How to Care for Black Cleaner Beetles

Put These Cleaner Crews to Work in Your Dubia Roach Colony

If you  manage a Dubia roach colony, you likely know the benefits of black cleaner beetles (also known as alphitobius diaperinus or buffalo beetles). These insects serve as a cleaner crew for your colony, safely living among your Dubia roaches. They eat dead roaches and help with other problems like mold, fungi, mites, and flies. If cared for properly, black cleaner beetles will prolong the length of time you can go without cleaning your colony’s enclosure, and that’s definitely a win for Dubia roach breeders!

So, how do you care for black cleaner beetles? 

Fortunately, these insects are relatively easy to care for and maintain. As we noted, these beetles can live in the enclosure with your Dubia roaches without causing them any harm. If you are breeding cleaner beetles in a separate enclosure, you will want to follow a couple general care tips:

• Make sure they have an adequate enclosure—a plastic bin or aquarium will work fine—along with a food source. Feeding your cleaner beetles is fairly simple: They will eat any decaying organic material.

• Place some substrate, such as shredded paper or styrofoam, in their enclosure. This provides a location for larvae to burrow and become beetles. Remember that any excess larvae can be fed to your pet lizard or other reptiles
• Keep them hydrated but do not allow their substrate to become soggy. You could risk getting mold or mites. You can lightly mist their substrate every few days with water, or place a damp paper towel in their enclosure

Black cleaner beetles can be an essential component of a strong Dubia roach colony. ABDragons offers healthy, live cleaner beetles for sale in quantities of 250, 500, 1,000, and 2,000. Order yours today to help keep your Dubia roach enclosure clean!

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