Is it safe to buy beetles from Titanmonsterbeetleshop or RhinobeetleUK?

I think if you have a permit, it's going to be legal. Doing it illegally, and being caught, isn't going to be a fee, it's going to be a fine, and probably more.

 
Why would you pay a fine when you have a permit? Unless you bought something that you didn't get a permit for..

 
I'd think not, that's the point of a permit, there could be rules for importing, and you'd need to follow those, it's a subject I'm just guessing

at, I'll never go to the effort for a beetle permit, and they don't give them for Lepidoptera to hobbyists.

 
Importing beetles is going to require both permits from the USDA\APHIS and the FWS. Exotics (with the notable exception Goliathus species) are almost always going to require a containment facility. If you get permitted and have all the paperwork than there is no reason for you to be fined. Anything less than that is illegal and comes with serious consequences. Few individuals are able to fulfill the strict protocols legally, resulting in fairly widespread trafficking. I know a few individuals who have been permitted and imported successfully, but I can count them on one hand. Institutions with resources are more easily able to fulfill the necessities stipulated by USDA\APHIS, but having worked at a few of them, it's still not by any means easy. 

 
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I recently got into the hobby of native beetles and as I produced large amounts of flake soil I came into contact with tons of people working with crazy beetles, and after talking to them I came to a few conclusions:

1. The process of illegal imports is a much bigger deal than the keeping of the species itself. There are tons of people that keep them in the US apparently, and some of them are pretty open about it. Godshobby was selling rainbow stags on ebay for quite a while, and Underground reptiles even was selling exotic phasmids. Furthermore a lot of US keepers started their collections buying exotic beetles at reptile shows.

2. None of the foreign sellers offer any sort of quality guarantee or live arrival, because it is not feasible, and because of the hibernation of beetles, importing beetles often leads to drastically shorter life spans. I have not raised my chrysina yet, but from what I hear, many beetles have a hibernation phase where they should not be handled before they become active and eating. Foreign sellers that are exporting illegally will ship beetles in this state when they shouldnt be messed with because they do not make noise. Making noise in the box is a checkmate for getting packages seized. Obviously tossing and tumbling in the boxes does nothing great for them. As for grubs I would imagine the long transit time would also affect their health.

3. Because you are engaging in illegal activity and these sellers are abroad, they can easily screw you and you would be able to do nothing about it unless you want your crimes to be exposed as well. I have heard multiple horror stories of getting the wrong beetles without any warning or even recieving grubs that morph into a cheaper species of beetle months down the line.

Ultimately, illegal imports are something I would never recommend to anyone, but if you manage to find a REPUTABLE US seller that breeds him or herself instead of importing and flipping, you would be part of a relatively large group including those that have kept for over 10+ years and post about it on facebook groups openly. That being said I would imagine part of why they are so open with me is because I have been integrated into the reptile hobby for quite a while now and do not get involved in drama and also do not share their identifying info without their consent.

 
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goliathusdavid said:
Importing beetles is going to require both permits from the USDA\APHIS and the FWS. Exotics (with the notable exception Goliathus species) are almost always going to require a containment facility. If you get permitted and have all the paperwork than there is no reason for you to be fined. Anything less than that is illegal and comes with serious consequences. Few individuals are able to fulfill the strict protocols legally, resulting in fairly widespread trafficking. I know a few individuals who have been permitted and imported successfully, but I can count them on one hand. Institutions with resources are more easily able to fulfill the necessities stipulated by USDA\APHIS, but having worked at a few of them, it's still not by any means easy. 
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Do you know the names/numbers of all of the permits needed? Or perhaps a link? I feel that putting it here on the forum would make it at least somewhat easier for people to get them. Thanks!

 
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