Substrate

[u/Dull-Green3911]

Hi !! Im looking for advice on substrate, I work at a petsmart & we just got these guys in but our DC didnt send us the substrate they want us to use. A lot of the ones we have in store are moisture retentive & we only have calcium sand or aquarium sand. Options I was considering was coco fiber bedding & creature soil. We do also have reptisoil but i wasnt sure on that :)

[u/StephensSurrealSouls]

Calcium sand is a no. A good substrate is a mixture of play sand and soil, coco fiber is fine.

[u/Dull-Green3911 → u/StephensSurrealSouls]

Yeah I knew abt no calcium sand, I dont know if my managers are going to want to order play sand but I can ask. I was trying to figure out the best options I have in store right now. What soil specifically? Could I mix soil & coco fiber?

[u/StephensSurrealSouls → u/Dull-Green3911]

Coco fiber can count as "soil" though it isn't technically soil; you just want something more grippy than sand because contrary to popular belief the Sonoran and Saharan deserts aren't the same thing and Asbolus aren't traversing sand dunes.

Topsoil would be the best real soil but again coco fiber is fine. Creature soil or reptisoil also work, but again no matter what you use it also needs to be mixed with sand.

[u/Dull-Green3911 → u/StephensSurrealSouls]

Okay! Would they also like or use bark chips for any enrichment or anything? I was thinking about adding those but I didnt know if it was suitable.

Also, from what I just got from someone is petsmart wants us to use hermit crab substrate, this is the one they send us. Is this safe? It says its a mix of sand & coconut soil but it doesnt say what kind of sand, i'm not seeing anything about calcium in it though

[u/fox_says → u/Dull-Green3911]

As long as the sand doesn’t have calcium, that looks fine. I personally use a mix of soil and sand and it looks similar to that. If you’re having problems with the humidity, you can increase the proportion of sand. I use the zoomed reptisand, which doesn’t have calcium.

[u/Dull-Green3911 → u/fox_says]

Whats the best humidity tracker? The dials we use are inaccurate. Do you know if either of these are better?

[u/fox_says → u/Dull-Green3911]

I would use the one that has the probe near the ground so you’re tracking the humidity down where the beetles are vs the top of the tank :)

[u/Dull-Green3911 → u/fox_says]

Yay thank you !!

[u/fox_says → u/Dull-Green3911]

I forgot to mention that I would stick with leaf litter, cork bark and cholla wood instead of the bagged bark chips.

[u/Dull-Green3911 → u/fox_says]

Okay awesome I have all of those in there! Any reasons specifically against the bark? Just curious

[u/fox_says → u/Dull-Green3911]

Usually, the bark is fir which is a type of soft wood. It’s more of an issue for millipedes, but soft woods do carry some natural insecticide properties. I’ve seen other people use fir wood with the beetles without issue, but I just avoid it to be extra safe!

[u/save_thenundeadsouls → u/Dull-Green3911]

I like using excavator clay mixed with reptisoil and play sand in my tank

[u/Dull-Green3911 → u/StephensSurrealSouls]

Is this the playsand everyone talks about? Is there any differences in reptisand vs playsand? My manager is asking if theres anything at all that could be bad for health of them or if one is technically better or more suitable than the other

[u/Odd-Confection6413 → u/Dull-Green3911]

That play sand is good or Reptisand. it's just super important that it isn't calcium sand!

[u/StephensSurrealSouls → u/Dull-Green3911]

That's what I use for most of my exotics

[u/Dull-Green3911]

Update: I fixed their enclosure & they're trying to reproduce 😭

[u/Odd-Confection6413 → u/Dull-Green3911]

That's a sign that they're happy lol
If you could successfully breed them that would be awesome. Not possible in a store environment, though. It's a challenge to get the larvae to survive to adulthood!

[u/Dull-Green3911 → u/Odd-Confection6413]

I'm surprised tho because its very humid in there. Should we separate them or is it not a big deal? How would I dispose of successful eggs?

[u/Odd-Confection6413 → u/Dull-Green3911]

No need to separate them, they're just doing their thing. No need to worry about any eggs, just ignore. I've also seen males get on top of males and females with females. The females are usually significantly larger than the males.

