Dynastes tityus grubs!

kitty_b

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so my female has been laying eggs for a while now. today i went through to search for new eggs, since it had been about a month since the last search.

some of the old eggs have dried up and "disappeared" into the substrate, but several were still unhatched in the egg container. surprisingly, i found about 20 eggs in the female's tank, along with 2 small grubs (one blue and dying unfortunately) and 1 hatching grub.

so now i have LOTS of egg containers. it's all mainly a mixture of compost, leaf mold, and dog food. hopefully more will hatch soon. i wonder if they were better off in the main tank, though, since none of my previous eggs have hatched but i somehow have new grubs. :?
 

Elytra and Antenna

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If they dried up in your egg containers they'd be better off in the old tank. Egg containers must be damp and contain good substrate. Also, dog food is only used for feeding grub that are eating, not mixed in as substrate.
 

kitty_b

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i may slip them back in along the corners in the pack substrate, then. it just seemed like most people separate them, but it doesn't seem to be beneficial in my situation. it's not even like i put a lot of ventilation in the containers to cause drying. it just... did.. in a closed jar. :?
 

loxoscelesfear

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once your eggs hatch and you have grubs : collect decaying wood and some leaves.
bake the wood and leaves at 250 degrees for 3 hours to kill wire worms etc .

keep 15 grubs or so in gallon containers w/ 50/50 ration of top soil to compost manure
mix plenty of treated wood and leaves into the container and let the grubs be.
add food as needed, mist the soil occasionally.
my eggs hatched last September and now I have some monster tityus grubs that should change over to adults by September or so.
They ate dog food , but dog food molds within a couple of days.
Adult tityus love apples soaked in diluted syrup. Good luck!
 

kitty_b

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i've moved the grubs and eggs to a 10 gallon tank filled with a 1:1 ratio of organic compost and fine hardwood mulch (both sterilized of course). moistened it up really good and let it cool down for a day before the transfer. several of the eggs had hatched, so now i have about 6 grubs (all still relatively small) and over a dozen eggs (some about to hatch, i think). i still need to do the bi-weekly search through mama's cage.

this has definitely been an interesting learning experience. i hope i end up with a decent number of grubs that make it to adulthood.

i want a beetle army! {D
 

kitty_b

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well, it's been several months. the female passed away, and i moved everyone into a 10 gallon tank of 50% organic cow compost and 50% rotten wood mulch. kept it moist, and let it sit. last week i noticed something against the glass...

i decided to replenish the organic "food" available by mixing in a generous amount of rotten wood mulch. upon digging through the tank, i found at least 22 grubs, ranging from 1.25"-2" in length. one little bugger even bit me!

so it looks like my beetles' legacies will live on. it'll be a while before i have an army of beetles, though. :(
 
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driver

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i'm jealous, beetles are at the top of my wanted list. funny though, they're probably the least likely thing to acquire on my list...
 

kitty_b

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now that i'm home, i can post a picture!

i was trying to take one of the biggest grubs, but only got a shot of me dropping him (a few inches) after he bit me.

unfortunately, the only other image is a bit dark. but it'll do, for size references. no worries- they aren't really that blue! it's just translucence playing tricks on the camera. they're actually quite white.

 

beetleman

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:drool: mmmm.....they look tastey{D lol very cool beetle grubs:clap: nice job raising them
 

driver

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how long for dynastes species from egg to grub? and grub to adult?
 

sintakz

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I want some beetles soooo bad. I have some adult badister beetles that I found but I can't find ANY information on how to raise them, two of them died... I guess it is a good way to start learning how to pin.
 

Chrysopid

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Make sure not to pin them too long after they die :) Beetles can get super hard
 

Elytra and Antenna

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...at least 22 grubs, ranging from 1.25"-2" in length. one little bugger even bit me!
so it looks like my beetles' legacies will live on. it'll be a while before i have an army of beetles, though. :(
22 is actually a pretty decent number for one female, these aren't like mealworms. Now if you can get all 22 to adult that'll be a pretty cool little army.

how long for dynastes species from egg to grub? and grub to adult?
Varies widely by species and specific stock, food, temperature, and moisture level. There's a book with the native US species cycles:


I want some beetles soooo bad. I have some adult badister beetles that I found but I can't find ANY information on how to raise them, two of them died... I guess it is a good way to start learning how to pin.
Blister beetles are often short lived. You're lucky:Dynastes tityus are native to Florida. Unlike most rhinos that live 2 months as adults, C.B. D.tityus live 9-12 months after emergence. Need adult D.tityus?
 

Tleilaxu

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Grave robbing! Is it possible to influnce how large they grow by the type and amount of food you give them? Also how are they doing?
 

kitty_b

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i only see a few who like to dig out right around the front glass, but they're getting big! :D

i don't know if you can have a profound influence over size by the amount of food available (at least in the power-feeding aspect), but i know they'll be stunted (or die) if they don't have enough organic material to munch on.
 

kitty_b

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Pictures!

so i took an opportunity to snap a few shots of the grubs today. i don't believe that these are as big as the one i saw the other day, though the one on the bottom may be...




a shot of the parents. i miss 'em
 

Tleilaxu

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Those are pretty, this is the species that lives 9-12 months right?
 

Elytra and Antenna

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Is it possible to influnce how large they grow by the type and amount of food you give them?
It makes all the difference up to a point [less than perfect feeding turns out tiny adults (with less than 30mm possible if it doesn't kill them) but size varies at the high end with perfect feeding, a totally different world than rearing tarantulas, roaches or mantids].

a shot of the parents. i miss 'em
I have some more if you miss them badly.
 
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