Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

Scott W · Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 9:13 am Post subject: Fruit Beetles

Pachnoda 'something or other'

Anyone else breeding these, stunning beetles and big fat juicy young too Wink

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gecko-kus · Contributing Member Joined: 28 Sep 2006 Posts: 76

I've thought about breeding those, but have never been convinced at their cost effectiveness... have you found them to actually be a good investment? Or have you only just started using them?

I've heard they're not too difficult to breed, is that right? Assume you need a fairly large colony though, or a number of large colonys lol.
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Morbid · Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 2:36 pm Post subject:

I would like to know the same things as gecko-kus..
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Scott W · Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 2:37 pm Post subject:

I've not used a single one yet so I don't even know what would enjoy eating them Embarassed

They are just a bit of fun, I've got the space for them and the fruit is FREE so they only really cost time (droping a bunch of bananas or a couple of oranges each week).
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Jan O · Key Member Joined: 23 Jan 2006 Posts: 360

Scott- Watch yourself handling those grubs when they grow-I still have the scar where one latched onto my finger-thats what put me off using them as a feeder.I literally had to knock it repatedly against the side of the tank to make it let go. Apart from that their nice to look at, breed easy and are very low maintanance.
love Jan o

Gongylus74 · Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 12:19 am Post subject:

I breed these beetles but not as livefood, just because I like them and they are an excellent species to demonstrate the life cycle of a species undergoing a complete metamorphosis to school children. The grubs sure can bite as Jan O said, nasty little (actually quite big) buggers!

They are certainly low maintenance and I could imagine that quite a few larger insectivorous lizard species might be keen on the grubs, and smaller grubs are apparently a good food for frogs and toads too, but I think you'd need a very sizeable colony initially for this to prove cost-effective.

I started with a very modest 5 adult beetles about three months ago and now have 12-15 adults, around 30 pupal cells and about 70 grubs at a range of sizes. I guess if you could acquire a large breeding group for a reasonable price it would be worth a go but at an average of £2.00 - £2.50 per beetle from online suppliers (and these are the cheap ones, some are £5+ each!) this may be unlikely.

Jonathan

Rickeezee · Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:15 am Post subject:

I have some for fun and they have laid eggs, not seen any larvae yet, how long from egg to larvae please? I doubt I would ever use them as feeders.
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Pollywog · Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 10:11 am Post subject:

I've got quite a load of these but not looked in the tub lately to see what grubs are in there.
I'm finding the grubs do really well fed on carrot.
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johne.ev · Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 6:29 pm Post subject:

I've fed them to my male panther, several times he seemed to enjoy them, & had no problems ( i even managed to avoid getting bit).