D. tityus larvae questions

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Betta132

L1
I'm hoping to catch some D. tityus to keep as pets, and I'm thinking of trying to raise any eggs I might happen to get. I'm not certain about it yet, so I'm here doing some research. I'll be poking around the site a lot, but I have some fairly specific questions to ask here.

First, I have an aquarium that's about 18" square. I assume this would be enough space for 20 or so larave? I see people putting entire batches of eggs in 10 gallon tanks, and, though I don't think I want to fill this to the brim with dirt, this would definitely have plenty of room.

Second, can adults and larvae be housed in the same enclosure? I'm going to put the adults in the aquarium when I get them, but I can move them to somewhere else if they would be an issue for the larvae. Alternately, I could divide the aquarium in half with a sheet of plastic, giving each group half of the space. I assume the adults would probably be dead of old age by the time the larvae got big and needed more room.

Third, how deep does the soil need to be for the females to lay eggs? Could I put just a few inches in whatever enclosure the females were in, to make it easy to locate the eggs?

Fourth, what soil is OK to use with the larvae? I know it has to be some ratio of soil/wood, and I know a lot of people use organic potting soil. Is perlite an issue in the soil?

Fifth, I know where some chunks of hardwood tree stumps are, probably pecans. They were rotting earlier in the year, but have since been sun-heated to the point that they're all dried out. If I got those chunks, put them on the sidewalk in the sun for a few days to be sure all the bugs left, and then re-soaked it, would that be good to use? I know a lot of people sterilize their ingredients, but I'm pretty sure putting already-dry chunks of rotting wood in blazing Texas sun would either chase out or kill any straggling pests, and might hopefully leave some beneficial fungal spores and such intact.

Sixth, is cat food OK instead of dog food? My family doesn't have dogs, but we have cats.

Seventh, am I right that larva care consists of "put in specific dirt, keep moist, occasionally mix in dog/cat food, replace soil when there's too much poo, do not disturb, and wait"? They don't seem like difficult creatures to raise.

And, unrelated to the above, is a batch of eggs from a major male more likely to result in majors? Does anyone know if there's a genetic link at all, or if it's just "roughly X percent of any given batch develops into majors"?

Edit: Is it possible to keep beetle larvae with other insects, say something that doesn't burrow at all and isn't predatory?

Also, if I put a couple of deer bones in the soil, would the larvae benefit from having something to chew for calcium? Might try this just to see if they do anything about it.

 
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1) Should be fine. I just don't house larvae together, but its personal preference.

2) No point, try and keep everything separate.

3) About 7-10 inches of substrate. I had some females of rhino beetle species lay eggs in 3 inches of substrate believe it or not. If they like the substrate, they will lay eggs.

4) Organic potting soil for them to lay eggs, could transplant larvae into more expensive/protein rich substrate late L1-L2.

5) Post some pics of the log.

6) Never tried cat food, only dog food.

7) You don't need to keep the soil soaked or overly watered. You will end up with mold. People always think that the substrate needs to be wet but if its damp, you could leave it like this for weeks before spraying again. With trial and error, you will get use to the water cycle. They don't need dog food until later larval stages.

Yes, if the male parent is a major, there is a good chance the offspring will be majors. Although you need to keep them well fed with good substrate to help aid in that process.

No point in keeping any other insects with larvae, just let them grow in peace.

No deer bones, they won't benefit from it.

 
Thanks for the advice!

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It's not really a log any more. A lawnmower (I think?) ran it over and crunched it mostly into bits, which is why it's all dried out now. I saw it when it was fresh, and it was nice and soft, easily pulled apart by hand. Still pretty easy to pull apart now, even dried. The stump must have been in good bug-food condition at one point, it's full of thumb-sized tunnels.

I have a potting mix that's made of, according to the bag, "processed forest scraps, coir, perlite, and compost". It's organic, and it's heavy on the wood, but it looks and feels about like natural plant-bit-heavy soil. I think it'd be good for the beetles, but I'm worried about the perlite. Is that an issue at all? And would there be any point in running some dry hardwood leaves through something like a paper shredder and mixing them in? If you stick your hands in the soil, it feels a bit sharp, so I'm inclined to try and mix something soft into it. Leaves? Peat moss? A different brand of organic potting soil with less forest bits?

Good to know about the major males. I haven't managed to find any beetles, let alone a major, but still good to know.

 
The log looks good. Also, no perlite. I would try and find some without perlite. And yes, in every breeding container I use I try and incorporate leaves into it.

 
Has anyone here quantitatively tested whether perlite is indeed harmful to beetle larvae?  On and off, I've had some amount of perlite in my various beetle substrates for the past 25+ years, and never seen any evidence to suggest that it's harmful.  It may be a bit abrasive, but I'm not sure if larvae ever actually ingest it.  Theoretically, it shouldn't be any more dangerous than having a bit of sand (which is also a form of silica) in the substrate.

 
For the last few years, I have raised most of my larvae on a combination of Oak Leaf Mold (Oak leaves) and flake soil. Because I live in the city, it's not easy for me to gather oak leaves so I just buy these big bags of Oak Leaf Mold from a nursery. I was told about this from a friend who has raised M sleeperi and M punctulatus for over 20 years and he uses this product combined with decomposed wood. The Oak Leaf Mold contains perlite and it appears to not had any negative effect on my larvae. 90% of my larvae have turned into pretty large adults, adults that are larger than their parents. I'm no expert at this stuff, that's for sure, just reporting my own experience. I am now starting to use just flake soil and haven't noticed much of a difference. The thing that bothers me the most about perlite is when you have them in the egg laying bin, they look like eggs, so it's a sort of a hassle when you are looking for eggs.

 
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