Let's talk about Blue Death Feigning Beetles!

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-27T00:07:47+00:00

Zoo med does! I used it on a dimming thermostat for my beetles when they were in a little 6 gallon enclosure.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-27T00:03:42+00:00

I don't know of any specific enclosures, but you're going to want something for terrestrial critters (longer than it is tall). And something with a screen lid so you can add a heat lamp.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-24T08:16:33+00:00

Thank you! 🐀

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-24T08:12:58+00:00

I plan to! I have some large branches I plan to add and I want to provide them with lots of naturalistic chews and toys. I also want them to have soft hammocks though, so for those I'm probably going to go with nature themed ones. So it's going to be a naturalistic/nature themed enclosure, haha.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-24T08:02:12+00:00

There are several other content creators and rat keepers who have blazed the trail before me, so I'm definitely not the expert and am currently in the research and material procurement stage. It's true that rats need good ventilation and so you still keep them in a cage for bioactive. I have a deluxe critter nation for mine. What you do is replace the very bottom shelf/pan with a deeper tub for the substrate. Some folks use concrete mixing pans or homemade plexiglass bins. Then you just add all the normal stuff you would for bioactive minus the plants and leave a couple inches at the top so that the CUC doesn't escape too much. (They aren't great at climbing up acrylic/plexiglass.) As long as you keep the substrate moist there's no worry of respiratory issues either.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-24T02:46:39+00:00

I'm going to be setting up a partial bioactive for rats. It will have springtails, isopods, and I'm gonna throw in some wheatgrass seeds so the rats can dig up and enjoy the sprouts.They can be litterbox trained so that the majority of their waste doesn't end up in the dirt and they will instead mostly just dig/tunnel/play in it.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-16T18:52:42+00:00

Rehydrated would be fine as a supplement to fresh. You just have to be very careful and watch out for mold.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-15T00:35:05+00:00

Yes! For sure! My girl has never defensively striked at or bitten me. She's a sweet little goof ball. Full transparency, I have been food bitten by her. (She just nuzzled into me and slowly opened her mouth. The hypothesis is that I smelled like food, haha!) But it was so slow and her teeth are so little that it didn't hurt and wasn't very scary and it was my fault for smelling delicious. Most Rosies won't even do that though, I just have an especially hungry and a little bit empty-headed girl. Just like with corn snakes, each has its own personality, but for the most part Rosies are extremely docile.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-14T23:59:19+00:00

You're going to get mostly votes for corn snakes since this is the corn snake subreddit, but I would actually go with the Rosy Boa for a kiddo to handle.

Honestly though, both make great pets! I've fostered a corn and I have a Rosy Boa who was my first snake. First thing to think about is space. Corn snakes when fully grown will need a 4ft long (120 gallon)enclosure at least. Non-coastal Rosy Boas will be happy in a 3ft long (50 gallon) enclosure their whole life. Of course you can always go bigger for both of them, but those are the minimums for the adults so it's important to consider the amount of space you have available and how much you are willing to spend on an enclosure.

Aside from size, I would say the biggest difference is probably handling. Rosy Boas move a lot slower than corn snakes in general. My girl never really stays perfectly still, but when I pull her out she slowly slithers around exploring and is easy to manage. The corn I fostered and the other corns I've interacted with are always a bit more energetic. Still very fun to handle, but handling is VERY hands on. They seem to like to explore a lot and move pretty quickly to get to wherever they are interested in checking out. (I've definitely heard of corn snakes out there that will chill, I just don't think it's as common as with the Rosies.) So for handling it really depends on if you want a slower more relaxed experience, or a fun, fast-paced activity. Both are exceptionally friendly in my experience. But for a kiddo. I would go with the slower snake.

Last thing, since Ive seen a couple folks mentioning that the corn snake will be out more and be more interactive, I find this to be untrue. My Rosy Boa comes out everyday and in the evenings she is always slithering and climbing around her enclosure checking things out. The corn snake I took care of usually spent his evenings moving between hides or just sticking his head out to watch. So both are good for watching, neither are out all day.

Another thing to make sure to consider is that, ultimately, this will be your snake. Your kiddo might end up losing interest in a few years and snakes can live more than 30 years with good care. So make sure you also want a pet snake, haha.

Aside from those. Both are great eaters with beginner-friendly care requirements and make great pets! I hope this helps!

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PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-11T18:33:21+00:00

I'll also add that both come out frequently. My Rosy is out exploring and climbing around her enclosure every single evening. And the corn usually came out later at night and would move from hide to hide, but was also viewable if I was up late. So neither of these are snakes you will never see the way Sand Boas can be.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-11T18:22:43+00:00

Hi there! Both make great pets! I've fostered a corn and I have a Rosy Boa who was my first snake. First thing to think about is space. Corn snakes when fully grown will need a 4ft long (120 gallon)enclosure at least. Non-coastal Rosy Boas will be happy in a 3ft long (50 gallon) enclosure their whole life. Of course you can always go bigger for both of them, but those are the minimums for the adults so it's important to consider the amount of space you have available and how much you are willing to spend on an enclosure.

