Cow pea beetles(bean weevils)

[TreelionsUK]

Hello all,any of you guys use these?? i think mainly keepers of frogs will use them but i have found them useful for feeding baby chameleons,very easy to culture and breed quickly

 

[Karen]

I use them for babies Luke, infact they are all over the house!! and usually in every cup of coffee i pick up to drink

 

[TreelionsUK]

just you and me then kaz! lol

 

[TreelionsUK]

A few pics if your interested,A great food for baby chameleons

 

[Heika]

Suppose you wouldn't want to break US law and ship some of those to me? USDA might knock on your door.. or mine..

 

[TreelionsUK]

Heika! i have loads of them!!!
Are they not allowed in your part of the world then???
Lots of frog keepers use them here

 

[Heika]

Grr.. along with locusts and a few other prized but highly illegal bugs. Even walking sticks are illegal here. Not saying that they are impossible to get.. just really, really difficult. Plus, there is an air of smuggling, risk, and espionage about the whole thing.. and you can't discuss feeding whatever the illegal bug is.. etc. I would really like termites too, but getting a breeding colony of them is hard here also.

 

[TreelionsUK]

Man that sucks!! They are very harsh rules,im sure your Not!! gonna let them escape!
Is there anyway they would allow hobbists to use them?
Your chameleons are missing out
What do you feed then?? crix only??...

 

[rozdaboff]

Could you describe your culturing conditions?

Type of container, ventilation, etc.

Thanks.

 

[TreelionsUK]

Yep no problem,
A lightly ventilated container is used (1mm holes drilled in lid)
a layer of black eyed beans is used,the culture is kept between 70-80 with very low humidity,once every 2 weeks i add 1 drop of water to a paper towel that is in with the culture(you can see the paper in the pics)
And thats it.

Luke

 

[Heika]

Man that sucks!! They are very harsh rules,im sure your gonna let them escape!
Is there anyway they would allow hobbists to use them?
Your chameleons are missing out
What do you feed then?? crix only??...

Ha.. no, we are allowed to have insects that aren't considered agricultural pests. So, crickets, roaches, superworms, mealworms, wax worms, silkworms, a few others. I keep firebrats, but I think I am one of only a few people who has a culture in the US. I was fortunate enough to snag a culture from a guy a while back.. can't get them from him anymore, I don't think.

Heika

 

[TreelionsUK]

So you have most of the good stuff then thats good!!
What are firebrats then??