Insect Hydration

[MauricesExoticPets]

Tuesday Tidbits

Today’s tidbit of information is going to cover insect hydration and the effects it can have on your feeder insects.

Insects are much like any other living thing, mostly water with a little bit of minerals, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and proteins tossed in for good measure. The creation of these components of your insect is not possible without proper hydration.

Take away access to water and your insects level of hydration begins to falter, then a process begins within the insect to solve the problem by utilizing the very materials that make up its body. One method among others is to modify some proteins in an effort to make the exoskeleton less permeable to water. Another is to seek out suboptimal temperatures to slow metabolism which will reduce water loss through respirations. While both of these methods do decrease water loss they are costly to the insect in terms of the insects ability to properly convert food into body mass and in the utilization of their own reserves to fuel restructuring their body to limit water loss.

When 100% hydration is denied for a prolonged period the overall effect is much greater and impacts the insects development speed, total lifespan, and reproductive ability. In short, the grow slower, live shorter, and reproduce less if at all. The simple fix is to avoid dehydration in the first place.

The nutritional makeup of feeder insects is often represented as Protein, Fat, Ash, Ca, and P, sometimes Water % is also shown; for these figures to be even a close representation of the insects you are rearing at home you must always provide them with access to water. Chronic dehydration in your insect colony greatly effects the nutritional qualities by reducing the insects ability to process its diet into body mass. One reason is that insects will consume much less food when their hydration levels are restricted, this limited food intake prevents the insects from receiving the nutrients they need to be as fully developed and healthy as is possible for the species. Proper hydration in combination to access to the nutrients needed for optimal development are two prime factors in the creation of nutritious feeder insects.

Nearly all animals gain some portion of their hydration needs through the diet they consume, your insectivorous pets rely on insects to both provide great nutrition and a part of their water needs. Limiting your colonies hydration to only a fraction of what it should be not only negatively impacts the insects it also has an impact on the insectivore that consumes insects whose hydration levels are not optimized.

Our insect colonies have access to both fresh fruits or vegetables and hydrated water crystals at all times to support their need for water, this method has served us very well over the years and can greatly improve your insect colonies value as feeders over the long run.

Don’t under estimate the value of properly cared for insect feeders, next weeks Tidbit Tuesday will cover insect dry diets.

Maurice Pudlo

 

[acpart]

Thanks for sharing.

Aliza

 

[thorrshamri]

What do you think about "cricket jellied water" Maurice?

 

[MauricesExoticPets]

What do you think about "cricket jellied water" Maurice?

There are two forms generally available, one is the polymer crystal type that is sold either hydrated or in its crystal form in bulk or sometimes 1oz packages that absorb 1 gallon of water, or you have the agar agar based cubes which is a jelly type product similar to gelatin except the gelling agent is plant based.

The polymer crystals are easy to use and popular, they do introduce a non nutritional quantity of nontoxic polymer into the insects diet though the quantity is very small.

The gel cubes are often not just gelled water, calcium, vitamins, etc. can all be added to the mixture along with colorants.

I use a three tier system in my feeding, a dry diet provides the bulk of my insects dietary nutrients, a variety of fruits and or vegetables provides most of the hydration, and lastly I always have hydrated water crystals available.

If I had no limitations on space, time, or finances I would use just fruit for hydration, most likely oranges.

The gel cubes are far more expensive than they are valueable, a couple oranges or apples will nearly accomplish the exact same thing for far less cost than the gell cubes.

The polymer water crystals on the other hand are often far cheaper in use than any vegetable that is accepted by all feeder insects. For example any cricket breeder puts half a potato in each 1000 count box of crickets to keep them hydrated for one or two days, a 10 pound bag of potatoes might cost anywhere from $2-5 US depending on the season and type you buy (yes I know green skin potatoes are toxic). A similar expendature in water crystals can provide 16-40 pounds of hydrated water crystals.

In my opinion, if you own one or two geckos and are not planning to add to that number by all means use the gel cubes to hydrate your feeders (along with a dry diet and fresh fruits and vegetables). Otherwise the cost to provide simple hydration gets a bit out of hand.

Maurice Pudlo

 

[thorrshamri]

Thanks Maurice, I have to agree with you on almost everything above, except for one particular point: potatoes are toxic (both leaves and tubercules) to vegetarian reptiles such as green iguanas or Uromastyx and are thus likely to be toxic on the long run for geckos through prey insects.

Potato Glycoalkaloid Toxicity: Solanine

This glycoalkaloid toxicity is much higher on reptiles than on humans (source: Vet. Dr. Lionel Schilliger, 2004, Guide pratique des maladies des reptiles en captivité).

