Found out a nearby facility will be putting down pesticides this friday, and their area used to be absolutely covered in carabus beetles (I've counted over 40 one night in the spring while all the worms were coming out onto the sidewalks) so I got permission to gather some.
These are my first pet insects (that weren't obtained as feeder food) so I'm not entirely positive what I'm doing. I've got a bunch of questions. Let me know if I should separate these into their appropriate forums instead, I thought that since there were so many that it would fit a bit better as a general discussion.
Enclosure/housing:
1) What kind of soil should I be using?
I've found two consistency choices where I've gathered the beetles; "mud"-ish/potting soil consistency, and old bark chip/potting soil consistency
2) How much space do they need?
They don't seem to wander much at all when they have easily accessable food.
3) How much digging room should I provide?
I've only seen them dig directly under objects, or maybe up to ~2cm deep, will the females end up digging deeper if they want to lay?
4) What can/cannot be in their container? Would anything potentially eat carabus eggs? A couple things were already found in the soil; Other insects found in soil (and removed): Young isopods, Very tiny snails, small rove beetles, pot worms
Other insects known to be nearby: Huntsman, small millipedes, small centipedes, banana slugs, smaller ground beetles, mosquitos, earthworms
5) Based on the areas I've found them, they love humidity. Is there anything I can do or add into the enclosure that would prevent mold from growing?
Food:
6) Would they eat small dubia roaches?
7) Will they cannibalize? (seems easier to keep a few together so they can work together on finishing off huge earthworms)
8) Are there any food items I should never give them? (will only be offering vegetables, fruit, and insects...would anything possibly cause problems? Like citrus or onion?)
9) Are there any general "safe" foods other than carrot?
Breeding/Egg laying:
10) Would a small enclosure prevent a female from laying?
11) Are they a species that will suddenly decide not to lay (or abort) if they can't find a suitable lay site?
12) Would a female beetle act different if she is gravid or close to laying?
13) Are eggs laid one at a time, or in a cluster? (can't seem to find any pictures to get an idea of what to look for)
14) Will the beetles eat their eggs?
General:
15) Any idea on life span?
16) Will they need to do some form of brumation?
Right now they're being kept in seperate tupperware containers, with tiny plastic hides and soil gathered from the same area that the beetles had been found. I've also gathered a couple dozen isopods from the same area, and have a few of the smaller ones in with each of the beetles to help keep down waste. They're being offered earthworms, crushed dog food (the isopods love it) and some bell pepper (which the beetles appear to love, but have issues chewing?)
I'm not entirely sure if the soil itself is very safe to use. I was told that no pesticides had been used yet, but of course there are other bugs in it. It's possible some of the bugs I've listed being around/in the soil have laid eggs in it, there are some white specks in some of the soil that looks like bits of sand.