Watering Dermestid Beetles - is it necessary?

Dermestid Beetles and their need for water.

I thought it would be a good thing if I did a follow up on beetles and water. If you do not provide free water your skulls or other products that are fed need to have a moderate to high water content. I do not mean the flesh you are providing should be dripping wet but soft and moist is important.

Preventing mites by water denial can be counter productive.

I know a lot of dermestid owners do not provide water when the humidity is high in fear of mites and other problems in the colony. Yes, humidity over 50 percent can be an issue but if you know what you are doing and WHY these problems happen then it is not likely that you will have an infestation of mites.

So, what happens when you try to keep the humidity down by feeding your bugs dry meats and not providing water? First, the bugs will not do a good job of skull cleaning because they do not like mummys. They will consume everything that is easy and then leave the skull, or they turn to eating the most vulnerable in your colony......the pupating larvae and eggs. If that goes on for too long your replacement adult numbers drop and your colony growth stops or even worse it shrinks.

Lack of water can also cause a slow down of dermestid egg production. 

With no extra water than is needed for survival the bugs economize and save their body fluids for themselves...not a lot of eggs will be produced.

If you treat these insects as livestock and an important part of the processing of skulls and bones, you need to consider how to avoid problems. You need to invest in maintaining an environment that they will be safe and healthy so they can do the job you ask them to do..