I have been keeping a male stag beetle (I live in southern Vietnam) that is about 6.4cm long, and as of today, it has been almost 4 days.
On the first day after being delivered (the delivery process was quite rough, so it was very stressed), it burrowed into the substrate and came up to eat in the evening. After eating a little, it became active and moved around the container continuously. I thought it might have smelled the female (I keep a female in a separate container but placed it next to the male's container), so I moved the female farther away, and it went back to eating and drinking normally.
On the second day, it was very active, moving around the container almost nonstop. It climbed around the corners (the plastic container) and didn't burrow. In the evening, it ate enthusiastically, and nothing unusual happened.
On the third day, it was still moving around actively but didn't eat anything when evening came, even though I had replaced the food with a fresh piece of banana. At first, I thought the fermented smell from the old food might have made it unable to locate the fresh one, so I cleaned the container, replaced the substrate, and deodorized it. After all that, it still chose to move around without eating anything.
On the fourth day, as of 10:00 AM, it still hasn't touched its food. I started to worry and gave it a few drops of diluted sugar water, which it drank (only a little). After that, I added a few pieces of oak bark to the container, and it started burrowing into the substrate next to the bark. It has been staying there until now, not eating or drinking anything, even though I have replaced the food with fresh items and provided diluted sugar water.
Should I be worried about this behavior? This is my first time having a stag beetle as a pet. I keep the substrate very moist and the temperature not higher than 28°c.
On the first day after being delivered (the delivery process was quite rough, so it was very stressed), it burrowed into the substrate and came up to eat in the evening. After eating a little, it became active and moved around the container continuously. I thought it might have smelled the female (I keep a female in a separate container but placed it next to the male's container), so I moved the female farther away, and it went back to eating and drinking normally.
On the second day, it was very active, moving around the container almost nonstop. It climbed around the corners (the plastic container) and didn't burrow. In the evening, it ate enthusiastically, and nothing unusual happened.
On the third day, it was still moving around actively but didn't eat anything when evening came, even though I had replaced the food with a fresh piece of banana. At first, I thought the fermented smell from the old food might have made it unable to locate the fresh one, so I cleaned the container, replaced the substrate, and deodorized it. After all that, it still chose to move around without eating anything.
On the fourth day, as of 10:00 AM, it still hasn't touched its food. I started to worry and gave it a few drops of diluted sugar water, which it drank (only a little). After that, I added a few pieces of oak bark to the container, and it started burrowing into the substrate next to the bark. It has been staying there until now, not eating or drinking anything, even though I have replaced the food with fresh items and provided diluted sugar water.
Should I be worried about this behavior? This is my first time having a stag beetle as a pet. I keep the substrate very moist and the temperature not higher than 28°c.
