Phileurus truncatus care

[Andy365]

I would like to know how to care for them, since I am going to be receiving them soon.

[Ratmosphere]

Since larvae are usually found in the cavities of trees or even logs, you might want to provide them a substrate composed of organic gardening soil, heat treated rotting leaves, and fermented rotting wood flake. In their containers, try and put more rotting wood flake than organic gardening soil but at the same time balance it out the best you could. Imago could be housed in a terrarium filled with sphagnum moss. Once you witness mating, you can move the females in a large container filled with compressed substrate, the same recipe as the larvae, along with a rotting log submerged in it. Adults can eat insects.

[Satanas]

I was actually taught by Lucanus when I was trying to breed these that egg yolk is one of the best foods for them. Fruit and jellies should be avoided since these beetles are primarily carnivorous.

[Bill Myers]

I had some Phileurus valgus beetles a few years ago which are quite similar. I fed them dog food along with Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica) and May Beetle (Phyllophaga species) grubs which are quite abundant in my yard and garden. I had not heard about feeding them egg yolks, but that's an awesome idea since when winter came around, I was hard pressed to find grubs for them to chow down on.

 

I seem to recall that Lucanus was breeding some P. valgus beetles quite recently. I'm sure he has a lot more experience and better information for you than myself.

 

Cheers

[Oak]

From what i heard these guys lay eggs in logs or shredded rotten wood pieces(not too small).

[Andy365]

Could I feed the adults wax worms?

[AlexW]

Adults are not picky about diet. Note they are liquid feeders so they cannot eat dry food.

[Lucanus]

These guys are quite easy to care for. You can feed them protein based food with lots of moisture in it (preferably pre-killed insects, but they'll eat moistened dog food, hotdog meat, etc... they have special mouth parts for chewing foods and will take solid food). Larvae can be raised on rotten hard woods that are easy to break with hands or can be reared on organic potting soil. Breeding can be a bit difficult. I've tried breeding them on finely grounded fermented sawdust, but never had success with breeding when I used this substrate.

Last year, I decided to try out using substrates I collected from tree cavity in my area. About a month prior to breeding, I fed my female with live bess beetle pupae for several weeks, and added my pair into the breeding cage. Two weeks later, I removed my male from the cage and left the female alone in the breeding cage. Couple of weeks later, I started seeing eggs in the enclosure.

[Andy365]

Could I use something instead of bess beetle pupae, like mealworm or superworm pupae, and what was the substrate you collected made of?

[Lucanus]

Could I use something instead of bess beetle pupae, like mealworm or superworm pupae, and what was the substrate you collected made of?

 

Yes, that works too

 

Substrate I collected was composed of finely grounded Quercus alba that has turned reddish brown in color, along with large debris of wood and leaves.

[Andy365]

Do they need a specific temperature range, and do they need to hibernate to breed?

[Lucanus]

Do they need a specific temperature range, and do they need to hibernate to breed?

 

They are tolerant to both cold and hot condition (though I would avoid keeping them above 90F). They MIGHT need a hibernation to trigger the breeding, but this hasn't been tested yet (Orin might say otherwise since he probably knows more about this species than me).

[Andy365]

Do the larvae need anything special, or do you keep them like normal rhino beetle grubs?

[Lucanus]

Do the larvae need anything special, or do you keep them like normal rhino beetle grubs?

 

You can keep them like rhino beetles (but preferably with more wood in their diet).

[Ratmosphere]

Read my top post.