Tenebrio Obscurus Black Cleaner Beetles (Aka Buffalo Beetles) for Dubia Roaches Aprox Qty 200/5 Grams

All beetles arrived alive and well. We expected approximately 200 - but it looked like SO much more. I put them into a 40 gallon tank that I have a colony of Madagascar hissing cockroaches in. My inexperience with these beetles does not affect the review rating as they pretty much did what they were supposed to. And I CERTAINLY got my money's worth for the sheer number of them. But.... (read on for some eye rolling story telling - or stop here if you simply wanted the review facts.) They did a decent job in taking care of the molts and fecal matter from the hissers - however I was a little grossed out by the fact that they kept multiplying in the water gel. Once they began reproducing, they did so at a rate faster than rabbits in a Viagra factory. Little wormy larvae squirming everywhere. E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E! No matter how many times you dumped the gel, they were back in it before the end of the day. I poked around in the substrate to find writhing pockets of worms scattered throughout the tank. We had to stop feeding the hissers baby food because they were in that as well. In addition to the waste from the hissers, they did also help themselves to the fish flakes and other food that we gave. Within two weeks, we were so done with these beetles that I advertised them for free in my hisser Facebook group. A gentleman wanted them for his anoles - so I gathered up the overabundance of larvae in the water gel, the hordes of them I saw in one other dish (which didn't amount to even 1% of them as it turned out) and put them in the container they came in. For whatever reason, I got busy and left the container upright on the seat of my truck. When I returned in the dark of night to take them to the post office, my seat was littered with worms and beetles that had managed to chew through the fabric covering the holes in the lid. I picked up all that I could catch and made sure I taped the box on all sides and seams – and they were apparently EVERYWHERE inside the box by the time it reached its destination 2 days later. I am still finding f^$#@ing beetles in my truck, even after 3 thorough vacuumings. No one can say the little buggers aren’t hearty and don’t thrive in pretty much any condition. We took on the tedious task of cleaning out the hisser tank to totally evict the cleaners. I was completely blown away by the ridiculous number of them underneath the coconut fiber substrate that we use. To my completely overwhelmed mind, the $16 investment into “approximately” 200 cleaner beetles had exploded into 14.3 billion tiny black adult bugs and squirming worms - that are inexplicably much longer than adults for some reason - in approximately 3 short weeks. I sent another HUGE container of adults and spawn to the anxiously awaiting anoles… where they again managed to orchestrate a mass exodus from the container that I had put them in (with fabric covering the holes), all explained by a text from the recipient that started with “those little b**tards are EVERYWHERE!!!!!” Who knew they were magicians who would normally stay in a container or tank and not climb – but be able to teleport themselves through fabric and closed containers when left alone in the dark?! ….the other HALF of the adults and balls of wriggling escape artists got dumped outside with the substrate to fend for themselves. I half expect to go out and find that I have released a plague into our neighborhood – that it has been overrun with tiny black beetles in a few short days. But I suppose as long as they eat the crap my neighbor keeps leaving out and they don’t come back inside my house, I can live with that. Cut to the chase version: They are efficient. They clean waste as described. They will also take advantage of a free meal if offered. SUPER sturdy bugs that multiply rapidly. Not for the faint of heart or those without ravenous small reptiles to curb the population boom that will inevitably occur.

These guys are the real deal. They took the smell right out of my roach colony and are eating all the skin sheds and frass. They seem to love the frass more than the sheds, but I'm cool with it. Also, a great grub if you are feeding very small animals like dart frogs or baby geckos. 2 yrs later, they are still alive in my roach colonies doing what they do best, I've added them to my bioactive enclosures. They eat beardes dragon poop, leopard gecko poop, snake poop, they live in my tropical tanks as well as hot desert uromastyx enclosures. Nothing fazes them! The larva provides extra food for dart frogs, and small lizards. It's pretty amazing!

They came very healthy and so active I could hear their movements. The one thing I have to warn is that you may get far more than what you needed.

Beetles arrived with most of them already dead.

I am extremely happy with my beetles. I was a bit nervous because I live in southern Louisiana and it is mid summer, so the temps were in the 90s when they were on their way to me. All of the beetles seemed to arrive alive and active, which is way better than I had hoped. They were pretty thirsty, which makes total sense and is in no way a negative thing in regards to the shipment, I just gave them some apple and they were in tip top shape. Its been 7 days and only one has died, but I'm fairly certain that was my fault because I'm still learning how to care for them. I would absolutely order from them again.

They don’t really clean flesh unless it’s still alive. They do bread and go through all their cycles though. Cool to watch.

The beetles arrived alive and healthy, using them to clean skulls and they seem to be doing a good job so far.

Came in right on time, packaged amazing, didn't see any dead ones (if there were any they would probably eat them 😭) thank you <3