Stag beetle help.

moldveien

moldveien

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So all my great beelte breeding friends on facebook is giving me conflicting adive. So how do i mate my stag beetles, Odontolabis stevensi, without the male killing the female? Please write detailed if you can
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Alright, so make sure they are both well fed. If you could, get two separate containers to keep them in. Only try to breed them when you're there to witness it. Be careful to monitor them and make sure the male does not hurt the female. If it isn't death, the female could lose her legs or claws. Once the deed is done you could put the female in the egg laying container.

 
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So after asking the seller these are wildcaught, and likleyhood is that female is already mated. Then my friend Paul Kaefer on facebook says they need what is called "red rot wood" which i cant find any examples of online :/

 
It is preffered anyway, but I have NO clue what it looks like! And what kind of tree it grows on usually, he said birch might be a good idea. I have read they dont require it but both masashi, and paul told me it would be best.

 
But what does red rot look like? do you have a picture? my breeding logs in there are birch right now it is like 2 diffrent colours a white and an orangy kinda colour. Of diffrent hardness.

 
I don't have any on me but I know a spot in the woods that has it. Whenever I go back I can take the picture.

 
If you have trouble finding red rot wood, I would recommend using very fermented wood/plant substrate. Treat it as a rhino beetle and keep the substrate slightly damper than you'd usually do. I don't have experience with this species but others in the genus and surrounding locality do well with this setup.

As for mating them, wild collected females are almost always fertilized. But if you have a healthy male, there is no reason not to mate them again to make certain of that. Keep both adults well fed for a few days. Stop feeding the female for one day to keep her slightly hungry but keep feeding the male. The next time you feed the female, she will concentrate on eating. Place the male on her back or in her proximity and they should start mating. You might want to do this on a log or some other surface that they have a firm grip on. It helps with them positioning themselves when mating. Just keep an eye on it as they do their business, keep tools on hand if you need to separate them. Do not leave them together without watching them. If all goes well, this should be done within 10-20 minutes, and they should be separated afterwards.

 
The female is way down in her egg laying tank, so i will just let her oviposit in the box and pray for Masashi being right in her being fertalized
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Daniel Ambhuel's channel, and from the seller, of course his english is abit broken so can't always be sure what he means but pretty sure he said i should use logs.

 
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moldveien said:
Daniel Ambhuel's channel, and from the seller, of course his english is abit broken so can't always be sure what he means but pretty sure he said i should use logs.
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yeah no, odontolabis larvae do not feed on white rotten wood, they are more similar to Dynastinae larvae where they prefer wood that has decayed till it is dark brown in color, some people think that adding logs into the substrate will stimulate the female to lay more eggs but she will never touch the log. Me and people i know have breed odontolabis with setups like rhino beetles, with pure flake soil. any odontolabis larva given kinshi or white rotten wood as main substrate will definitely perish.

 
Please rewatch his videos, none of them were inside the wood, they were in the surround substrate beside the wood. But hey what do I know? Why don't you try raising them on 100% white rotten wood and see how that works out for you.

 
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