hi! i'm thinking of getting a few blue death feigning beetles as pets some time soon — i know with insects and invertebrate pets in general i shouldn't pick them up too often, but how often would you say is ok to handle them? i've read that with repeated handling they won't perceive me as a threat and are less likely to play dead, but obviously i wouldn't want to stress them out too much.
My general advice is that if you want to handle a pet a good amount, then bugs are probably not a great choice. I almost never handle any of mine, blue death feigning beetles included, unless I have to. I have read that they will feign death less if handled more often, but I don't know how stressful that process is for them. Bugs just don't get anything positive from being handled by us, so it's entirely for your own enjoyment. I'm not saying you can't do it, I just personally advise against it. Some people would say otherwise.
This is not to say that a lot of bugs won't need enrichment. They just don't get enrichment from handling, so that's where a proper enclosure is important. Unfortunately a lot of people give blue death feigning beetles just flat sand with a few hides in their enclosure and that's not ideal. Mine have caves and tunnels and rocks and wood and fake plants, and they love to climb, dig, and explore! I used excavator clay and exo-terra stone desert substrate (because you can get them wet and mold tunnels, etc.), cork bark, and aquarium/reptile hides and decorations to make a nice landscape for them, and then topped with loose dry stone desert substrate after the wet stuff dried. Fine sand and dirt can stick to their legs and cause issues.
Keep in mind also that they are primarily nocturnal, so you may not see them much except at night! They don't seem to mind if lamps are on or anything, though, so you can still enjoy watching them at night when they're out.
Hope this is helpful :)
