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Adding Vitamins To Fruit for an old beetle.


Bugoodle

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I've had my adult Harlequin Flower Beetle, Inky, for almost 5 months now. I know she's getting old, but I'm a little worried about her though.

She still eats fine, but is more clumbsy at walking than she ever used to be. Leaf littler is the new substrate and I rarely ever find her on her back like when I used coconut fiber. They have a rather thin layer too(I put extra under a decore where they like to burrow and sleep) but have a heating pad so they remain warm. Her tank mate, a green june bug, has been showing serious aggression towards her and I've seen him pull at her legs with his mouth(guess they have a bigger pair of mandibles than I thought!). I suspect this is why she has a crook in her hind legs.  So I gave my niece the june bug, but she was afraid that he would attack her june bug she already owns. So, we made a trade, and me and  We swapped june bugs. Her june bug is very small and if it starts displaying aggression Inky should be big enough to fend herself(she can be rather fiesty herself). Why are June bugs so mean?

Everyday I have to put Inky on the stand where the banana is at as I feel that she is too weak to get there. The stand is flat and sits on the substrate. It is made of a foamish-material and is easily climbable. Inky can climb it too. She's not very active anymore and I never see her drink from the water dish. 

All I ever fed my beetles were fresh fruits, especially banana, because Inky didn't like the jellies and once I started putting fresh fruit in the tank, the other beetles wanted nothing to do with jellies either. Maybe fresh fruit isn't providing enough nutrients to help my bugs live out their full potential life span. Any bug-safe vitamin supplements I can add to their fruits? I hate seeing inky - who could have another month and a half in front of her, die off early.

Thanks for any help!

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Thanks. I'm just going to let her live out the rest of her days. Ever since swapping the June Bugs, she has been a little more active. I also removed the platform. She seems to like walking around more on the substrate. I think she has these swings of "slow and feeble" to  "vigor and strength!"

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Really? I heard they live to be around 6 months as adults. Then again, I don't know exactly how old she was when I purchased her. That's something only Bugs In Cyberspace knows. Despite the crooks in her hind legs, she appears to be in healthy looking in shape. Hopefully I will have her longer. 

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