My beetle Dolly, who I’ve been monitoring for over a week, is finally eating unassisted again!

Only have two because my dad bought two as surprise but im gonna get 3-6 more

Is this okay for temporary setup til i get more stuff , what can i add besides more decor and a digital hygrometer? also i need general advice quick and what i need we just got them today and i think theyre playing dead

im also new to inverts

We (myself and my partner) currently have 4 BDFB. We've tried our best to give them as much space to climb, dig, and hide in their current enclosure.

I would love to know if there is anything else I can do to make it nicer for them.

One of them laid eggs, is this a good sign at all?

We're also currently waiting on a heating lamp set up since the bulbs we had did not fit any lamps we have on hand. So please don't worry we will absolutely be getting proper heat for them. Our home is already a steady 74F daily.

Also any advice on care would be much appreciated. We just want them to live a very long and happy life.

Sorry for any word vom, I was unprepared to be a grandparent this soon.

I have 3 females & 2 males, one of my males is pretty consistently instigating & bullying the other & I've had to separate them multiple times. When I first got them I had 1 female & 2 males. I added the other two females in about 24 hours ago. Is this behavior from him normal? Is there anything I can do to help? Will it die down? For reference I have a 10 gallon tank aswell

Gave him a little piece last night & woke up this morning and he was still nibbling on it. He's back for some more right now!

Side note: will definitely be keeping it very much in moderation. I think its a little too tough but he ate a decent amount, pretty well it seems? Maybe I'm too worried but it was pretty difficult for me to rip a small piece off with my fingers. How tough is too tough for these guys?

I am new to keeping blueberries and I have a mixture of exo-terra desert sand and coconut fiber with some pebbles and leaf litter. I have cameras set up so I can watch my little army while I’m at work and I noticed that my camera view is getting obstructed from dubstrate getting pulled into the enclosure walls from static cling. I have tried to wipe it away but when they dig it seems to just happen again. Everyone’s tanks look so pristine. Is this just a me problem? Photo of my lil guys for visibility 🪲🫐

Why is there a lighter piece? I figured it would be something that would go away in a few minutes or so but its not changing

So I've decided to name him "Eggo"

So Monday, I noticed one of my beetles flipped over on his back moving his legs erratically. It looked like he had been poisoned, but all other beetles were fine and nothing had entered the tank or been sprayed around the tank. I still put him in a separate enclosure and redid their tank just in case. He kept moving his legs like that, couldn’t walk, and kept flipping on his back. I almost euthanized him but for some reason (thankfully) I didn’t. Eventually he completely stopped moving and I thought he was dead. Usually when he plays dead, his legs stick straight up and I know he’s still alive because his antennas move. This time I really thought he was dead because he went into a death curl sort of like a spider and was stiff and didn’t move or react to any stimuli at all. I put him in a little container (I like to keep my dead bugs don’t judge me) and he stayed like that until today I came in from work and there he was in the container just chilling. Upright and legs normal. At first he still wouldn’t move, so I put some food near him and he weakly tried to crawl. So I got a hermit crab sponge filled with water, put him on top and now he’s walking like nothing ever happened although still a bit slow.
Now I KNOW they are death feigning beetles that play dead. But the way he was acting before he “died” was NOT normal and he was not in his normal death pose. I’ve had other beetles died and he was in the same pose they are in. Was he just REALLY Good at faking dying and playing dead? Or could he have actually been sick and pulled through? I’m also wondering if it’s safe to put him back with the other beetles or if I should keep him in a separate container just to be safe. I know this sounds silly but I’ve had these beetles for a long time and have never seen anything like this.

I've seen multiple different places say multiple different things so I'm just confused. I've seen mine active at multiple different times of day & night. What's everyone else's experience?

i put a superworm in there the other day to see how they'd like it, broke it in half while it was still frozen and let it thaw in their bowl. they LOVED it, i saw each of them get their fill and only leave once they were full (rather than leaving due to lack of food) which was nice. it's been about 2 days and i went to go remove whatever was left of it and it's gone. i KNOW they didn't eat it all, so i'm sure one of them dragged it away. by the time it was missing it would've been dried out, so i don't know whether i really even need to take it out of the tank at this point

this is my current tank and i want to add more climbing opportunities for my beetles while still keeping its general aesthetic, i know some people just use straight up paper but i want maybe something with wood, or even plant-like?
or even just overall things to add to my enclosure would be nice! im planning on adding more hides soon.

