Something weird- sand substrate sticking to beetle mouthparts?

Trailblazr80

Trailblazr80

Pupa
I wouldn't say this is exactly a health issue, but I've noticed grains of sand from substrate sticking to my ironclad beetles mouthparts. This is only happening with these beetles, not my others, and they all have similar substrate- about 60% sand, 40% eco earth. Actually, the ironclads is more like 60 coconut, 40 sand. The substrate is dry. Can this harm them? I actually wiped some off of one!

 
If allot of sand accumulates, the beetles mouthparts can get stuck and it will slowly starve. A few grains is fine, but if it gets worse you should probably change the substrate to just eco earth. Hope this helps!

 
Hisserdude said:
If allot of sand accumulates, the beetles mouthparts can get stuck and it will slowly starve. A few grains is fine, but if it gets worse you should probably change the substrate to just eco earth. Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I changed them tonight. It's interesting because I found them in sandy dirt. I'm wondering if it could be the banana I was giving them. Maybe the stickiness caused the sand grains to stick? It doesn't happen with the other beetles, but I'm going to test it out.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top