Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I seem to have a new pet on my hands and I have a few questions.

My husband found this little fella lying on his back in the parking lot at work today. He was laying on his back and didn't seem to be doing well. (In fact, hubby thought he was dead and was bringing him home to pin him and frame him.) Well, he started kicking his legs so now he's a pet. I have him in a plastic aquarium with a slice of peach, some soft banana, an inverted lid with a cotton ball soaked in diluted maple syrup and a moist paper towel. (It's been close to 100 degrees and dry here for several days now, so I thought that he might be dehydrated.) For the first few hours he pretty much laid on his back with his legs in the air. If I turned him over he flipped back. He seems a little better now, he stays upright for longer stretches of time and even rights himself. He spent a little time on the cotton ball and it looked like he was eating a bit of peach. So my questions are:

He seems kind of stumbly and disoriented, and he still flips himself over alot. Is this a normal state for hercules beetles or a sign that hs is distressed/injured?

If he's on his back, should I flip him over?

Will orchid mix be a suitable substrate for him to live and dig in? If not, what should I look for?

What kind of humidity levels should I be shooting for?

I feel kind of bad about having wild collected him, since that isn't something we'd normally do with any other kind of creature, but he wasn't doing well on his own and I get the impression from other sites that it is more acceptable when dealing with insects. Is that the case?

Any other helpful suggestions would be much appreciated. I'm new at this whole bug thing. Thanks for any help that you might be able to provide.

Not sure which species you may have, but here is a start:

Eastern Hercules Beetle:
http://www.centralpets.com/animals/insects/beetles/btl6044.html

Western Hercules Beetle (below link):
Link

Thanks for the help, but I'm afraid that the poor little critter didn't survive the night. (At least I'm pretty sure he didn't, he's no longer moving at all and his legs are pulling in.) Hopefully his last day was a little better here than it would have been on baking hot blacktop. And now that I know how cool insect pets are I might have to seek one out.

Thanks again.

Well, he sure had me fooled, but he's kicking up a storm again. I uprighted him again and now he's sitting there looking a little bit dazed. Guess I'll have to change his name from Hercules to Lazarus. He's an Eastern Hercules Beetle BTW, or I assume he is since he was found in Virginia. The links were helpful, but I'm still wondering about the way he flips himself over and If I should help him get upright when he does. I'll get some soil and other substrate into the bottom of the cage today and we'll see how he does. I'll also check back on a regular basis if anyone else has any tips or pointers for me. Thanks.

I've never reared any Dynastes sp., but you might be able to get some tips from Orin at Elytra and Antenna.

Here's a link:
Link

I heard back from Stephen at Beetle-experience.com. I emailed him yesterday before I found this site. Thanks again for your help though. I'll post again if anything changes.