 

[MauricesExoticPets]

Thanks Maurice, I have to agree with you on almost everything above,...

Thank you.

...except for one particular point: potatoes are toxic (both leaves and tubercules) to vegetarian reptiles such as green iguanas or Uromastyx and are thus likely to be toxic on the long run for geckos through prey insects.

Not true, while direct ingestion of glycoalkaloids can be toxic, as in the case of herbivorous reptiles, mammals, and insects for that matter, the insectivorous reptile does consume enough undigested active glycoalkaloids to present any issue at all.

A mealworm of medium size comes in at close to 0.07g, of which 0.04g is water, 0.008g is fat, 0.01g is protein, 0.005g is fiber, the ash content is .001g, (the remainder of weight is because I did not carry out the decimal point) may consume 0.02g of total feed per day, even if this consumption equaled the larva weight at 0.07g the majority of consumption is grain with a moisture content of 3% to 4%, and potato with a moisture content of 79.3%, eating just the potato and nothing else the mealworm would consume at most 0.01449g of dry matter.

Total potential glycoalkaloids is 0.00173mg

Toxicity begins to present itself at higher than 12mg/100g, and that is at total weight not dry matter weight, but we will continue regardless.

Toxicity is additionally reduced to negligible levels by digestion, a process the insects are doing at all times.

So our 7g (70mg) mealworm has a glycoalkaloid content of 0.00247mg/100g, assuming it would survive consuming the glycoalkaloids itself.

Even doubling the 12mg/100g glycoalkaloid content does not bring us to anywhere close to toxic levels.

In addition to all that, the average consumer should have access to human safe foods such as not yet green or sprouting potatoes, and use them prior to the point where the potato begins to develop higher levels of toxins.

Another interesting factor is that on average insects avoid toxic foods if access to nontoxic food is available, mealworms do not consume the skin of potatoes, which happens to also be where the majority of glycoalkaloids are located.

Potato Glycoalkaloid Toxicity: Solanine

Thank you for the link.

This glycoalkaloid toxicity is much higher on reptiles than on humans (source: Vet. Dr. Lionel Schilliger, 2004, Guide pratique des maladies des reptiles en captivité).

Mainly due to reptiles slower metabolism, still it would have to be many hundreds of times worse for reptiles to have an effect.

Nearly all insect breeders use low cost potato as a hydration source, and have been doing so for generations upon generations with no relatable evidence that glycoalkaloids found in potato are toxic when consumed secondary to being ingested by insects.

On a personal note: In the past I had something on the order of 100.500 breeding leopard geckos whos diet consisted of 25% mealworms 75% lobster roaches, both insects reared at the time on a dry diet and potato for hydration. I did not experience losses, calcium crashes, and still maintain a number of those geckos as pets today, though their diet is slightly different the lobster roaches now get water crystals and a variety of fruits and vegetables (including potato) for hydration.

It is my opinion that the total package of nutrition needs to be addressed, and the avoidance of every potential toxin is simply not possible. I am not sure who said it, but, everything can kill you if you put enough of it in your body fast enough. Radiation is toxic to the point of being able to kill you quite quickly, but in measured doses it can also save your life. Phytic acid blocks the uptake of calcium and other minerals, but in measured doses it to can save lives in cases of excessive uptake.

Maurice Pudlo

 

[thorrshamri]

Thanks for this very interesting input Maurice. I have so far only followed a "just in case" policy to feed my insects but that is really good to know.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Very informative, Maurice and thorrshamri .

 

[WildWildMidwest]

Very interesting thread. I raise dubias (250 estimated at present) for our two juvenile crested geckos. I put apple cores, pear cores, banana peels, mango peels/cores, crushed dogfood, <18% protein chicken mash, occasional microwaved eggshells, orange slices, Cheerios, dried oatmeal flakes, and dried out leftover CGD into the colony every day. I see lots of baby nymphs running around. I have a shallow lid with water crystals covered with a paper towel to keep poop out, and a pint sized plastic open-topped water container with paper towels draped over the edges to accelerate evaporation. Colony humidity is around 80% and the temperature is 85-90 degrees.

Two questions: (1) how often should I throw away the used water crystals? (2) Is there any reason to spray the inside walls of their colony box?

I worry about mold growth. Try as I may, it's nearly impossible to get mushy fruit remnants out before mold starts to grow on it. Eggshells never stay in longer than 18 hours. I use those as a weekly treat.

