These are random care tips and husbandry methodologies developed by other breeders for random invertebrate species I have not kept, gathered from several forums and online groups.
These tidbits of information have never been formally published, and are far too valuable to let fall into obscurity on the internet, so I've compiled them here. Author names will be included when possible, and I of course take no credit for any of this information. (Text may be slightly edited to form a more coherent, "caresheet" format).
Amblycheila baroni Oviposition & Larvae Rearing Methodology; By Tony Palmer:
I placed the adults in a 6 qt. steralite container filled about 4 inches with a 50/50 (by weight) sand and loess mixture (each sifted through #14 screen). I wet the substrate until it turned from a fine powder to a solid, placed the 2.1 beetles in the container and fed them heavily. Sexing them is fairly straight forward with an examination of the final abdominal sternite.
3 weeks after introduction I saw eggs and oviposition holes and then 12-14 days later the burrows opened up. I had placed two fair sized rocks in the container because there was a few sources that mentioned A.baroni and other Amblycheila sp. were found as larvae around boulders. Interestingly enough the oviposition and the burrows are all formed next to or very near the rocks. They are kept at room temperature, 65-80 degrees F° (low/high). I feed them at least 4 times a week with wild caught moths, flies, and 1/4 inch crickets from the local pet store.
I produced 45 larvae from the single female and most of them are now L2. Humidity is maintained by a heavy misting two times a week. I have no specific numbers on humidity but I imagine it is somewhere in the 50-70% range. Then I allow the container to dry out a few times a year just because this is a desert species and that is what nature does to them.
Rearing WC Amblycheila hoversoni Larvae; By Jeff Owens:
When I pulled the wild larvae from the collection site I made sure I gathered enough of the soil they where in for them to burrow. I then set them up in about 1 foot high containers with the soil. They will burrow themselves but it is helpful if you start a small hole for them. Then try to keep the conditions of the container as close to the natural conditions as possible, so for this species hot and pretty dry so not too difficult.
I would feed them about 2-3 small crickets every week and dose them with water about once a month. To get them to pupate can be tricky as it is often environmental ques that cause them to start. I got pretty lucky and just dropped the temp about 10 degrees and then wet the container and it pupated. I am still working on perfecting my methods of rearing but one of the keys is to make sure you gather the soil from the larval sites
Breeding Acanthoplus discoidalis; By Andy Bignell:
Hopefully this information will help others to enjoy these enormous beasts the same as I have! (?/?/2012)
General observations:
Nocturnal
Arboreal mainly
Clumsy and slow
Have quite a bit of character
Females much larger than males, mine weighed 18gms when first gravid, as much as my little hognose snake!
Females are in control, the male gets nowhere unless she lets him
Housing:
I’ve kept a pair in a 30cm Custom Aquaria cube with the front slide-up door. I think being mainly glass helps keep the temps high and would recommend it over an open mesh top. The substrate is bone dry coir about 1cm thick. They’ve got one big root/branch and a lot of thinner bent over branches, despite being called ground crickets they definitely spend most of their time off the ground. They tend to spend most of their day snuggled up together on the big branch and wandering over the other branches at night, or up and down the glass.
Temperature:
I’ve got a basking light set at 33C°. They don’t sit in front of it a lot but they do stay at the top of the tank where it’s hotter during the day. I suspect that too low temperatures may be the cause of unexplained deaths. I think food rots in their guts, rather like locusts, when they’re kept too cold. Temps drop down to about 22-25C° overnight.
Humidity:
Bone dry, again I think this is important, the same as it is for keeping locusts alive. I’ve never bothered misting or trying to provide a drinking bowl, they get all the liquid they need from their food.
Food:
I’ve read on a number of websites that they mainly eat vegetables and the odd dead insect.
In my experience that’s rubbish, if anything they’re virtually carnivores! Mine can get through 3-4 adult locusts a night each! I normally get through two or three tubs of locusts a week and never have less than 2-3 locusts in the tank before adding more. They eat a huge amount, especially the female when she’s gravid! I know this is against normal feeding thinking but I’m positive this is why mine haven’t eaten each other. And I have witnessed them actively hunting down locusts, especially the female.
