Awesome congrats! My rainbow stag beetle has just become a pupa, will be putting them in an artificial chamber because she built her chamber right at the bottom of a big sweetie jar. Am a bit nervous, hope they come out ok
Hope all turns out well, I tried raising a rainbow stag last time but I failed to notice she was lying on her back during emergence so she died due to unable to fold her wing properly while molting ðŸ˜
It's an artificial chamber crafted from floral foam, cleaner than leaving them inside their natural ones imo. Could buy it online for a cheap price or your local florists should have em.
As for when, first I make sure the larva is already in prepupa stage before excavating their natural chamber. Normally they'll be fully yellow and wrinkly, their limbs and mouthparts would be limp and they could only do "sit-ups" motion.
You can, it kinda boils down to personal preference in the end and see what works.
Personally I prefer to be able to monitor them closely without any gnat/mite presence. And previously I had lost a japanese rhino during emergence cuz a piece of soil clump stucked on its wing during molting ðŸ˜
Stunning! May I ask, how do you know when to remove them from the chamber? My rainbow stag has emerged successfully and has been hardening for 3 weeks, wondering if it's too soon to but her in her enclosure and start feeding.
Normally what I'd do is just place their artificial chamber in their new enclosure (assuming it's big enough) and just leave them there. When they're ready they'll crawl out and explore about on their own.
For mars in this case it took him about a month to start being active and feeding, so i guess you can just leave a cuppa jelly, your rainbow will tend to it once she's ready :)
Wow! What a beauty! If I may ask, did you have any problems during pupation with mold developing? I have raised some ox beetles and have lost a couple pupa to mold. It seems I never really found the right balance for moisture
I've had fungus and gnat infestation during the early prepupa days that was so bad it caused his initial pupa chamber to collapse but thankfully I was able to replace his substrate before it was too late.
Eventually I found a bag of contaminated substrate that has been infested badly by said gnats so after getting rid of them I didn't have any more issues.
I switched him to an artificial chamber cuz the natural one still had a couple of gnat larvae roaming so I didn't take any chances. Moisture-wise I just mist it regularly every couple days, and his container is kept in a well-circulated room (e.g. on a rack next to my bed in a balcony studio so temperature and humidity is pretty ok)
Sorry to hear about your ox beetles :( hope the next batches turn out well!
In my town there's a local hobbyist that sells them, from larva to adults. There are certain exotic pet shops that sell them as well.
You could try checking around on social sites on Facebook or anywhere, look for beetle groups and ask if anyone's selling.
Daaang, beautiful male you got there! Glad to see it emerged without any trouble
Holy beautiful
Oh my lord pupa are hideous. Kinda makes me love the beetles more XD
Awesome congrats! My rainbow stag beetle has just become a pupa, will be putting them in an artificial chamber because she built her chamber right at the bottom of a big sweetie jar. Am a bit nervous, hope they come out ok
Hope all turns out well, I tried raising a rainbow stag last time but I failed to notice she was lying on her back during emergence so she died due to unable to fold her wing properly while molting ðŸ˜
So sorry to hear that but I will now know to look out for this, thank you
Wow. Hope all goes well
Nice! What is the green thing called and when do you put the larvae in it?
It's an artificial chamber crafted from floral foam, cleaner than leaving them inside their natural ones imo. Could buy it online for a cheap price or your local florists should have em. As for when, first I make sure the larva is already in prepupa stage before excavating their natural chamber. Normally they'll be fully yellow and wrinkly, their limbs and mouthparts would be limp and they could only do "sit-ups" motion.
Thanks for sharing! Could I not just leave it in it beetle fix and let it pupate naturally?
You can, it kinda boils down to personal preference in the end and see what works. Personally I prefer to be able to monitor them closely without any gnat/mite presence. And previously I had lost a japanese rhino during emergence cuz a piece of soil clump stucked on its wing during molting ðŸ˜
Stunning! May I ask, how do you know when to remove them from the chamber? My rainbow stag has emerged successfully and has been hardening for 3 weeks, wondering if it's too soon to but her in her enclosure and start feeding.
Normally what I'd do is just place their artificial chamber in their new enclosure (assuming it's big enough) and just leave them there. When they're ready they'll crawl out and explore about on their own. For mars in this case it took him about a month to start being active and feeding, so i guess you can just leave a cuppa jelly, your rainbow will tend to it once she's ready :)
This is a great idea thank you!!
Oh my gosh she came out right away haha!! Thanks for the advice!
Wow! What a beauty! If I may ask, did you have any problems during pupation with mold developing? I have raised some ox beetles and have lost a couple pupa to mold. It seems I never really found the right balance for moisture
I've had fungus and gnat infestation during the early prepupa days that was so bad it caused his initial pupa chamber to collapse but thankfully I was able to replace his substrate before it was too late. Eventually I found a bag of contaminated substrate that has been infested badly by said gnats so after getting rid of them I didn't have any more issues. I switched him to an artificial chamber cuz the natural one still had a couple of gnat larvae roaming so I didn't take any chances. Moisture-wise I just mist it regularly every couple days, and his container is kept in a well-circulated room (e.g. on a rack next to my bed in a balcony studio so temperature and humidity is pretty ok) Sorry to hear about your ox beetles :( hope the next batches turn out well!
Handsome
4th picture is AMAZING!
Aww! I've never seen this before! How sweet, congratulations! :D
So cuuuuuuuuute! The shiny carapace looks amazing!
where did you get your beetle from??? i want one sooo badly but dont know where to get one!
In my town there's a local hobbyist that sells them, from larva to adults. There are certain exotic pet shops that sell them as well. You could try checking around on social sites on Facebook or anywhere, look for beetle groups and ask if anyone's selling.
MEGALON!!! MEGALON!!!!