Dynastes Tityus Housing Question

C

Camperjon

Egg
Hello! 

I haven't raised beetles before, but I purchased a D. Tityus grub a while ago and it's recently started to form its pupal chamber! 

I'm excited to have gotten to this point and now I'm just trying to figure out how to get ready for a shiny new, fully formed beetle! I have no breeding plans for it, but I was hoping someone might have a housing/size recommendation that could accommodate 1-2 of these lil guys (should I choose to buy another one down the road) 

I was planning on using the Eco Earth coconut substrate and sphagnum moss for bedding, as well as ordering beetle jellies for food. If anyone was any decoration recommendations or if there's anything else you think I should get ready, it'd be greatly appreciated! 

 
You can start off by putting the male and female in a container with damp sphagnum moss and beetle jellies. Once you witness mating you can put the female in the egg laying container. Since they are wild caught there is a chance the female mated already but if you want to increase the chance of getting eggs, this is the way to go. 

You would need a tub for the female to lay eggs in. You can a cheap container at Walmart. Drill around 5 small air holes on two sides of the container and some on the lid. About 7-10 inches of rotten wood substrate or organic potting soil with no perlite (which many on here don't agree with; I used it for years with no issues for egg laying.) You will need to pack the substrate down, not super hard but firm. Put some dead leaves and sticks on top of the substrate. This is because the female can flip over and not be able to get up leading to death. With something to grab on to she increases her survival rate. Don't forget to leave the female some jellies on top.

1-3 months later you can dump the substrate out and check for eggs. If the substrate was packed enough you will see large chunks of the substrate formed. You can break these apart and hope they will have eggs in them. From here the eggs should be put in their proper container with the right substrate. If you're having trouble finding substrate you can make your own. I have a link to my video below on how to make it. Some people get mold in the substrate so I recommend tumbling the sacs every day to keep the fermenting going. The summer heat is the perfect time for this. Make sure the mixture does not dry out. 



 
Thank you for all that info!!! I was't really looking to breed it however hahaha.

I was more just hoping for a nice display tank or terrarium recommendation? I was looking at a couple of the smaller exo terra enclosures but wasn't sure on what a good size for 1 or 2 of these guys would be. Would 12x12x12 be too small? And do those tanks have too much ventilation? I live in southern california so it can get very dry here, would a humidifier and an occasional spray bottle spritz make up for that?  

 
These guys don’t really need too much space. I used to use a small zoomed bug terrarium that was maybe 8x8x8. Coco fiber is good, but it dries out pretty quickly. If you have a screen lid I would recommend either putting some plastic over it, or getting a glass lid. A humidifier isn’t necessary, just keep the substrate moist. They will like to dig, so if they have too much you may not see them all that often. Something to hold your jelly cups would be helpful too, they tend to move them around. I don’t worry about decorating too much as they move everything around anyways...

 
Oh perfect, thank you @markjfisher! Any experience with Zoomed's creature soil? I think I found the bug terrarium you mentioned and it comes with a quart of that, so I'm thinking of switching the coco fiber out if that would work better!

And that's really good to know, I hadn't actually considered how much they'd be able to move everything around hahaha. I was actually looking for a jelly cup holder, but all the US sites I've found that would normally have them seem to be sold out. Would scooping out the jelly into a small food dish work, or is that just going to get jelly everywhere? 

 
I’ve never used the creature soil before, but it’s probably fine. As long as the stay hydrated they are usually pretty happy. I made a jelly holder by drilling a 1” or so hole into a small log that I found in my yard. Just big enough for the jelly to sit in it, but heavy enough they won’t take it too far. 

 
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