It was so satisfying to hear you say that you should only keep 3-5 beetles in a 10 gal. I don’t have any of these guys myself because I too struggle with the ethics of keeping wild caught, but when I got interested in them initially and first started reading care guides, they all said that you only needed about 1/2 gallons of space per beetle. I saw pictures of people who had 15-20 beetles living in a 10 gallon tank and it always seemed wrong to me. Glad to know that I was on to something.
Yeah, no it is definitely not wise because these guys when they have enough space essentially will begin to make it their "home". Now don't get me wrong, you will sometimes see in my 40g breeder like 2-3 clumped together, but they will also be very nomadic and exploratory. That being said, I know a LOT of people are in the process of captively breeding these guys, and ultimately all captive bred creatures start with wild caught and of course the more people that own them the faster we can learn how to populate their numbers (to an extent) but I don't sell these guys exclusively because I would rather buy them for myself to help propagate the species vs draining the species. So youre absolutely right.
Thank you for making this video and going over the cons to this beetle! I have 3 in a set up with a desert hairy scorpion- and now I know that all (including the DH scorpion) are wild caught (disappointingly). I wouldn't have bought any of these if I had been more aware so thank you for putting this out there. I should have been more diligent in my research before getting them- that's my bad. Please do videos on beetles that are adorable and easily captive bred! 😊😊 Thanks again for the honest video on these little babies!
Honestly, there will just be times when the only OPTION is wild caught. And in small amounts, wild caught arthropods are totally fine -- they lack the sentience of say reptiles, and keeping them actually saves them from a super brutal end 99.9% of the time. From a moral, ethical, or ecological stand point, I just personally disagree with wild caught arthropods, and I by no means am trying to make anyone feel bad about past purchases. But once you KNOW the information, Id only ask that people see why it can be hugely impactful to the world, and hope they'd consider other options. And as for the video, oh yes I will be doing a LOT of beetle content this year :)
dang that is unfortunate they are so difficult to breed! I got some of these guys from an expo here in Arizona for SO cheap it feels almost criminal now that I know the facts. I remember there were at least 3 different booths with an entire box of probably 100 beetles, sad to realize they were all wild caught based on their prices. Thanks for putting this information out there, all the prior resources I've seen were basically just "get them, they're great!" I mean, they are of course but I wish I had done more research on their origin. Ah well perhaps I can undertake a breeding project since I happen to live in their natural climate.
When you decide to begin breeding them, I will give you EVERYTHING you need in the world documents-wise to be successful, and will gladly buy the offspring from you ;)
10:33 almost sounding like clint from clints reptiles :D PS: 100% on your side with the taking to much creatures from the wild... it is ok to catch them in the wild untill some point it stops being ok... and most of the time you recognize this point only when you are long past it
I love them but I don't have any because its more cost effective and ethical to just do other similarly sized beetles, especially temperate beetles which are more suited to my local humidity. Other kinds of darkling beetles can be just as rewarding, but cheaper and captive bred. The blue looks cool tho
100% agree. In time, breeding will get easier as people find new ways to get creative with it, but until then there need to be more ethically acquired beetles people fixate on
The question with everything and issue with everything is this; if theyre popular, will their regular birth rate adding in the global climate increasing vs food scarcity exceed the demand of catching them out of the wild. EVERY EXPO, EVERY vendor who just sells arthropods sells these guys by the DOZENS, some companies by the hundreds. So it a problem now? Maybe not. Could it be? Yes. Should we continue to buy wild caught? No. Or at LEAST have a plan in place and with them? We dont.
hey man i got a question. so i own orthoporus ornatus aka desert millipede and i was wondering if blue death feigning beetles could live with them. they both seem to have similar requirements. what do you think?
Yeah I see no reason why you couldnt, just make sure you have actual soil but heres the biggest issue with cohabing these two: space. To cohab blue feigning death beetles, they need a LOT of width and length to not irritate and stress each other out but the orthroporus need 3x their length in soil depth and width. So your cage for a six inch millipede needs to be minimum 8-12 inches substrate depth (its a rule of thumb not 100% necessary) which means your cage needs to be like a 40g breeder minimum to house them all. But otherwise? Yeah go crazy with it, just make sure the substrate has tons of rotting wood and detritivore yummies
That depends entirely on them. If they're chillin on top of each other, then you should be fine. But general rule I would have about 5g per beetle as they LOVE exploring
It was so satisfying to hear you say that you should only keep 3-5 beetles in a 10 gal. I don’t have any of these guys myself because I too struggle with the ethics of keeping wild caught, but when I got interested in them initially and first started reading care guides, they all said that you only needed about 1/2 gallons of space per beetle. I saw pictures of people who had 15-20 beetles living in a 10 gallon tank and it always seemed wrong to me. Glad to know that I was on to something.
