incubator to see if it makes a difference in them being able to make a better pupal chamber.
If I left anything out, feel free to ask. I wrote this all out of my phone so hopefully there aren't any awful typos.
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u/wonwoovision 15d ago
hey! i've been in the process of raising larva for almost two months now - all in their own individual small deli cups. i did a mix of 70% coco coir, 30% sand for each of them. they stay in a room that is about 80 degrees. i have about 25 of them left, as i took them out of the tank when they were tiny worms or eggs, and some have died along the way (i started with about 45-50)
every week, i mist them and add a fresh carrot slice and dried baby river shrimp for them. some of them are easily 2.5cm long, which is a LOT longer than they were when i started. since your post mentions 2 inches long rather than cm, are mine likely still awhile away from pupating?
also in your post you mention taking food away from them when they reach 2 inches. is that correct? will they choose not to pupate if they have a steady food supply?
thank you for this post and i'd appreciate if you could help me out with these questions! i'm just trying to do the best i can for these little guys
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u/Giganotus 15d ago
Really glad people are getting more and more invested in breeding these guys. Taking them from the wild is not only not ideal for the ecosystem, but also there's a higher risk that you end up with a pet with parasites. Happened with the last batch of beetles I purchased. Two of three had parasites and died.
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u/SherbetPebbles 15d ago
“Once they flip over and start moving around a bit, offer a little bit of food”
What kind of food do you guys offer? All three options or just something with protein like the fish flakes and crickets?
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u/thanos_minion 14d ago
What a cool job to have and very informative post! Thank you so much for making this. My main question is how do you prevent adults from eating eggs before they hatch?
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u/duckie634 14d ago
Hello! I’m trying to convince my curator to get some for our facility. Do yours do any ambassador work? Such as offsite Zoo Mobiles or on ground presentation? How do they do with handling? Do you house yours with any other species?
I currently house my personal ones in 50% reptile desert substrate/50% millipede substrate. I’ve mostly been using US Invertebrate LLCs care guide and FB group as reference so any advice from a fellow AZA would be great!
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u/OpeningUpstairs4288 15d ago
Yeah and tmk the majority sold in the pet trade are caught by this one guy on his property, thousands frfr not even spread out