question about Goliaths

[javsto]

I was wondering how easy or hard it is to slow down the growth rate of small or newly hatched goliaths? I currently have a 3-4 month old male veiled cham and i want to introduce a second option or treat in with his current diet of just crickets. The only reason I havent bought goliaths yet is because I know that they grow superfast in a short period of time. If i were to put a few into his cage with out the pasty food that comes in with thier container, will the worms/catapiller eat the leaves of the umbrella plant or will they starve and die? Is there a way to slow down their growth rate so they dont get to big to fast?

 

[Texas Panther Man]

When you get your cups let them eat the grub that comes with them for the first nite. Then feed them off to your chams the next day. After youve fed off the amt you wish. Put the remainder in the fridge in the cup. They will slow down and go into a kind of coma. You can leave them in tthe fridge for two days and then take them out for 1 day to heat up and eat. Then feed more off and then back in the fridge. You can repeat that until they are all fed off. Hope that helps you and your new guy....

Oh yeah you can do the same exact thing with silks & with blue bottle flies for anyone else reading this....

 

[javsto]

Thank you for the info. I was planning on ordering some hornworm eggs and letting them hatch into small worms. Is this easliy done or do i need some sort of incubator or special temps to do this successfully?

 

[Texas Panther Man]

I havent raised horns from eggs Ive done silks before. Im pretty sure its about the same. You just need an incubation tub/dish and a basking light for heat. Im sure if you go on Mulberry Farms site they prob have a complete how to on rearing horns & silks. If not there the Manduca project has a complete website on rearing hornworms.

 

[DeviousMike]

Another way to do it is to remove them from the food source for a couple of days.