 

[WildWildMidwest]

P.S., Polymeric water crystals may be as inexpensive as eight pounds per dollar (if I calculate correctly from Maurice's first post) in huge wholesale volumes, but most online retailers charge pet owners $9-10 per pound + shipping. So potatoes may make better financial sense to the average hobbyist... or mixed fruit remnants (free) and a plastic water jar (free) with papertowels (nearly free.)

 

[Joey1]

With my feeder crickets, I keep fresh chopped carrots and dark leafy greens as a food source, in there little enclosure. I have a popsicle stick, mounted off to the side, that wrapped tight with some paper towel; just enough to hold water... when they're thirsty you'll see the jump to the stick, and jump off when they finish drinking the water from the towel. . .

 

[WildWildMidwest]

That's a neat tip about the popsicle stick. I keep a water tub + paper towel wick in there until I see enough condensation on the tub sides that roaches can have a drink by moving a few inches in any direction. Then I remove the water tub for a couple days until the condensation goes away. Rinse and repeat.

Sliced orange-halves are another popular way of providing hydration, and it's reported to have an aphrodisiac effect. Spoiling grapes, apple cores, anything going bad in the fridge works too: Cupids soar overhead.

Happy Valentine's Day, my darlings!

 

[MauricesExoticPets]

P.S., Polymeric water crystals may be as inexpensive as eight pounds per dollar (if I calculate correctly from Maurice's first post) in huge wholesale volumes, but most online retailers charge pet owners $9-10 per pound + shipping. So potatoes may make better financial sense to the average hobbyist... or mixed fruit remnants (free) and a plastic water jar (free) with papertowels (nearly free.)

Water crystals at wholesale go for around $0.64 per ounce, each ounce holds one gallon of water, 1oz. Water crystals = 8.3lbs. of hydration. Retail packages in 1oz. measure typically sell for around $1.00.

Maurice Pudlo

 

[thorrshamri]

Sliced orange-halves are another popular way of providing hydration, and it's reported to have an aphrodisiac effect. Spoiling grapes, apple cores, anything going bad in the fridge works too: Cupids soar overhead.

The problem with oranges is that they tend to attract fruitflies from the outside, these bugs are a nightmare to get rid of once they have settled in your reptile room or even your kitchen!

Where did you take that idea from about oranges being aphrodisiac? You mean for geckos? Usually, fruit-eating geckos keep away from oranges because of acidity...

 

[WildWildMidwest]

Hevré, whether it's a valid observation or not, I read several roach breeders comment in various forums and on YouTube that oranges boost roach colony production. Unfortunately a quick search did not yield a link. Your point about fruit flies is undoubtedly correct but it's not something we've experienced so far. Our basement is pretty tight (no bugs except the colony) and it's too cold outdoors for flies to be active. But using oranges and other overripe fruit should probably come to an end when the weather warms up. So far I've seen one dead adult male dubia in our colony since we started roach keeping two months ago and no dead females. I don't know how old the male was.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

I use mostly apple slices as hydration for my roaches. They last a long time without getting rotten and/or moldy, the roaches love them, they're cheap and easy to get, and they make the roach bins smell nice.

 

[WildWildMidwest]

Different experiences for different people: apple cores turn moldy in our colony, whereas sliced orange ends (worst 1/4 of a past-prime orange) get completely devoured before turning bad. I still put apple remnants in there but I have to remember to pull them out within 48 hours. The oranges I never worry about. Banana peels are beloved by our dubias as an almost daily treat.

 

[MauricesExoticPets]

I have a scale in our bug room, I pull a colony, drop it on the scale and glance at a chart for feeding and hydration weights. Adult colonies are pretty stable in weight so they get a fixed quantity of food and hydration, the growing nymphs on the other hand are ever changing. No need to waste, or under feed and hydrate here.

Maurice Pudlo

 

[WildWildMidwest]

Wow, Maurice, I never thought about quantifying hydration & feeding in that way. Good tip from a pro!

 

[MauricesExoticPets]

Lack of hydration and nutrition causes many insects to source these things from colony mates when they are "in the white" mid-molt, this type of loss is avoided by simply offering enough food and water.

On the other side of the coin, over feeding and watering presents an issue of spoilage, pest attraction, and ultimate waste.

Insects tend to soil fruits and water crystals without regard for their own health, and while this may in itself not be particularly harmful to the insects in the short term, it is less than ideal when the insects are intended to be feeders.

The question may come up "Will you post your chart?", no is the short answer.

The long answer is this, if you are using the same feed, hydration methods, temperature, humidity, and sex ratio, then the chart would work for you, otherwise it will not. Consumption is based on all of these factors as well as how the food is presented.

Maurice Pudlo