Yeah, no it is definitely not wise because these guys when they have enough space essentially will begin to make it their "home". Now don't get me wrong, you will sometimes see in my 40g breeder like 2-3 clumped together, but they will also be very nomadic and exploratory. That being said, I know a LOT of people are in the process of captively breeding these guys, and ultimately all captive bred creatures start with wild caught and of course the more people that own them the faster we can learn how to populate their numbers (to an extent) but I don't sell these guys exclusively because I would rather buy them for myself to help propagate the species vs draining the species. So youre absolutely right.
I appreciate your prospective.
Thank you!
Thank you for making this video and going over the cons to this beetle! I have 3 in a set up with a desert hairy scorpion- and now I know that all (including the DH scorpion) are wild caught (disappointingly). I wouldn't have bought any of these if I had been more aware so thank you for putting this out there. I should have been more diligent in my research before getting them- that's my bad.
Please do videos on beetles that are adorable and easily captive bred! 😊😊
Thanks again for the honest video on these little babies!
Honestly, there will just be times when the only OPTION is wild caught. And in small amounts, wild caught arthropods are totally fine -- they lack the sentience of say reptiles, and keeping them actually saves them from a super brutal end 99.9% of the time. From a moral, ethical, or ecological stand point, I just personally disagree with wild caught arthropods, and I by no means am trying to make anyone feel bad about past purchases. But once you KNOW the information, Id only ask that people see why it can be hugely impactful to the world, and hope they'd consider other options. And as for the video, oh yes I will be doing a LOT of beetle content this year :)
@@juicesarthropods Absolutely and I look forward to a great year of content!! 👍👍
dang that is unfortunate they are so difficult to breed! I got some of these guys from an expo here in Arizona for SO cheap it feels almost criminal now that I know the facts. I remember there were at least 3 different booths with an entire box of probably 100 beetles, sad to realize they were all wild caught based on their prices. Thanks for putting this information out there, all the prior resources I've seen were basically just "get them, they're great!" I mean, they are of course but I wish I had done more research on their origin. Ah well perhaps I can undertake a breeding project since I happen to live in their natural climate.
These guys cost around $20 each in the UK
When you decide to begin breeding them, I will give you EVERYTHING you need in the world documents-wise to be successful, and will gladly buy the offspring from you ;)
Luckily the captive breeding is becoming a lot easier. There's a group on Facebook where people are having moderate success!
Oooh which group? Thats so awesome to hear!!
10:33 almost sounding like clint from clints reptiles :D
PS: 100% on your side with the taking to much creatures from the wild... it is ok to catch them in the wild untill some point it stops being ok... and most of the time you recognize this point only when you are long past it
100% agree. And you dont even know how much of a compliment that is about Clint to me 🤣
I love them but I don't have any because its more cost effective and ethical to just do other similarly sized beetles, especially temperate beetles which are more suited to my local humidity. Other kinds of darkling beetles can be just as rewarding, but cheaper and captive bred. The blue looks cool tho
100% agree. In time, breeding will get easier as people find new ways to get creative with it, but until then there need to be more ethically acquired beetles people fixate on
Is the problem so severe? I mean that if they reproduce the mealworm way in the wild, there is no way they are going to get threatened.
The question with everything and issue with everything is this; if theyre popular, will their regular birth rate adding in the global climate increasing vs food scarcity exceed the demand of catching them out of the wild. EVERY EXPO, EVERY vendor who just sells arthropods sells these guys by the DOZENS, some companies by the hundreds. So it a problem now? Maybe not. Could it be? Yes. Should we continue to buy wild caught? No. Or at LEAST have a plan in place and with them? We dont.
hey man i got a question. so i own orthoporus ornatus aka desert millipede and i was wondering if blue death feigning beetles could live with them. they both seem to have similar requirements. what do you think?
Yeah I see no reason why you couldnt, just make sure you have actual soil but heres the biggest issue with cohabing these two: space. To cohab blue feigning death beetles, they need a LOT of width and length to not irritate and stress each other out but the orthroporus need 3x their length in soil depth and width. So your cage for a six inch millipede needs to be minimum 8-12 inches substrate depth (its a rule of thumb not 100% necessary) which means your cage needs to be like a 40g breeder minimum to house them all. But otherwise? Yeah go crazy with it, just make sure the substrate has tons of rotting wood and detritivore yummies
These guys are truly awesome. Nice video, Juice. Informative as always, you're not a green as you are cabbage looking 😆
Haha. Thanks mate. Yeah, I love em, just cant wait until we have a legitimate way to breed fhem.
I have 3 in a 2.5 gallon… is that ok?
That depends entirely on them. If they're chillin on top of each other, then you should be fine. But general rule I would have about 5g per beetle as they LOVE exploring