I bought

[Jweezy]

Hello

I was wondering I have purchased some wax worms and I noticed that some of them towards that bottom are a dark brown maybe black color unlike the rest but they still move around the same as the other but just a different color.

are they bad, like sick? dying? growing?

 

[ChameleonsInMyHouse]

when they start to turn dark, it means they are getting ready to transform into a wax moth. keep them in a high humidity enviornment and they will hatch for you

 

[ajacobson]

^ what they said. If they are still moving your cham will eat them. If you let them transform, I think they can still eat them.

 

[Hyokenseisou]

Wait.. really? So if waxworms turn black, they'll turn into moths? You sure? because I always thought they just died....
(I keep mine in the fridge, does that matter? If they turn black in there, are they dead? Or should I take them out? Or just leave them out of the fridge in general?)

 

[Miss Lily]

The dead ones are usuallyshrivelled up and floppy. The brown/black things may be pupae and they will turn into waxmoths which chameleons also love to eat! Pupae look different to the waxworms - they are hard and dark brown, but they do still wiggle a bit.

 

[Hyokenseisou]

Yeah I googled it.... and those totally aren't what mine look like... Mine are either black, limp and squishy, or black and hard but no wiggling.

If I want to turn them into moths, how would I go about doing that? When I get them, just leave them at room temp instead of putting them in the fridge? Do I need to supply them with any food? If so, what?

 

[Miss Lily]

Mine just pupate at room temps. I tend to get a good few die off if I keep them in the fridge. If they have died then they just look black and squishy - they look different when pupated. Once they pupate I put them in a different container until they emerge as moths. You can also try to breed them and start your own supply. I have tried a couple of times but not been very succcessful at it! Here's a link on how to make a breeding set-up for them. http://www.reptileexpert.org/waxworms.php