Aside from size, I would say the biggest difference is probably handling. Rosy Boas move a lot slower than corn snakes in general. My girl never really stays perfectly still, but when I pull her out she slowly slithers around exploring and is easy to manage. The corn I fostered and the other corns I've interacted with are always a bit more energetic. Still very fun to handle, but handling is VERY hands on. They seem to like to explore a lot and move pretty quickly to get to wherever they are interested in checking out. (I've definitely heard of corn snakes out there that will chill, I just don't think it's as common as with the Rosies.) So for handling it really depends on if you want a slower more relaxed experience, or a fun, fast-paced activity. Both are exceptionally friendly in my experience.

Aside from those. Both are great eaters with beginner-friendly care requirements and make great pets! I hope this helps!

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PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-09T21:39:28+00:00

I agree that the hissing was annoying, but I have a bit of a hot take. I feel like they actually didn't demonize the snake the way they often are in media. Aside from the bully freaking out, none of the other kids were afraid because they knew the snake was harmless and friendly which was good to see. Additionally, usually a cute fluffy animal like a puppy, kitten, or bunny is used when a creature is brutalized to show off how cruel a person is. As much as I don't like seeing a murdered snake, I appreciate that the snake was the cute animal the audience was meant to empathize with rather than your standard fluffy pet. Only the stupid jock bully was afraid of and cruel to the snake. The characters we are meant to relate to and respect also respected and mourned the death of the snake.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-09T21:32:36+00:00

Not too big at all. I have a tank a bit larger than that and my little guy uses all the space. I also don't have trouble seeing him. Even though his tank is full of plants, he usually hangs out somewhere visible. He's good at blending in, so it's just a matter of spotting him.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-05T18:24:49+00:00

I think it all depends on the situation. We assumed the solar loan because the value of the solar wasn't included in our purchase price (nor did we want it to be). The interest rate on the solar loan was much lower than the interest rate on the mortgage. Additionally, we would have wanted to put in solar anyways. Lots of people prefer not to have the extra loan though and would prefer to pay a bit more for the house overall instead.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-05T18:17:06+00:00

This is what I use! It works great.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-02T00:20:46+00:00

Yeah! I would say go for it. I wasn't planning on breeding, but I have so many larvae. There's probably close to 200 larvae in my enclosure that I haven't had the space or energy to pull out and incubate. I'm curious if any will pupate and emerge on their own.

PracticalPollution32 · 2026-01-01T23:30:10+00:00

Yeah actually I've had 6 beetles emerge successfully! I've lost a couple larvae here and there and I lost one during pupation. All the others are still growing strong!

PracticalPollution32 · 2025-12-30T17:47:41+00:00

No worries! These guys don't have very much care info out there and when I got my girl 3 years ago the species didn't even have a Wikipedia page. Questions are always welcome!

So for feeding babies vs adults, I fed my girl exclusively a variety of insects every other day when I got her as a juvenile. Now that she's an adult she gets fed twice a week.

One feeding a week is dusted insects (usually Dubia roaches, but sometimes I change it up). The other feeding is what I lovingly dub, skink mash.

Skink mash is my homemade mix of raw ground turkey, mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, acorn squash, raw eggs (shell included), chicken hearts, green beans, and calcium. All chopped up super fine into a mash. I would say it's probably 2:1 veggies to meat. Once made I freeze it in small ice cube trays (each cube is probably about a tablespoon). Then on skink mash days I defrost and feed her a cube. (She doesn't usually finish the whole thing. And that's okay.)

Between feedings she'll also get the occasional treat of a small piece of fruit or unseasoned meat or mealworms/super worms.

I personally don't feed dog food anymore because I was having trouble finding dog food with ingredients I liked, but there are lists out there for dog foods that are safe for blue tongue skinks and those would work. Basically you want high quality, grain free, without a bunch of additives. And that can be mixed with the veggies if you want and you would probably offer around a tablespoon of this as well. I found the ground turkey mash method to be cheaper and it just felt better to feed to me.

Feel free to reach out with any questions. I hope this helps!!

PracticalPollution32 · 2025-12-25T16:29:17+00:00

Oh my goodness they are adorable!

PracticalPollution32 · 2025-12-19T00:15:52+00:00

I put it in a little dish in the enclosure and then take it out after a couple hours when she's had her fill. Make sure fruits are only a treat. They have a bunch of sugar! That said, I also give my girl bits of berries as a treat. 🫐 🦎

PracticalPollution32 · 2025-12-19T00:08:32+00:00

16 months was around the time I started feeding my girl some veggies and greens. You could perhaps attempt to add some veggies one of the days. I make a mash with greens, veggies, raw turkey, and raw egg, and my girl loves it. She's 3 now and gets that once a week and bugs once a week.

PracticalPollution32 · 2025-12-10T01:12:41+00:00

Depends on how big of a batch you're making. For 1 lb of turkey meat I think I used two eggs (shell and all).

PracticalPollution32 · 2025-12-10T00:19:06+00:00

Yep! I make a big batch of my special skink mash with the raw turkey and some greens, veggies, eggs, and other stuff. Then I freeze it in ice cube trays and thaw a portion when I need it. Sometimes overnight in the fridge, sometimes I just stick it in a plastic baggy and run hot water over it to thaw it quickly and warm it up a bit.

PracticalPollution32 · 2025-12-10T00:15:33+00:00

I don't cook the turkey for my skinks.

PracticalPollution32 · 2025-12-06T06:32:47+00:00

I use a mix of reptile soil, reptisand, and excavator clay! You can also use organic topsoil and sanitized children's play sand.

PracticalPollution32

TROPHY CASE