Chalcosoma atlas heating

Hypsibius

Hypsibius

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I was talking to some people over at BugNation about care for Chalcosoma atlas larvae. Given where this species is native to, I've heard it needs some form of heating. Given the weather where I am, this has not been much of a problem. However, during the colder months, I'll probably need some form of heating. I've been told heat mats are not suitable, as they can dry out the substrate and stress the larva out. Do you guys know of any alternative sources of heating I could use?

 
How cold does the place where you put ur larva get? If it's around 58 or higher, it should be fine.

 
I live in the south of England, so it possibly can get colder than that during the latter months of the year. We do have heating in my house though, so it might be fine. Unfortunately my larva died trying to pupate, but I'm now caring for another one. I'm just wondering what you guys do for your beetles and larvae during the colder months of the year.

 
The temperature here doesn't get too cold in the winter, but it does drop into the 40s and 50s in my room. I haven't had to heat any of my beetle larvae over the winter and they've survived, but they do seem to go through their substrate slower. One thing you need to be aware of is that most types of substrate constantly undergoes decay and that process can easily keep the substrate some degrees warmer than the surrounding environment.

If you find that you do need to heat your beetles, heating the house or the room they're in will work just fine--it'll also keep you from being too cold in the winter. You can also get a larger bin to place the larvae's bins into and fill the large bin with enough water to submerge an aquarium heater. It's like using a double boiler for cooking--it helps prevents whatever you're cooking from drying out and burning. This same idea can be used to heat enclosures without drying them out as much.

 
Ah, right. Hopefully it shouldn't get too cold in the room I keep my beetles in during that time. Your response was very helpful, thank you very much.

 
Today, I went to an exotic pet store around an hour or so from my house. I saw a cool tank manufactured by "Exo Terra". On the cover it showed several different scientific names of insects along with their pictures that could be housed inside. It was then that I saw the name Chalcosoma Atlas along with an accurate picture of it. I realized that I saw a topic of a forum on here about heating for that species so I decided to post. This mini terrarium looks like it doesn't take up much room. It is glass with two doors and a lock on it. It also comes with a heated light as well as some coco fiber, a fake plant, and hygrometer. I was going to buy it until I realized it goes for $150.00. I'm sure there is a cheaper one on the Internet.

 
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