soil?

[ratty]

I am raising an adult redish brown stag beetle and i need help with knowing if my substrate is alright. I mist my cage 3 times a day and a thin layer of soil is moist but when i checked his cage, the dirt under the thin layer of moist soil was flaky. I tried asking others opinions and i keep looking things up but nothing has popped up with an answer. My question is, is it ok if the soil is like that sense im not housing larvae or breeding. 

Before this he also seemed to "pass away" but when i put him in a tiny enclosure with moist soil so i could bury him, a few days later hes moving around freely. any thoughts? 

 

[jake7917]

I am raising an adult redish brown stag beetle and i need help with knowing if my substrate is alright. I mist my cage 3 times a day and a thin layer of soil is moist but when i checked his cage, the dirt under the thin layer of moist soil was flaky. I tried asking others opinions and i keep looking things up but nothing has popped up with an answer. My question is, is it ok if the soil is like that sense im not housing larvae or breeding. 

Before this he also seemed to "pass away" but when i put him in a tiny enclosure with moist soil so i could bury him, a few days later hes moving around freely. any thoughts? 

Pouring water into soil helps rather than spraying. What I usually do when I set up an enclosure with new substrate is thoroughly wet it all, then add it. It should be moist enough to hold its shape when squeezed, but water shouldn’t drip out. Once this moist, the substrate doesn’t need to be sprayed often, maybe every 2-3 days. 

When I had placidus, they tended to play dead a little bit. It wouldn’t be surprising if capreolus do the same. Maybe the lack of moisture causes it to not move in order to preserve water? I’m not too sure.

 

[ratty]

thank you so much! hes still thriving and alive! thank you so much for your help ))