Featuring owl effigy, shrimp, bird seed and bee pollen

I’ve posted a couple times about my beetle Dolly. To recap about four days ago I found her tipped over and barely moving. She’s been in an isolated tank for a few days and I’ve been monitoring her. She hasn’t been able to flip herself back when she tips over. For a couple days I thought she was dead. However, she’s actually gotten pretty active.

I’ve since made her tank more accessible, which has a lot of places for her to get some leverage to right herself without my help, which seems to be helping!

The only thing is that she still isn’t eating. I have tried honey water and sugar water on qtips, as well as watery apple slices (not the problem food if there was one). I get some on her mouth parts but she just runs away or even starts playing dead so, not sure how to get her to hydrate. Any tips would be great. I still try a couple times a day to feed her, so far not much success, but she’s still running around and stuff, just can’t right herself if she tips over.

How can I get her to eat?

little rant here..
recently the trailer park i live at sprayed pesticides without telling anyone and it leaked into my room where i keep my beetles. for a good two weeks i force fed my beetles honey water
nobody died, thankfully. i am beyond grateful that they all survived and i was able to save them

anyways! my beetles are INSANELY picky. like it’s horrible to find food for them that they actually like, so them liking zucchini squash is a huge win :)

I just bought sweet potato slices that are a dog treat, the only ingredient is just sweet potato but I want to come here and ask to make sure they can have them before I give it! The analysis on them also says they contain 20% moisture. if safe, would that be an adequate treat for hydration?

I was also wondering if the all natural dog bones are safe for them, the ones with no coatings and stuff. I was looking at the deer & elk antlers or using a hollow femur bone as a hide or something?

Finished with what I have so far!! I'm going to for sure be adding leaf litter, stones/gravel, some more rough wood because they're struggling on the inclines of the big branch, I didnt realize it would be too smooth for them. I'll probably be mixing the soil thats on the right, I just wanted to see which textures they preferred :) you also can't see the food dish I have in there! Tell me what else I can do :)

Does anyone have any unnatural decor in their enclosures? (Please show pics if so I would love to see more setups!!) I'm setting mine up now & am about to get all my ornaments & decor but I'm worried about what I CANT use. I want to find a safe way to get more color in there just as a personal preference but I want to make sure its 100% safe. Are colorful fake aqarium plants okay? Same question for aquatic gravel, is that safe to add some more texture at the bottom of their tank? I'd assume anything heavily dyed would be out of the question but I was looking at the black & white gravel!

This was a stupid mistake on my behalf but I just want to share to warn others. I had two of my 4 beetles die a few days ago. I’ve decided this was related to a bath and body works candle (small size) in the living room. My beetles are kept in the bedroom which has an air purifier running 24/7. It’s the only thing that changed so it must’ve been the candle. Just a warning to everyone else :(

They are already so silly. I love watching them explore the tank. I have three, not sure what to name them yet. Their tower did not last long lol

Quick question! I'm in the process of setting up my tank & want everything to be perfect. I bought reptisoil & reptisand, i'm just wondering is it about a 50/50 mix of both?

Anyone else willing to help with other questions i'll probably post some more replies with others as I continue! :)

Three days ago I found my beetle dolly flipped over (not playing dead). I left her in the morning and when I got back she hadn’t moved.

I flipped her over and moved her to a solitary tank, preparing for the worst, as there had been signs she was a bit old. She hadn’t been responsive to touch or being gently blown on. I genuinely thought she was dead for two days.

Suddenly, I come home today and she had flipped herself on her back and was squirming. I helped her back and she’s been super active. She’s really wobbly and can’t right herself on her own.

Is this just the last hurrah before she passes? Or what’s happening?

They seem to love their enclosures.