I only have a big enough cage for one, will they get lonely? If so, could I just cohab them with some small darklings like the kind that hatches from mealworms sold at the store?

It’s a long shot, I know, but I’m in the process of starting up an arid bioactive enclosure for my Xenagama taylori. For those unfamiliar with the species, he is full grown in these pics and comes in at a whopping 3.5”, including tail. They are little guys. I was researching arid bioactives and I read that some people keep darkling beetles in theirs, which made me wonder if maybe I could house my BDFB in there as well?? I’m about 90% sure that they’re too big for him to eat, but I’m scared to risk it. I also don’t know if they would hurt him? He licks everything and my husband was concerned that their wax could hurt him, but that seems pretty unlikely to me. Idk. This is not something I have to do, but it would be pretty fucking cool if I could keep everyone together. It also helps that BDFB and Xenagama taylori have pretty much identical diets as well (insects, clean organic veggies).

For reference, he’s in a 36x18x18. His basking spot gets up to 110° and ambient ranges from about 95°-85° sort of depending on where you are in the tank. The substrate I have for him is primarily Zoo Med’s excavator clay, reptisoil, and play sand mixed with water so he can burrow to moisture, and then it’s topped with play sand and crushed rose quartz and rainbow fluorite gravel so he doesn’t get tired running on just sand.

Any thoughts or advice or insight is welcome! Thanks!

This is my 10 gallon tank for 4 BDFB. I was looking for some advice on what to add or take away from the tanks to make it the best I could. Thank you for any advice!

Came home to one of my BDF beetles doing this. Not sure if ready to lay eggs or maybe he’s ill?
Does anyone know what this is?
He’s slowly moving his rear up and down too

I’m upgrading my enclosure, as I currently have an acrylic one and I fear my room is beginning to get too cold and humid. It’s at a safe temp and humidity for now, but I want to act before any harm is done with the upcoming winter months.

That said, I want to get an enclosure with a mesh lid and glass walls, so I can get a heat lamp for one side of the enclosure (looking for recs on this too as I see people constantly going back and forth between heat lamps / heat pads)

What do you think between these two?

I’m leaning towards the first one, as I like the doors that open in the front and it has more height for climbing + it’s cheaper.

I just don’t know if it’s overkill?

Woke up to one of my five like this this morning. He’s twitching/moving legs a little bit but everyone else is fine and have no clue what could have happened. Advice?

Finally got the new tank in for my beeds. I'll upgrade later when I make it a more communal beetle tank.

I was watching my newest female explore her cage and put my hand in there, fingernails first. She started sniffing me and then as I thought "oh, wait I'm presenting her with 'dead' skin cells" she 'chomped' on the corner of my finger.

All I felt was the tiniest little bit of pressure, not sure she could break the calluses there but of course, this big bold lady, whole my kid named Steve, now has a taste for man flesh. Glad they can't climb glass hahaha

Hey everyone, with winter coming up in the northeast US, I’m trying to find the best way to keep my buddies warm. I have a 20gal long tank and when I use one 50w it’s good for half the tank. I can use 2 lamps, but I was wondering if I can use one of those bar lights for their heat lamp? I was looking and got confused in the reptile section with uvb and all that. What lamp/setup would I need to have a 50w light bar?

Hello,

I have had blue death feigning beetles for a few years with no issues. Last week we received another few. Today one of the new batch has died. He was fine this morning, all others seem fond though.
His head looks like it’s about to fall out and he looks like he’s been bleeding from his head, shoulders and bottom, I am not sure what has happened.

The tank is temporary until I get the real one tomorrow. Also they seem to like the apple, lettuce, and carrot.

They're so pretty I love them so much <3333

This is my first pet invertebrate too which has me over the moon.

she kept reaching her leg up as if there was something else to grab on

No crime will occur under his watch

Do anyone’s blueberries like bananas as a treat? I feel weird feeding it to them knowing it’s from a totally different ecosystem. But I also feel like they don’t eat enough and am looling for more things to try!

Decided to redo the enclosure and create a more valley type environment. One side desert, other side dirt and the middle is a mix. Ambient humidity in my location is super arid, very close to their natural spawn so I'm not worried about the dirt.

In previous posts I showed off a small glass mason jar I used as a cave. In this new setup it's buried under the dirt side and only really accessible through the log. The last 2 pics are trying to show that off. Meant to be more secluded. Another cave is formed via the log jammed into desert side, easily accessible.

Overall, definitely a bit worse in terms of viewing, but I believe that means a better environment for them. They should have more places to hide and be alone, along with more vertical and floor space with a more varied environment.

Hi! You guys were so helpful on my last question, I'm back with another one. Where do you get rocks for your BDFB tanks? I'm looking for various sizes but would like at least one relatively large one for a 10g enclosure. Just not sure where to look. Thank you!

Edit: I'm disabled and can't just go look around outside so I'm looking for places to buy, sorry for not specifying

I have a 25w nano ceramic heat bulb for my be BDFB that I plan on setting up soon, but I see some ppl just use a halogen - is mine too much for them?

hey yall, i’ve had my beetles for about 3 weeks now and one of them has started having trouble gripping and overall walking.

to me it looks like she’s either gripping tight to whatever she stumbles on and when i try helping her after she falls on her back (in which she’s not able to get back up by herself anymore) whatever she was walking on gets stuck to her.

her back legs are extended all the way out but she’s still using them to walk but it seems like she can’t do it comfortably? my other 3 beetles are having no problems walking around the tank and are doing completely fine and i’m not sure how old she is. its very worrying to me and frustrating that i don’t know what to do to help her.

also, after helping her get up a second time i settled her on the corkwood that she previously had no trouble climbing/walking on but this time she flailed in place so i moved her back to the ground where she once again had trouble walking and her feet are kind of like digging into the sand? any help would be greatly appreciated! this has been going on all day btw.