Or use a hot needle to make several holes. When drilling the holes sand down sharp edges. Although will not crawl out easily, it will increase the evaporation of moisture, and make your substrate dry out quicker.

Don’t make too many holes and don’t make them too large. Make sure that you have some ventilation holes in the lid of the container to create an airflow. If a beetle larvae escapes, it will quickly dry out. Large beetle larvae are quite strong, and some otherwise may open a lid. For larger species, it is recommended that you take a container that has lids that can be locked (screwed lids or other locking mechanisms).

A lid keeps the humidity higher inside the enclosure. At least pick something that has a lid included. You can use something as simple as a plastic Tupperware container or deli container. For flower beetles, you can house them in one container. For them, it is best to house the larvae separately. This is especially useful when raising stag beetle and rhinoceros beetle larvae. You can house beetle larvae in a small plastic container. Never house stag beetle larvae together, they can be cannibalistic. For some flower beetles you can even house it all in one enclosure if the enclosure is large enough, and when the substrate is thick enough (more on that later). All you need is a plastic container and a suitable substrate. Raising grubs is quite easy when you have it set up right. Beetles have a quite long larval stage, where they mostly eat and grow in preparation for the metamorphosis into a beetle. We start with the care for beetle larvae - also called grubs. Next, we will look at beetle pupae, and we end discussing how to provide the best care for adult beetles.Ī typical life cycle of a beetles: eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults (photo by ) Caring for beetle larvae (grubs) First, we discuss the care for beetle larvae. I have split this care guide into three sections. The life-cycle of beetles exist of four stages: eggs, larvae (three growth stages), pupae and adult. In general, beetles are rather easy to keep and care for, although it is important to set up some aspects properly. Flower beetles are popular because of their colour, one more stunning than the other. Rhinoceros and stag beetles have gained its popularity because of its large size and strange shapes.

You can see this page as an umbrella guide discussing the most fundamental features of caring for pet beetles.įor practical reasons we can divide the more popular beetles into three main subgroups: Although some beetles have specific needs, many aspects can be generally applied. There are thousands of beetles in the world, and many of them are kept as a pet. On this page, we will discuss the general care for pet beetles.

Beetle & the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne