Stag beetles, rhino beetles, and flower beetles are fun and easy to keep pets. Let’s take a look at their requirements.
Food
Stags, rhino, and flower beetles are primarily all herbivores as adults and feed on fruits, and tree sap in the wild. For your pet beetle, I recommend feeding beetle jelly. It's a type of jelly that is specifically for beetles. Beetle jelly can last up to a week once opened, less smell, and does not attract pests as much as fruit does. If you don’t have beetle jelly. You can also feed your beetle fruits like bananas, apples etc. However, keep them away from watermelon, and any kind of citrus fruits. Avoid fruits sprayed with pesticide. Giving them water is not required; your beetles will get the water they need from their food, and from moist bedding.
Living Requirements
For the beetle container, we recommend a minimum of 3 times the beetle’s length in W x L x H. This is just a general suggestion and does not need to be followed strictly, but overall, a bigger container is better. Having good airflow for your beetle can support the health of your beetle and longevity, as well as prevent molds, funguses, and bacteria from growing in wet environments.
It is important to keep most of your beetles separated, especially your stag beetles. They can be highly territorial and will fight each other for space and food. So, keep each of your male, and female beetles in a separate container. There are some exceptions to this, many small and medium sized flower beetles like Gymnetis thula, and Deby beetles are safe to keep in a container together given enough space. Some stag beetles like Dorcus musimon may also be kept together. Be sure to give sufficient space, or some may die due to overcrowding. Also separate the males and females until you are ready to breed them. Females can generally do well communally.
Temperature for most adult beetles should fall within the range of 65-80°F (18-26°C) for the best longevity of your beetle, keep the temperature at 70-75°F (21-24°C).
The beetle’s container should have bedding like coco fiber/husk, or wood shavings like aspen (avoid pine wood shavings) work great. Also add climbing objects for the beetles. They may need something to grab on to if they were to flip over, sticks, bark, chopsticks can all work. Other DIY options like shredded paper, and leaf litter may work as bedding too, but I have not tried it. Just avoid chemicals and unknown pests and growths.
Most of these beetles live in countries closer to the equator, so humidity should be kept around 60-80%. The primary way of doing this is by making sure that their bedding (Coco fiber, aspen, etc.) does not feel dry to the touch, and remains at least slightly damp. If too wet, mold, fungus, or bacteria may develop which could be harmful for your beetle to remain in. Coco Fiber/Husk hold water better than wood shavings like Aspin.
Beetle maintenance is relatively low, and you will not need to clean out their containers frequently. This is because adult beetles do not leave any feces behind, but instead will dispel their waste as a liquid. Without good airflow, this may cause their container to get wetter and wetter as more food is introduced. Which in turn will require more cleaning as their bedding will get too wet and dirty. Replace their bedding when it looks to be too dirty to you.
Other
Other things to be aware of when caring for your adult beetle. Avoid direct sunlight, beetles do not need sun, and direct sunlight will usually be too warm for their bodies to handle. Stags and Rhino beetles are nocturnal and will be more active at night.
If you ever spray any pesticide around or inside your house, make sure to keep your beetles a safe distance away from it. 5-10 feel just to be safe.
Mites may be found on your beetle. The most common are little white round mites that can be found crawling around on the beetle, or clustered together under your beetle, or within any grooves across the beetle's body. Mites appear to be harmless to the beetle, and mostly latch on to them to hitch a ride, but they are not a pretty site. A toothbrush may be used to brush them off the body of your beetle, they may leave a smell when brushed in large numbers. Removing all the mites from your beetle is very difficult.
A beetle on their back is not inherently harmful to their health. But if they are unable to pick themselves back up right, they may exhaust themselves struggling to do so. Beetles may die if overly exhausted. Or at least have their lifespan decreased.
Beetle Jelly:
https://jamesbeetlefarm.com/products/beetle-jelly
Coco Fiber/Husk:
https://jamesbeetlefarm.com/products/coconut-fiber-bedding-for-adult-beetles
Minimum beetle container requirements sample photo:
(This example is smaller than our recommended container size, but beetles are more flexible)
