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Fall is approaching, and my green fruit scarab has enjoyed an abnormally long lifespan due to cushy captive conditions.

It won't snow here, but the temps can get pretty close. Totally unprepared for winter, though I have given all my beetles fluffy paper as a blanket (do blankets even work for ectotherms?)

Any ideas on how to heat my enclosures? A heat lamp/pad might be too much effort/expense for a senile scarab and a bunch of tiny black beetles. They are in plastic jars, though I do have a glass one.

 

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As long as your room temps don't drop below 65F during the day, they should be OK. The ground beetles may even benefit from the lower winter temps, as when it warms up again, it will likely induce them to oviposit. 

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Aw, you gave me the answer I was praying not to hear! :mellow::)

I don't know if it will happen indoors, but during the last few winters the morning temps nearly approached freezing. It is better to err on the side of caution.

Also, the room temps are always around the 70s in Fahrenheit, even at night, but I do start shivering when I get out of bed. Cotinis is normally a summer insect as an adult, which worries me. Also, since they only have paper towels as substrate, some self-regulation by burrowing into insulated and relatively warm soil is probably compromised. Perhaps the carabids only survive chilly days by remaining in protected microhabitats the same way humans survive in heated houses during snowstorms. I have already wasted at least a small tree's worth of paper on the darned scarab, and buying coco coir will be a long and arduous process (don't ask). Oh dear...

 

(no, I do not wish to breed ground beetles and kill myself by worrying. too busy)

 

 

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45 minutes ago, Test Account said:

Aw, you gave me the answer I was praying not to hear! :mellow::)

I don't know if it will happen indoors, but during the last few winters the morning temps nearly approached freezing. It is better to err on the side of caution.

Also, the room temps are always around the 70s in Fahrenheit, even at night, but I do start shivering when I get out of bed. Cotinis is normally a summer insect as an adult, which worries me. Also, since they only have paper towels as substrate, some self-regulation by burrowing into insulated and relatively warm soil is probably compromised. Perhaps the carabids only survive chilly days by remaining in protected microhabitats the same way humans survive in heated houses during snowstorms. I have already wasted at least a small tree's worth of paper on the darned scarab, and buying coco coir will be a long and arduous process (don't ask). Oh dear...

 

(no, I do not wish to breed ground beetles and kill myself by worrying. too busy)

They should be fine as long as you are keeping them indoors, (unless your central heating goes out for some reason). Only if it dropped into the 50s in your house would I be very worried. 

Well unless you give them a proper coconut fiber or potting soil substrate, you probably won't have to worry about the Carabids ovipositing, they are very picky little thing, and won't just lay eggs in anything! (Good news for you I suppose!).

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  • 3 weeks later...
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I have a wood stove, but want to build a RMH, however finding help where I am is almost impossible.  It's rare.  If the electric goes I'm worried about the insects because even with the wood stove having enough wood is iffy.  Solar for off grid would help but it's expensive, so does anyone have alternatives they use?

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