Breeding Bean Beetles

One of the small feeders that I like to include for micro geckos, small frogs, or other small insectivores are the bean beetles. Fortunately, these small beetles are extremely easy to breed. The supplies one will need to do so can be seen below: 16 ounce deli cups, screened insect lids for the cups, and black eyed peas or mung beans. You can get cups and lids from neherpsupply

I have had some issues with moisture building up if the beans are stacked too high, so I only add a small amount of beans.

To move the beetles from an existing culture to the new one, tap the top and sides of the existing culture to knock back the beetles at the top. A small piece of egg crate placed in each culture is helpful in transferring the beetles. Quickly move around 50 beetles into the new culture and close the lid on both the new and old cultures. I like to add 2-3 rounds of adult beetles with a number of days between each addition. You want the culture to end up with a large number of eggs and it is a good idea to have numerous cultures going at all times as the adult beetles do not have a long lifespan.

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Keeping and Breeding Oreocryptophis porphyraceus coxi (Thai red mountain ratsnake)

I have been keeping and breeding Oreocryptophis porphyraceus coxi for several years now. It is often listed as the Thai red mountain ratsnake or the Thai Bamboo ratsnake. This is one of the easiest species of snake to keep and breed provided you have an air conditioned house. They have great colors and are very hardy snakes but they really are heat sensitive and probably shouldn't be kept by people looking for a shoulder pet. I keep mine in 28 quart tubs in a rack without any supplemental heat. The colubrid room they stay in is between 75-78F year round. At these temperatures they will digest food without any additional heat. If you have an especially cold house, you may want to use some backheat to create a small spot in the upper 70s. Although I've never kept them warm enough to find out, it is reported that they may die if the temperature bumps into the 80s. I can confidently say they will do fine in the 70s. I use cypress as a substrate and keep the back half of the

Dubia versus red runner roaches

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Saving Money on Reptile Supplies

Keeping reptiles can be an expensive hobby, particularly if you have a large collection. I will do my best here to show you how to get reptiles supplies for good prices and save you some time from searching. UVB Lights: This is one area you need to be very careful with. There are products out there which do not actually produce UVB. I could only recommend you purchase these lights from a reputable source. LLLReptile usually has better than average pricing and is reliable and trusted as a source. Another good source is light your reptiles . Now, I know I said this post was to save you money, but I put UVB at the top of list with places you probably already heard of because this is not the area to try saving a few bucks and these products need a proven track record and known fakes are out there. Ceramic Heat Bulbs: If you do not need them quickly, you can save about 50% or more by picking these items up direct from China. These are 25 to 100 W models . When you click where it says

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