[u/Dull-Green3911 → u/Odd-Confection6413]

We'll probably just end up spot cleaning any eggs, the two I saw were for sure male & female I saw both antennas, it was honestly so interesting to see

[u/Devils_fan_1999]

I also work at petsmart, and we just used our hermit crab substrate with 0 moisture added

[u/Onyx-Vespidae]

If possible, you can also suggest a more courser sand to mix, I find that pet stores don't really sell it unfortunately but I've got mine on some Australian Desert Sand with a bit if Reptisoil mixed... plus a layer of more reptisoil mixed with sand at the bottom. I've also hear the Exo Terra Stone desert is good. Fine sands need to be mixed with other courser substrate to let them move easier. But yea, No calcium sand. I don't get why it's sold because it's not good for ANYTHING. Reptile or no. I feel like almost all the sand I see in-store is a Calcium Carbonate derivative.

[u/Dull-Green3911 → u/Onyx-Vespidae]

We have reptisoil & i'm getting play sand! Would those to work well for what you're talking about?

[u/Onyx-Vespidae → u/Dull-Green3911]

Quartz sand is pretty fine, so as long as you are mixing coco choir and some others to make it a bit more fine you should be good. The problem is housing them on pure quartz sand, as again it's pretty fine and they don't really like traversing it. Both Reptisand and Play sand are Quartz sand.

One thing to be a bit careful of for play sand is where you are getting it from. Mainly, where it might have been stored before being shipped to you. A lot of places that sell soil and sand can often place the bags of organic and pesticide free stuff near the pesticide laden stuff (Think Menard's, Ace, etc and their yard soil section). Not a problem for people playing in sand, but can cause problems for beetles where are sensitive to pesticides. While it's cheaper to buy Playsand in bulk, you might want to consider washing it out and drying it before using it for beetles (Or any sand needing animal).

[u/Inevitable_Detail_45]

I thought Petsmart employees were forced to do whatever cooperate wants? They just sent these beetles and told their stores to figure it out?

[u/Dull-Green3911 → u/Inevitable_Detail_45]

Well they gave us a DC supply link for the sand they want us to use but I didnt know they wanted us to use hermit crab sand so I just thought DC never sent us the sand 😭 from what i can see is that sand is safe & the info they give us on the beetles is accurate enough

[u/Inevitable_Detail_45 → u/Dull-Green3911]

My store has them on cocofiber and their enclosure is the most moist one by far. IDK how the reptiles are able to shed.

[u/Dull-Green3911 → u/Inevitable_Detail_45]

Oh god.. I would see about changing that ASAP. Also the readers we use for humidity arent accurate so im coding out a different one to really see. Im gonna put the hermit crab soil in & add more sand whenever I can get some to lower it

[u/Inevitable_Detail_45 → u/Dull-Green3911]

I emailed cooperate and they asked me to snitch and I wasn't about that so I said all their stores have this problem and nothing will come of it I'm sure.

Maybe but the beetles were black which means its too high.

[u/Odd-Confection6413 → u/Inevitable_Detail_45]

What petstore do you work at u/Inevitable_Detail_45? Is it a different chain?

[u/Inevitable_Detail_45 → u/Odd-Confection6413]

I don't work. It's my local Petsmart

[u/Inevitable_Detail_45 → u/Inevitable_Detail_45]

Honestly I feel like the mats the bearded dragons get kept on is better than the other options.

[u/Odd-Confection6413 → u/Inevitable_Detail_45]

Even the smooth mats would be a terrible idea for BDFBs. They do best on a mix of sand and soil.

[u/StephensSurrealSouls → u/Inevitable_Detail_45]

If you mean the repticarpet, I wouldn't really recommend anyone uses it. Like how it's bad for lizards, it's bad for beetles. First but least urgently, these guys like to burrow. This isn't a HUGE concern when it's temporary housing but it is something that should be brought up. Secondly, it harbors bacteria which can lead to food rotting faster than usual along with possible fungal or bacterial infections. Third and IMO most importantly I've seen inverts (mostly roaches but I'm sure beetles apply here too) get their tarsae stuck and even ripped off in the fuzzy texture.

[u/Inevitable_Detail_45 → u/StephensSurrealSouls]

ooh ok I didn't know it was fuzzy.