Hornworm question

[Rosco]

I got my first order of hornworms today from mulberry farms. They had great service and shipped my package very well. I have a question regarding sustaining the lives of the worms. It says you can't keep them under 50 degrees but ive heard if you alternate them in a day and out a day they will live. I really don't want to resort to an icechest with icepacks. Does anyone know how refrigeration will affect the worms if under 50 degrees?

 

[lindawaz]

my fridge is set on 4. 0 being the coldest it goes to 9. according to my IR thermo.. they are 44.3 degrees

I rotate them in for 2 days then out for a day or two depending on how big they grew in the one day out. I do not put them against the back wall I keep them bottom shelf front by door. Been doing this for 4 years for my beardies conserving on shipping costs. yes they eat them full size but when I order 75 at a time I need to control their growth. Had no problems except the time they were pushed to the back some of the littlest ones did not make it

Others may say not to do this but for me it has worked and worked well

 

[Rosco]

Great advice Linda. The vegetable droor should help as well. 4 years is a long time of experience and with great results doesn't seem like a fluke.

 

[Rosco]

Hopefully I can get a few more ideas.

 

[moviemanmania]

my fridge is set on 4. 0 being the coldest it goes to 9. according to my IR thermo.. they are 44.3 degrees

I rotate them in for 2 days then out for a day or two depending on how big they grew in the one day out. I do not put them against the back wall I keep them bottom shelf front by door. Been doing this for 4 years for my beardies conserving on shipping costs. yes they eat them full size but when I order 75 at a time I need to control their growth. Had no problems except the time they were pushed to the back some of the littlest ones did not make it

Others may say not to do this but for me it has worked and worked well

How long are you able to keep the 75 worms alive for? This is great info!

 

[lindawaz]

I order them once a month. I also order extra food to make for them because when they start getting to the 2 inch they consume a lot in the day or two out. I save my empty cups they come in and split them up according to size so I can keep the little ones growing and the bigger ones slowed down I can usually keep them just about the entire month before they 're all consumed

 

[Rosco]

I just got my fridge up to 43f so I'm hoping that's warm enough. I'm waitin for the worms to gain more size before putting them into the cold tundra. I'm gonna test a few worms first. Linda do you use a cup with ventilation or a closed up cup?

 

[Dave Weldon]

I just got my fridge up to 43f so I'm hoping that's warm enough....

Howdy,

I hope that 43F isn't in your regular kitchen frig . It'll be good for slowing hornworms but not so good for keeping human food from spoiling . I think kitchen refrigerators need to run around 34F. I bought a small frig for my chameleon room years ago for keeping supplies and I set it to about 45F. Seems to work well. I usually do 1 day in the frig and 1 day out for hornworms. I get more than a month out of medium-sized hornworms that way. I also keep fresh bagged, damp Mulberry leaves (for feeding silkies) at 45F. Even after weeks, they are still in good shape .

 

[Rosco]

Hey Dave, glad to see a post from you. The fridge is out in the garage which is the back up/ second fridge and only has some cokes in it. I'm gonna test out a few decent sized worms to see how they respond to the cold and judge it from there. If it's alright to ask, where is the September sbck meeting?

 

[sdheli420]

im glad to see a hornworm post as i cant fridge them..was going into breeding..do any of you have growth tips??? or do you just deal with the worms(its all i can bother with at the moment as from what i know they need a cham cage to breed in...)

 

[Dave Weldon]

Hey Dave, glad to see a post from you. The fridge is out in the garage which is the back up/ second fridge and only has some cokes in it. I'm gonna test out a few decent sized worms to see how they respond to the cold and judge it from there. If it's alright to ask, where is the September sbck meeting?

Howdy Michael,

Happy to hear that it's a spare frig . Stay tuned - the next mtg location hasn't been completely solidified yet. Watch for that announcement sometime in mid-September .

 

[Rosco]

Alright then, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

 

[Rosco]

About how long after the worms have been in the fridge will it take them to compose and begin eating normally. I'm soooo happy that I successfully tested 5 worms yesterday and they all lived.