Nature

Spike the Beetle Is an Unusual but Very Popular Pet on Twitter

By  | 

 

Spike the Beetle has over 68 thousand followers on Twitter and more than 27 thousand on Instagram. How did a little stag beetle get so popular? According to Bored Panda, “Spike, a black stag beetle, lives in Japan with his English-teaching owner. Stag beetles are popular pets in Japan, where they’re known as kuwagata, and celebrated for their samurai helmet-like horns.” Spike’s owner posts photos of the beetle hanging out, crawling around on her skin and even drawing. Yes, this beetle has an artistic talent that can easily be activated by giving it a marker to hold in its pincers!

The People’s Trust for Endangered Species says that stag beetles were given their name due to their large, powerful pincers that resemble the antlers of a stag (deer). Tofugu.com states that people who want the beetles as pets can either attempt to find them in the wild or buy one in a specialty store. The stag beetle pets can live for several years, but they hibernate during winter, so their environment has to be recreated for them to properly live in captivity. While they’re a small and interesting pet, they may not be as easy to keep as one would think.

See some adventures of Spike the Beetle below. He has companion beetles who hang out with him, as well!

https://twitter.com/SpikeTheBeetle/status/899277719942250496