[Peter Clausen]

I just realized I have a bunch of Pseudolucanus mazama larvae from the adults I collected this summer. The larvae appear to be L2 and growing quickly! I read that it is best to separate them, though I can see 8 larvae up against the side of the tank they share. At what instar does canniablism really become an issue?

What is the best source of protein to use? I have Beneful brand dogfood, but I'm open to suggestions!

[Orin]

Cannibalism isn't an instar issue, it's an issue of when they run out of food and space. Your cage is likely to have too little food for them to complete their development. You could try adding rotten logs and letting them complete their cycles but it's likely that even if you avoid most third instar cannibalism a straggler will end up taking out most of the pupae. I say give it a shot.
Beneful isn't that great for stags.

[Mashku]

Good luck, Peter !
Which Soil (Substrate) do you ust for it ?
I think to seperate breed is better for the Larvae, it is fewer stress.
Greetings,
Mashku.

[Peter Clausen]

Thanks Guys,

Orin had told me that this was one of the easier species of stags to raise, so I didn't put too much thought into the substrate, Mashku. I offered topsoil/compost (plain old dirt in a bag from a garden store with no small rocks, etc.). I mixed in some soft, decayed oak wood. I also buried a small log.

I did not realize that there were larvae at all, until I saw the L2's up against the container wall a couple days ago. Very exciting!

What protein source is recommended for this species in captivity?

I plan to separate them this weekend and am excited to see how many are in there!

[Mashku]

Lucanidae needs decayed wood (Oak,Beech...).
Some Lucanid breeders use 100% decayed wood flakes.
You can mix it with rotten Leafes from Oak, Beech.
Lucanidae like it damper, like Dynastidae to.
How many Larvae do you have ?
You can try the 100% Wood-Method with some of the Larva and
some with Leaf/Wood method the rest with your method.
I think dogfood is ok.

Do you have the Book from J. Lai "For the Love Rhino and Stagy 2nd ?
He(Lai) wrote about Flakesoil, i think its the best with Additive for Lucanidae.

Greetings,
Mashku.

[Peter Clausen]

Thank you for the information, Mashku!

I had 3 males and one female. When the adults were alive I only allowed one male in with the female at a time. Otherwise, the males would fight constantly. It was fun to watch and I took some video!

My single female produced 50+ larvae! I was very impressed and surprised by this number. Of course, she was wild caught as an adult in Arizona and I took pretty good care of her. They did eat nearly all the oak wood (and I did have some oak leaves buried too which are completely gone) I had buried in the adult tank/terrarium.

Tonight I separated all the ~thirty 2.5cm larvae (L2). I left the ~twenty 1cm larvae (L1) together until I can create more separate containers for them to go into.

Of the ~50 larvae I found, I accidently squished two as I dug through the substrate

I will have to make some better substrate very soon and I will make sure they are kept damp...thanks!

[Mashku]

Thats wonderfull, Peter.
Please show the Video !

Is it possible to get Larvae from the USA ?
Or can isend you Larvae, to the USA ?
(sorry for the off topic).

Greetings,
Mashku.

[Peter Clausen]

Sorry, but I do not exchange live materials over the US border (internationally). I wish I could, but I stopped in 2001.

[Mashku]

Hello Peter,
how are your Larvae, are they fine ?

[Peter Clausen]

Hi Mashku,

Thanks for asking! They are growing, yes. I have some news to report.

1 of 2 larvae tested nibbled on a piece of walnut.
1 of 1 larvae tested ate most of a piece of dried dog food.
4 or 5 larvae escaped the deli cups I had them in and drowned in the bottom of the plastic bin that held them.
10 larvae seem to have disappeared due to neglect . I think they substrate was too wet (the plastic bin had a lid and no holes).
I sold a few.
I still have a nice bunch of them growing well in middle to late L2. Somebody indicated that maybe they should be L3 by now, but I have kept them in my cold garage so I think they are a bit slow.

So, that's the news!

[Mashku]

Thanks, and the Video ?

Greetings,
Mashku.

[Peter Clausen]

Sorry but I don't have a video at this time. I have many hours of video on tape, but it takes a very long time to create each video I put on my YouTube account. I do have some of these stags on film, but it might be a year before I get around to putting the video on YouTube. The adults are now long dead, but the larvae are still doing well (larvae are not very intersting to watch on video )