Need some feeder suggestions

[Panthro413]

Looks like a great resource. How long do you think these things live?

Well, my first batch I had for a month+ , they grew to big for my cham so gave them to my bro for his dragon. This time around I requested the smallest they had, have had them few weeks, they are thriving. They last long. Just make sure to feed them. I feed them chow.

 

[Tortdad]

True but not true. You do want to introduce strong genetics on occasion but you have to breed the worms to have strong genetics. And introducing new blood from a reputable source is extremely important. Silkworms have a terrible immune system and you will find that with new batches and old batches. The best thing is breeding your silkworms strong and true. However in the process you have to be prepared to lose hundreds of dollars in worms for good breeding stock. I have been working on my strong genes for 1+ years now.


And @Tortdad why do you think the BSFL and Blue bottle flies died? Did they look dead or something?

I'm not sure why they died but they are most definitely dead. The BSFL all died within 24-48hrs of each other. They seemed to being doing just fine then a week or so after I got them they all dried up

 

[jamest0o0]

This may be a dumb question, but your e sure they didn't pupate? BSFL turn hard and black when they pupate and can take some time for the fly to come out.

Bottleflies usually turn a dark brown and look like a football.

 

[Tortdad]

Positive.

I had a few turn back then they were all hollowed out a dried up. They looked like a shed

 

[Andee]

That sounds like the fly had hatched out... odd. If they had died in the process of pupating it would have been much uglier.

 

[Tortdad]

Impossible unless the flys are the size of a gnat.

I had them in a Tupperware container with holes in the lid made from a thumb tac.

 

[Andee]

Idk XD it's weird that they died while pupating honestly... were you keeping them in the fridge?

 

[Tortdad]

The only thing I can think of is they dried out too much. Since I only ordered 50 they came in a tiny plastic cup, Like the ones you put salsa in at a taco shop (smaller than a shot glass) . The cup was packed super tight with whatever medium they come in. There were a few black spikes and the rest still kicking around. I transferred them into a small Tupperware container that looked like it would hold maybe 1 or 1-1/2 cups of dry rice and poked holes in the lid.

The medium they came in was damp and now that I had spread that medium out in a larger container it was starting to dry out so every couple days I'd give it 1 squirt from my misting bottle. I wouldn't even call it wet, just slightly damp. I even went as far as taking a paper towel and drying off the inside walls of the Tupperware so that excess water couldn't run down the sides and make it too wet. They were looking good then poof... all dead.

 

[Tortdad]

Idk XD it's weird that they died while pupating honestly... were you keeping them in the fridge?

No, on the counter at room temp

 

[Andee]

Might have dried... do you know what the medium they were in was?

 

[Tortdad]

As a "just in case they aren't dead" I dumped them all out into the base of one of the pants in the encloser

 

[Tortdad]

I'm not sure what the medium was, I'd have to ask joshes frogs. It was part coo coo peat and not sure what the rest was.

 

[Andee]

Interesting I have never had issues like that. Might try a different source?

 

[hopps31]

I had problems with Blue bottle flies not hatching either. I ended up ordering the spikes from rainbowmealworms.com and have had great luck. I put a few in a baggie and put the baggie next to the heat light on top of the chams tank, it took about a week to hatch, then I added a little raw honey to the baggie. I put the rest on the door of the refrigerator and take them out as needed. Also I have had really good luck getting BSFL off of Kritters for Christ, I ordered 300 at the beginning of August and they are all still alive and pupating into flies. I keep them in a plastic critter keeper and mist them every other day!
P.S- I have ordered many things from Kritters for Christ and rainbow mealworms with very good luck and healthy feeders

 

[hopps31]

Another quick note here is my setup for feeders, I have two chams and this is my setup for feeders I find these easy to keep and really not get over run except dubia. They are all 10 gallon tanks, the first tank is superworms, the second one is crickets(from rainbow mealworms I ordered 1000 well over a month ago and still going strong) with the lowest watt Zoo Med heat pad, and the other one is my dubia colony with same heat pad, when that colony gets to big I sell them off locally for more special order feederson top of that is the bin with green banana roaches and Isopods with heat pad. Also the critter keeper with BSFL. I did hatch out silkworms too but from now on I will just buy the worms, I had a heck of a time keeping them warm enough to hatch as our house is to cool plus my chams never ate all 500 of them. I now know I didn't need to hatch all of them, but still worms from now on for me
Here is a picture

 

[Jakama]

Well, my first batch I had for a month+ , they grew to big for my cham so gave them to my bro for his dragon. This time around I requested the smallest they had, have had them few weeks, they are thriving. They last long. Just make sure to feed them. I feed them chow.

Nice, I will definitely order them. What kind of chow, though?