DIY Beetle Jelly for my darklings and velvet ants

[Aquarimax]

i have had a mixed darkling beetle/velvet ant enclosure for a while now. It is a fascinating setup, but I had a problem: the beetles would get into the honey/water mixture intended for the velvet ants, get sticky, and then walk in the substrate and get particles stuck to their feet. They didn’t seem to like that, and what is more, they would track sticky honey and substrate all along the lower inch of the glass of the enclosure.

I decided to try offering beetle jelly as an alternative to the honey/water mixture. I looked up a recipe, (http://beetlesaspets.blogspot.com/2013/11/jelly-for-tropical-beetles-at-home.html?m=1) and then tweaked that recipe a bit.
This short clip comes from day 1 of the feeding trial. I removed the jelly from the deli cup when I realized some of the insects had trouble getting in and out of the cup.

I am trying to find the ideal consistency. It seems the beetles can dig into the jelly. The velvet ants are sure trying, but I am not sure if they are getting anything.

 

[mickiem]

Did you read the comments on the RECIPE post? There was a lot of discussion about other binders and preservatives. Is there a reason animal protein is not desired? Gelatin seems like a good idea to me. Also, could you dry to crystallize the honey or maybe use maple syrup (it crystallizes easier)?

 

[pannaking22]

That's really cool, I hadn't thought about making my own jelly before (admittedly I'm not keeping beetles right now).

 

[chanda]

For velvet ants or other wasps, I usually just use halved grapes or orange slices and change them out every day or two.

 

[mickiem]

I knew I had found a recipe for something and looked through my recents and found it. It is for "Snello", a gastropod food. It might have ingredients that are interesting to you. I saved it to my computer without a source, so I am not sure to whom the credit would go. But it is found in several places on the internet without a source. I would amend the recipe to dissolve the gelatin in water and then add more dry ingredients to compensate. I believe my source was YouTube and that source had linked to another site.

SNELLO

1 4-oz package of veggie baby food (high calcium)
2 packages of unflavored gelatin
1 - 3 tsp calcium powder or ground cuttlebone
1 - 4 Tbsp flake fish food, algae wafers, crab or shrimp food, dried bloodworms or other treats/supplements. You should grind these fine in a coffee grinder or similar.

Directions:
In a glass container, heat the baby food for 30sec in the microwave. It will be very hot, so handle carefully when removing. With a metal spoon, stir in the gelatin until well mixed, then stir in the calcium and treats. After it is well stirred, spoon the gelatin into a container, and refrigerate for a couple hours. After it sets up, cut into cubes and serve as needed. You can freeze it after setting, and just drop it right in the tank to thaw. This recipe works for both aquatic and terrestrial gastropods of all sorts, though carnivores may be less enthused if you don’t add lots of meat flavored treats like freeze dried bloodworms, brine shrimp, etc.

 

[Aquarimax]

Thank you @mickiem! I’ll bet lots of my critters would like various iterations of this...from my assassin snails to my Isopods!

I knew I had found a recipe for something and looked through my recents and found it. It is for "Snello", a gastropod food. It might have ingredients that are interesting to you. I saved it to my computer without a source, so I am not sure to whom the credit would go. But it is found in several places on the internet without a source. I would amend the recipe to dissolve the gelatin in water and then add more dry ingredients to compensate. I believe my source was YouTube and that source had linked to another site.

SNELLO

1 4-oz package of veggie baby food (high calcium)
2 packages of unflavored gelatin
1 - 3 tsp calcium powder or ground cuttlebone
1 - 4 Tbsp flake fish food, algae wafers, crab or shrimp food, dried bloodworms or other treats/supplements. You should grind these fine in a coffee grinder or similar.

Directions:
In a glass container, heat the baby food for 30sec in the microwave. It will be very hot, so handle carefully when removing. With a metal spoon, stir in the gelatin until well mixed, then stir in the calcium and treats. After it is well stirred, spoon the gelatin into a container, and refrigerate for a couple hours. After it sets up, cut into cubes and serve as needed. You can freeze it after setting, and just drop it right in the tank to thaw. This recipe works for both aquatic and terrestrial gastropods of all sorts, though carnivores may be less enthused if you don’t add lots of meat flavored treats like freeze dried bloodworms, brine shrimp, etc.

 

[Aquarimax]

For velvet ants or other wasps, I usually just use halved grapes or orange slices and change them out every day or two.

Good idea...I want to try that as well, (especially since I have a grapevine with grapes due to ripen soon), but I also wanted something iI could tweak a bit for a wider variety of nutrients, since both the beetles and velvet ants are sharing.

 

[Aquarimax]

That's really cool, I hadn't thought about making my own jelly before (admittedly I'm not keeping beetles right now).

It has been a fun experiment! Today there was plenty of munching going on again...

 

[Aquarimax]

Did you read the comments on the RECIPE post? There was a lot of discussion about other binders and preservatives. Is there a reason animal protein is not desired? Gelatin seems like a good idea to me. Also, could you dry to crystallize the honey or maybe use maple syrup (it crystallizes easier)?

Did you read the comments on the RECIPE post? There was a lot of discussion about other binders and preservatives. Is there a reason animal protein is not desired? Gelatin seems like a good idea to me. Also, could you dry to crystallize the honey or maybe use maple syrup (it crystallizes easier)?

Gelatin for the animal protein aspect totally makes sense. I was trying the agar agar basically because it remains solid at warmer temperatures, rather than melting into something my beetles might end up wading in. Maple syrup is definitely worth a try, I’ll bet the millipedes would like that!

 

[chanda]

Good idea...I want to try that as well, (especially since I have a grapevine with grapes due to ripen soon), but I also wanted something is could tweak a bit for a wider variety of nutrients, since both the beetles and velvet ants are sharing.

Yeah, the grapes and oranges don't appeal to the beetles as much. When I've kept them in mixed enclosures, I just provide multiple food choices.

 

[davehuth]

Just want to chime in and say thanks for this great discussion and the recipes shared. I'm always looking for economical feeding solutions with tweakable ingredients. Thank you!

 

[extra outlandishness]

Thanks for sharing this. Do you think beetle jelly is preferable to fruit for preventing mite infestation?

 

[Aquarimax]

Thanks for sharing this. Do you think beetle jelly is preferable to fruit for preventing mite infestation?

Great question! It is supposedly less attractive to fruit flies and fungus gnats than fruit is...but I am too early into my trials to be able to say whether that is true, or how mites respond to it. Hopefully I will find out! I think I am finally getting the hang of the correct amount of agar agar for the proper consistency...