shmo

We aren't completely sure yet, but it's gonna be cool

Oh we're absolutely doing aquariums with fish eventually, that's something we agreed on years ago haha
I think even having the spider in the house would make them faint though lol

Bigger! I live in a very very small house right now with 3 people in it and it's not fun
And yeah, I can't afford a new glass one now but after I move I'm gonna invest.
I think my family would faint if I kept spiders but man do I want one

I have kept crickets and worms but never beetles other than my japanese ones.
And yeah the plastic kinda sucks for viewing, it's good for preserving the ones that wouldn't fit in the big one but damn it sucks. I rhink the big one was about 15 gallons?
the plastics are about 5 so it sucks.
I might wait til I move, I'm planning to move sometime in the next 2 years so I'm probably gonna hold out til then

I ended up not getting any this year, I ended up setting out traps because I had an incident where I didn't see my largest terrarium on the floor on it's side, stepped on it, shattered it. (I'm lucky I didn't get seriously hurt with the glass though)
Lost a lot of motivation for keeping anything this year over it. All I have left are 2 cheapo plastic pet store ones that aren't as good for viewing or have as much room for enrichment.
And one of the plastic ones is missing too >_<

Yes, broad leaf is the main part of their diet and what they're attracted to, I'm not sure why they ate the fruit but my guess is wet paper towel wasn't enough hydration, either that or they couldn't get past the skin of the fruit too well so once I sliced it up it was soft enough cus they never ate the skins just whatever was softest.

I had roughly 100 per terrarium I actually started running out of space and tried putting some in like chinese take out soup containers but they HATED that.
They absolutely lived a life of beetle luxury with different food options and general experimentation. they don't live through the year though so they die off around fall, which was a bit of a blessing because it was getting harder to source broad leaves for them to eat with the fruit.

They literally look like bananas in beetle form I love them so much.

I let bugs back outside (and spiders too) with the only exception being invasive species (BMSB GET FUUUUCCCKKKEDDDDDD) and mosquitos and parasites (like fleas and ticks)
The beetle species I took in was an interesting one for sure. They're a very instinctual species, really only having the desire to eat, and mate and not much else at all. and if 50+ of them are walking at the same time it makes a unique sound I can't describe but its similar to leaf crunching inthe fall when you step on them.
(I had 300+ of these guys at one point)
Also I didn't know this but they won't really eat fruit much... UNLESS YOU CUT IT UP THEN THEY GO ABSOLUTELY INSANELY NUTS FOR IT. Strawberry and cucumber were the ones they went the most insane over.
Other than that I sourced wild grape leaves for them daily

Eastern Hercules beetle is my dream pet so it's funny you mention those!
I don't but I do really large scale gardening (I grow my own crops) and Popillia japonica was becoming a major pest problem.
I hate killing bugs (except mosquitos and fleas and ticks and parasites) and I felt more sad the more of them I killed.
SO I started keeping them, like, in terrariums and everywhere I could fit them upon capture.
I let them live out the rest of their natural cycle and destroyed the substrate because of eggs.

I know there are others around too. Spiders are awesome. I'm more prone to keeping beetles myself but I'd love a spooder one day