P.aegyptiaca nymphs not burrowing?

[Hisserdude]

My Polyphaga aegyptiaca nymphs do not seem to burrow much, and prefer to wander around their cage. Is this usual behavior for this species? The substrate is a mix of dead leaves, coconut fiber, and long fibered sphagnum moss. The P.saussurei nymphs have the same substrate, and they are constantly underground.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[wizentrop]

This species actually tend to burrow a lot as nymphs. But then again I only kept them on fine sand (from dunes and caves). In the wild, this is the type of substrate where you find them.

 

[Hisserdude]

Thanks for the quick reply! I have 4 nymphs, 2 of them are large, 2 of them are small. My small nymphs are burrowing, but the bigger ones are not. I removed a bit of the sphagnum moss, so the substrate would be less chunky. If they still do not burrow, I may go get some sand for them.

 

[RomanBuck]

My sausserei is just fine on plain Eco earth

 

[Hisserdude]

They are burrowing now, I think the substrate was too chunky. I removed about half of the sphagnum moss in the cage. Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[Ralph]

That's really interesting that they didn't burrow on that substrate. I would've thought they'd try and make do with it.

Picky little guys. Might be worth putting them on a variety of subs to see what they'll burrow in and what they won't? Potting soil, plain coco fiber, sand mixed with something else, fine gravel... Just for knowledge's sake.

 

[Hisserdude]

Ya, its weird. They will burrow in the substrate I have them in now, but they come back up within a minute. I am gonna add more coconut fiber, and see how that goes.