avacockroach
L1
Hello, my name is Ava! I am 19 living in Southern California and brand new to keeping beetles, but I have lots of other reptiles and creepy crawlies so I am not entirely new to keeping these kinds of pets! I have watched hundreds of Youtube videos in anticipation for receiving my larvae, but I wanted advice from experts that I could ask questions to and such. On June first I am getting a L2-L3 Goliathus orientalis presessi larvae I ordered from James's Beetle Farm and I am soooo excited for my baby and eventually intend to breed this species and maybe branch out to a few more. I am unbelievably excited to get into beetles. I have a few questions to make sure I'm set for my baby!
1) How often should I change the substrate? I know doing it too little can make them sick and too often can stress them out and stunt their growth, but I have not got an exact number from any of the videos. Once every two weeks? Once a month? I am happy to do anything needed as often as possible to make sure my baby is as happy as can be I just need the proper guidance to do so.
2) I've seen a few people recommend you spray them down with a gentle mist to remove mites, is that generally safe or might it be too stressful?
3) Is normal, water soaked dog food okay to feed them? I have lots of dogs and I was going to feed my larvae various kinds of the dog foods I have on top of some soaked koi food but I didn't know if just the dog food was okay or not. My Madagascar hissing roaches eat that dog food like candy, but they're such garbage disposals I wanted to make sure I had the best for my larvae. Do they need gel as larvae? I haven't seen that mentioned either, just that lots of protein is good for them. Can I give them steak or chicken, or cooked egg? That might be a dumb question but I regularly have cooked chicken for my elderly dogs and scrambled eggs for my rats for protein and I was wondering if the beetles could have that in moderation. As far as I've heard, the more protein the better and I am happy to literally cook for this larvae if it will be happier as such. I plan to feed every 3-4 days, but if I feed unique options should I change that out sooner? And will that impact how often I should change the substrate?
4) I need all the help I can get when it comes to the pupa. I know when they look more yellow and chunky they're getting ready, but I wasn't entirely sure what all the signs are and I would love advice on that. And, I've heard that as a beginner maybe I should just leave them and wait for a natural emergence rather than risking disturbing the pupating larvae? What is the timeline on that and what should I expect? I wanted expert's best advice.
5) Is there anything extra special I need to know or should expect specifically for Goliathus orientalis presessi? I know they are more protien demanding which is why I was asking about the protein options, but otherwise information is pretty limited on them so I have been watching vidoes on Goliath Beetles as a whole. I just wanted to know if there were any extra tips or advice experts with that species could give me?
Sorry for asking so much, I want to be the best pet keeper I can and I feel a big part of that is doing proper research. I am happy to take any and all advice and discussion for this! I am a sponge ready to soak up all advice anyone has for me, I just want to do what is best for my baby and I am willing to do whatever that takes even if it means scrambling an egg every day like I do for my rats. Thank you so much for your time!
1) How often should I change the substrate? I know doing it too little can make them sick and too often can stress them out and stunt their growth, but I have not got an exact number from any of the videos. Once every two weeks? Once a month? I am happy to do anything needed as often as possible to make sure my baby is as happy as can be I just need the proper guidance to do so.
2) I've seen a few people recommend you spray them down with a gentle mist to remove mites, is that generally safe or might it be too stressful?
3) Is normal, water soaked dog food okay to feed them? I have lots of dogs and I was going to feed my larvae various kinds of the dog foods I have on top of some soaked koi food but I didn't know if just the dog food was okay or not. My Madagascar hissing roaches eat that dog food like candy, but they're such garbage disposals I wanted to make sure I had the best for my larvae. Do they need gel as larvae? I haven't seen that mentioned either, just that lots of protein is good for them. Can I give them steak or chicken, or cooked egg? That might be a dumb question but I regularly have cooked chicken for my elderly dogs and scrambled eggs for my rats for protein and I was wondering if the beetles could have that in moderation. As far as I've heard, the more protein the better and I am happy to literally cook for this larvae if it will be happier as such. I plan to feed every 3-4 days, but if I feed unique options should I change that out sooner? And will that impact how often I should change the substrate?
4) I need all the help I can get when it comes to the pupa. I know when they look more yellow and chunky they're getting ready, but I wasn't entirely sure what all the signs are and I would love advice on that. And, I've heard that as a beginner maybe I should just leave them and wait for a natural emergence rather than risking disturbing the pupating larvae? What is the timeline on that and what should I expect? I wanted expert's best advice.
5) Is there anything extra special I need to know or should expect specifically for Goliathus orientalis presessi? I know they are more protien demanding which is why I was asking about the protein options, but otherwise information is pretty limited on them so I have been watching vidoes on Goliath Beetles as a whole. I just wanted to know if there were any extra tips or advice experts with that species could give me?
Sorry for asking so much, I want to be the best pet keeper I can and I feel a big part of that is doing proper research. I am happy to take any and all advice and discussion for this! I am a sponge ready to soak up all advice anyone has for me, I just want to do what is best for my baby and I am willing to do whatever that takes even if it means scrambling an egg every day like I do for my rats. Thank you so much for your time!