How Do You Get Your Beetles Off Of You?

[Ratmosphere]

There are some beetles I own that will crawl all over you and go back into their enclosure without a problem. However, some of them will latch on to your skin with those hook like feet and refuse to come off and the more you try to get them to go back in their tank, the more they resist. It is frustrating, especially if you have things to do that day. I have tried to offer them some fresh banana slices or pieces of wood to crawl on but they insist that they stay on. I am then left to try and pry 6 legs off of me without trying to hurt it and it is very difficult. Once one or two feet come off I try to get some more off. Once I get those off, the original feet just latch back on. The end result is an hour of the day lost and a finger/hand full of small razor like bleeding slits. Anybody have some techniques of getting a nervous beetle off of you?

 

[Shade of Eclipse]

You can get them to move by touching the end of their abdomen or tapping the ventral end of their elytra. If they don't move, try tickling them on the underside from behind with something stiff--they generally react to it as if they're being attacked by a rival male and will turn around or run away. Use their movement as your chance to place something other than your own skin underneath them to grab ahold of.

If you're out of time, you can simply grab them with your index finger and thumb in a way that makes it so they can't grab ahold, pull them up away from your skin, and remove their tarsal claws from your skin one by one. Their tarsal claws are easily removed by pulling them out away from their body--pulling them upwards simply helps them hook their claws in. Try to remove the claws on one side first and angle that side of the body away from your skin so that it can't latch back on before doing the other side. You'll still end up getting minor scratches since their claws are designed to hold them onto their perches while they fight each other, but it should be better than just trying to pull a struggling beetle off.

 

[Bill Myers]

I usually just get a piece of bark or cork wood and put it in front of them and then gently try to coax them onto the bark or cork.

Cheers

 

[Ratmosphere]

Thank you so much guys.

 

[Satanas]

Hey Rat why can't i message you?

 

[Ratmosphere]

Disabled messenger.