Twilightpaladin

I broke down and bought a 2ds while it was on sale since I hadn't planned on fooling around with any other games, but hadn't really played since diamond and pearl, and that was nearly seven years ago. I missed the train with X and Y which people told me I would like. An they were right, the newest generation gives a new feel. I already think I've gotten my money's worth for both the game and the handheld. And Bill, make sure she hangs on to her pokemon cards, some day they'll be worth enough to pay for her college. Why, I've been sitting on mine for nearly fifteen years and and some of them are worth almost a nickel.

Probably a silly question, I kind of wonder about the general age group that are interested in this hobby as it seems generally to be a mix. Thought I'd ask and see if there are any other goobers who picked up the new Ruby or Sapphire and would be willing to trade pogeymans or battle or anything. Hope I didn't just oust myself as the only goober here.

This blog is pretty impressive, wish I had turned it up sooner on google, Thank you.

Since I'm so new, I'm honestly a little hesitant to try and make my own substrate, and even if I did, I don't really have access to the hardwoods needed for D. Granti. I saw that bugsincyberspace sells substrate, but it was hard to tell exactly how much was in the box, and more importantly I'm curious as to how much I would need for an adult mating pair. Then I figured I would need another batch suitable for raising grubs. Would it make sense to keep the male and female in a tank with the good substrate for egg laying purposes and then move the adults to some potting soil in a display tank after? I apologize for the questions, I'm a little scatterbrained at the moment and excited at the thought of having some beetles of my own in the near future.

Well I don't exactly have any suitable substrate pre-prepared, Suppose some of the organic potting soil would work? It appears to have a decent mix of dingy wood bits and such.

Are you set up somewhere specific like a park, or did you just lay out a sheet in the backyard?

I was out weeding around a poor abused young grape plant, and I dug up a little white grub. Remembering you guys singing praises of those little plastic cups, I went in to the house to grab one to scoop it up in. I'm fairly certain that it is just the grub of a pesky june bug, But I was wondering if you fine folks could tell me anything more about feeding it. I made sure to take some of the dirt it was grubbing around in, as well as some bits of roots from the weeds, which I have always been told that they eat. However, I looked online and it mentions that it's the adults that do the damage to the crops. So I guess what I'm asking is if it even needs food as a larvae and if so, what I should be feeding my captive. Thank you in advance all.

Pardon my ignorance, but I'm relatively close and curious as to whether "exotic pets" includes any kind of live beetle, or if it is limited to reptiles and the occasional tarantula as I expect.

Well I knew that the larvae needed small individual containers, but I wondered about the size for a breeding tanks, and I guess individual tanks for the adults as well if they need to be kept that way.

Did you catch those yourself or purchase them?

The darkling beetles are interesting, but I don't think they're quite what I'm looking for. Lucanus Elaphus is gorgeous however. What size tank is the best for either the Lucanus or Dynastes? And am I correct in thinking that they are in need of one tank for living in and one for the female to lay eggs in to later be moved to small plastic cups? Or can you simply retrieve them from the tank the adults are living in? I'm sorry for all the simplle questions, I'm sure this is probably redundant, but I'm looking for reassurance.

So, I'm interested in getting started in the hobby, hopefully in time for the summer, which I gather is the most active time for beetle keeping. However, I'm not exactly sure where I should start and what I am in need of to set-up. I was just hoping that some of you may be able to suggest something or link some literature to me since information seems to be fairly sparse on the internet, which was surprising to me. I'd also like to begin with a family of beetles that is relatively hardy. I had hoped to eventually rear Dynastes, but I don't know that they are a good type to begin with.

I wondered about that, because I've read on here a lot about you guys going out grub hunting, but I wondered where it is you guys are able to take them from without interfering with park laws or trespassing. Is it something you just disregard and hope you don;t get caught doing, or are the laws here in California more strict?

So then. what is the best time of year to start looking for beetles or larvae on this forum? And which would be easier to start with?

Hello all, I'm brand new to the hobby as a whole but I remember fondly flipping over rocks and brickwork to count beetles and isopods in the summer. Anyways, the idea of keeping and rearing invertebrates seems fascinating. So, I guess I'll be reading up and lurking on the forums for now until the season comes in for Granti or Tityus. Then I guess I'll move on to asking stupid questions and hoping you all are kind enough to answer.