Morio beetles - what now?

[bbyoda]

Some of my superworms pupated and turned into beetles. I tried feeding them to Yoda and he's not interested at all - so now they're just hanging in the feeding gallery. I thought about having them as CUC but saw they are voracious eaters and I don't want them taking over or upsetting the balance.

So what now? Do I just wait until they starve to death? Is there something more useful and less wasteful I can do with them?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[CBee7726]

Some of my superworms pupated and turned into beetles. I tried feeding them to Yoda and he's not interested at all - so now they're just hanging in the feeding gallery. I thought about having them as CUC but saw they are voracious eaters and I don't want them taking over or upsetting the balance.

So what now? Do I just wait until they starve to death? Is there something more useful and less wasteful I can do with them?

Thanks for the advice!

breed them?

 

[bbyoda]

breed them?

The obvious answer that I was avoiding I guess??? maybe I'm at my bug bin limit??

Any pointers or blog posts you'd recommend on how to breed them?

 

[CBee7726]

The obvious answer that I was avoiding I guess??? maybe I'm at my bug bin limit??

Any pointers or blog posts you'd recommend on how to breed them?

LOL I was being a little sarcastic (only a little though, breeding is totally an option)

I don't have experience breeding supers personally but hopefully someone a little more helpful than me can chime in.

 

[kinyonga]

I had superworms breeding in my tortoise/turtles "cages.". They ate the greens, veggies, etc that I fed the tortoises/turtles and I put a piece of rotting wood in the "cages" for the superworms to breed and live under. I never had to put any more superworms in there and they never over ran the turtles' habitat either.

 

[jamest0o0]

I breed superworms all in one bin without separating the beetles like most people do. You don't get as many as you would strictly separating them and breeding to sell of, but you get plenty enough to feed since they aren't used as staples usually. Also much easier! I did it similar as @kinyonga mentioned. A big bin with cocofiber and lots of wood for the worms to burrow and pupate in. The beetles walk around and eat anything you throw in. I've had them in my enclosures before accidentally. Never had problems, but they can be a little destructive in large numbers(haven't seen It happen, but based off how they eat in my bins, I wouldn't want a lot in my displays).

 

[kinyonga]

Just to make it clear...I didn't use any that bred in my turtle habitats as food for any other critters I had...didn't want to cross contaminate!

 

[Ambilobe123]

You COULD keep them as pets, feed them cat/dog/fish food and fresh fruit/veg. they can’t fly, as they have fused elytra, an inch of rolled oats or so works as substrate. Rocks and twigs to climb- they’re fairly active.

 

[MissSkittles]

This thread is very timely for me...just decided to try and breed my own supers. I put some supers in a sectioned craft box, but all they have been doing in squeezing through the tiny gaps to visit each other. Now they’ll be going in my large extra cricket bin.

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

I have had success in feeding them but they are not staple feeders and have a hard exoskeleton that SHOULD be removed. If you need to get rid of them you can freeze them to kill them and then just throw em out.

 

[Pearl Fields]

I have had success in feeding them but they are not staple feeders and have a hard exoskeleton that SHOULD be removed. If you need to get rid of them you can freeze them to kill them and then just throw em out.

uhhh why should you remove their exoskeleton. i have fed superworms and never removed anything, the chameleon chews it up and i havent had problems?

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

The obvious answer that I was avoiding I guess??? maybe I'm at my bug bin limit??

Any pointers or blog posts you'd recommend on how to breed them?

It depends on how far you want to go with it—continuous breeding (and population growth) or small scale self sufficiency (just enough to avoid having to order). I expect techniques would be slightly different.

Lots to choose from: breeding superworms

 

[BadboyLeeroy]

Some of my superworms pupated and turned into beetles. I tried feeding them to Yoda and he's not interested at all - so now they're just hanging in the feeding gallery. I thought about having them as CUC but saw they are voracious eaters and I don't want them taking over or upsetting the balance.

So what now? Do I just wait until they starve to death? Is there something more useful and less wasteful I can do with them?

Thanks for the advice!

Do you still have any of the beetles left please??? And are you Interested in selling them?? I've been looking everywhere for beetles but nowhere seems to sell superworm beetles! It wud be huge help if u have a few spare please

 

[MissSkittles]

Do you still have any of the beetles left please??? And are you Interested in selling them?? I've been looking everywhere for beetles but nowhere seems to sell superworm beetles! It wud be huge help if u have a few spare please

They are super easy to pupate superworms into beetles, but it just takes time. I have a bunch of beetles, but they are getting old and starting to die off right now. Just yesterday I put in some new worms to start the pupate process.
I put them in sectioned case (I think it’s for beads or something), one per section. I have organic soil in there just enough to cover them and slightly moistened. I did have to hot glue each divider down to prevent the worms from moving into other sections.

After about a couple of weeks they start curling…

then they become something out of a nightmare.

Once they’ve reached the super ugly pupae phase I remove them and place in a clean container with a piece of paper towel just slightly moistened. They need some humidity to be able to properly molt. Over the next couple of weeks they start getting dark and one day you’ll look and find they’ve become beetles. I keep mine in a large cricket keeper with about 1/2 - 1” bran substrate. I give them pieces of egg carton to hide under. A couple of times a week I give them some small pieces of vegetable that has a low moisture content to hydrate them. Usually squash or carrot works well. All they really do is mate and eat…sometimes at the same time. Every 2-3 weeks I move the beetles to a fresh container, letting the eggs & babies in the old container grow up in peace. The beetles are very long lived. I think the current ones I have are well over 6 months old or close to it. You will find yourself with an over abundance of superworms once they get going, so I hope you either have a lot of reptiles or friends who can use them.

 

[bruce the cham]

i do exactly this its actually quite fun

 

[bbyoda]

Do you still have any of the beetles left please??? And are you Interested in selling them?? I've been looking everywhere for beetles but nowhere seems to sell superworm beetles! It wud be huge help if u have a few spare please

I do not! I just let them live out their lives in my chameleon's enclosure as clean up crew. I actually don't buy super worms anymore since they're more of a treat and I just have one adult chameleon so he doesn't eat much. But like others have stated here it's very easy to raise them yourself!

 

[bruce the cham]

i reales them into my chams pots sometimes

 

[Tonyww93]

Yep i just buy super worms mainly to throw in my bioactive never fails within a few weeks ill see beetles running around so my dude can snack on them