Organic Soil VS Coconut Fiber

[Ratmosphere]

This section is only for male and female adult beetles.

Which one of these two are the best to use when housing an adult pair or stag or rhinoceros beetles?
Would coconut fiber even be a good filler to use for adult males to mate with the female to lay eggs?
I ask only because I have a few pairs of adult beetles that almost always remain burrowed in organic soil and never come out.

 

[Shade of Eclipse]

Store-bought organic soil composition varies greatly depending on where it's produced. I personally don't trust organic soil since can contain various additives as well as potentially harmful organisms and disease-causing agents.

Coconut fiber works for some types of rhinoceros beetles for oviposition, but it does nothing for the larvae. If you need filler in your substrate for oviposition, you've probably made up too little proper substrate to adequately feed the larvae. It would be in your best interest to make a large amount of the right type of substrate. Some types of rhinoceros beetles are extremely picky about the type of substrate they oviposit in and will refuse poorly-made mixes. Do not add filler to your substrate.

Recently emerged adults will remain burrowed for a while until they're ready to come out to feed and mate. If they don't eat and show no interest in mating, you're just stressing them out by digging them up.

If they are already feeding, they're probably just coming out and being active at night and may have already mated. Mated females will remain burrowed to lay eggs and will come out only when they're hungry.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Thank you so much man. Even with various cycles of heat treating organic soil will still be poor to use ? I did it so many times I had to rehydrate it with water due to it drying out so much.

 

[GeneralZero]

Honestly if you're looking for a filler just utilize a bit of soil from outside. The ones near trees is an excellent source, especially the soil under a lot of rotted leaves. Heat treat it once and it should be good to go. It'll also aid in humidity by soaking up more water. But as Shade said nothing beats a good mixture of proper wood and leaf mix. You have to remember that females want to ensure a next generation of strong healthy offspring, so if the rearing container is filled with unsuitable substrate or "foreign" materials the female will most likely not lay or lay poorly. If I may ask what species are you breeding specifically?

 

[Ratmosphere]

I have Dynastes Tityus pairs now. Also, some Phalacrognathus Muelleri.

 

[Shade of Eclipse]

If you're trying to breed Phalacrognathus muelleri, you need to focus on providing them with large pieces of rotten wood that are just soft enough to shred with your fingernails.

The soil won't be important as they're not a soil-dwelling species. Just provide them with substrate composed completely of shredded rotten wood and bury a few large pieces of rotten wood for them to chew into to oviposit.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Yes sir, I have some already in collection. I need to search for larger logs in my woods to have an abundance of white rotten wood. Thank you for all of the help guys.