Our newest family members (or...Yes, I've officially lost it!)

I don't know whether it's the fact that it fits into compact spaces, or doesn't require much care, or that it can be pretty easily found in the wild...or maybe it's the cool factor. For whatever reason, a beetle is a popular pet to have here. Jake has been chomping at the bit for beetle season to arrive.


Here he is at Makeman's (A Japanese "Home Depot") with not just one, but TWO rhinoceros beetles. A male and a female. $25 for the pair in a divided cage. Pretty good deal. Does he look proud, or what?




What he'd really like is one of these, featured on this shirt we purchased at a cool Japanese clothing store. He'll be saving for a long time as Hercules Beetles can go for upwards of $1000. That's dollars...not yen.






This is the male. Pretty impressive, no?



Just in case you missed the scale on this guy...here he is compared to a quarter.



The female is a lot smaller and is constantly trying to bury herself. I'd hide if something that huge was looking for me, too. I'm just sayin'. Also pictured is an empty gel cup. It's the food that these guys eat. We were told that they each last a couple of days. Well, either that's a lie, or we've got some particularly hungry beetles...because they each go through one in less than an hour.



There's a whole line of products sold to care for your beetle properly...most of it labeled exclusively in Kanji...but there is some limited English. Trying to decipher some of it can be humorous. We were looking for a spray solution used to prevent mite infestation. I picked up a bottle with "sterilization spray" written on it. Jake says, "but we don't want them to be sterile...what if I decide to breed them?!" I had to explain the two meanings of the word, and then he agreed that was probably what we were looking for!



This is actually different than the other bottle. One is water, one is syrup. Not sure if they need either, or both. We're really taking a shot in the dark here since the cute little care brochures are only in Japanese.



Sibling Rivalry

So, here's the deal. These guys can typically live a couple of years...unless you let them mate. The male will die within days of mating (his work here is done). SO, if we want to keep him around, we have to keep him away from his companion for as long as we want him to live.

I've chaperoned dances before...this should be a piece of cake!