They only nibble on the 2-3 lettuce leaves I put in a night and the locusts mainly eat these. There’s also a dish at the bottom with a good supply of bug grub in which they seem to like occasionally, especially the female when she’s gravid.
I also think that trying lots of different foods, like some of the lists I’ve seen, may not be good for them. Their gut flora may not be able to cope with some of these ‘exotic’ (to them) foods.
Breeding:
If you get the above right then this seems to be quite straight forward too, or at least the mating part is.
Mine began mating about a month after the female moulted to adult. The male had already been adult for just over a month at this point. She was constantly pushing his advances away, which was really funny to watch.
The male’s call is more of a buzz/drone than normal cricket chirps and can go on for ages. Personally I love the sound and am going to find evenings very quiet when he finally pops his clogs. Unfortunately my camera can’t pick up the higher pitched frequencies but this video gives a good idea of the sound.
Watching them try to mate is a hilarious, fascinating and gross experience all at the same time.
I managed to get a little video of them doing their thing – warning, it’s not for the squeamish.
The female is gravid for over a month before laying eggs; one month and six days for the first clutch and one month and nine days for the second clutch. I didn’t witness the mating that produced this third clutch and I’m not sure if it’s from a new mating or sperm held over from the first and second.
I put a large tub of damp sand in the tank for her to lay her eggs in. She starts practicing digging about 1-2 weeks before actually laying the eggs. This can seem rather odd at first and I kept wondering where the eggs were. When she finally did actually lay she was there for hours, with the practice digging she was never more than five minutes.
She lays them about 1cm under the surface, all vertically. They are very neatly distributed and well spaced. The first clutch produced 59 eggs and the second 65. I took the first batch completely out of the sand after a couple of weeks, carefully rinsed the sand off and took some photos. (*Photos not available, sorry*).
I squished one from the first clutch at this point just to get an idea of how tough they are, bloody tough is the answer; I had difficulty getting it to pop. Inside was a clear, very thin liquid. I squished another one about a month later and the liquid had become quite green and rather viscous, hopefully a good sign.
The eggs are all about 1cm long and covered in tiny pits. Holding them feels similar to holding things coated in silicone, even slightly sticky, because of these.
I’ve let the sand gradually dry out over the past month and intend to soak them again in a few months. Hopefully this will mimic the wet/dry seasons and encourage them hatch.
I’m keeping the eggs at about 30C° with a night drop of up to 5C°.
Update: ?/?/?
Had another 28 eggs about a week ago... so 180 in total!
Think the male is on his way out.
He's been adult for 7 months and 1 day today so pretty good going I'd say. I had him 17 days before he moulted to adult.
The female seems fine but she's only been adult for 6 months and 16 days so think she has a while left yet.
Update: 4/17/2013
Finally, one of the eggs has hatched! It's taken just under 14 months, pretty sure this one is from the original clutch of eggs, which was laid on 20th Feb last year.
To be honest I've pretty much not done anything to them until the past two months.
They were left in sand at room temp and I just added some water every couple of months. Some eggs dried out completely and I chucked a load as they just crumbled when I touched them.
About two months ago I stuck them into a container of damp coir with lid on so they won't dry out and they've been sat on top of my Exo Terra Light unit getting warmer, haven't measured temps but I'm guessing over 30C°.
I'd say I've got about three quarters of the eggs still in there.
I'm really hoping more hatch, but guess we'll have to just wait and see.
Update: 5/6/2013
Quick update - the little one is doing well. Eating loads and got that fat belly that's so distinctive of these.
And I'm sure these other eggs are going to pop soon. They're so fat and swollen and they've changed colour. There's also an obvious dark 'cap' where I assume they break out of?
Update: 6/6/2013
So just a quick update, been growing well, probably three times as big as when it first hatched.
Oh, and what's this? Yes, another one... loads of the other eggs still look like they're going to hatch soon too...
Breeding Aptera fusca: Information from @Paratropes:
Humidity is low, only one corner of the enclosure kept moist. Daytime temps 22-24C°, above 25 is harmful. They need ultraviolet light, nighttime temperature drops, and pollen in their diet. Coconut fiber substrate, oak leaf litter and bark for hides.
Asbolus verrucosus Breeding Methodology; By Dean Rider:
Too long to copy, read here, (on Arachnoboards).
