Selectively breeding superworms?

[BenjiTheCham]

So... I’ve always liked the idea of breeding bugs (if you’ve seen my last few threads, I have been asking lots of questions lately) and I was wondering about selective breeding. For a long time I have always thought that it’s super cool how people can breed animals and change how they are by selective breeding.

I want to try this with superworms..

I have concluded that I am going to be breeding superworms (not any of the other insects mentioned in my previous threads ) because of their short(ish) life cycle (mostly the eggs, that’s one of my problems with most other feeder: Their eggs take quite a while to hatch) and they don’t require much attention or special food (cough cough, you know who you are).

So anyways.. I want to try to do this. I wanted some input and suggestions. Has anyone tried this in their own? Any info on the subject specific to superworms would be a big help, I can’t find anything specific to them, really to insects in general. Most of them are reddit posts lol. And a big thing: What trait should I try to isolate (I think that’s the right word)? I was thinking size. Possibly to see if I could have smaller superworms to be more suitable for smaller reptiles. But I was thinking I could also do more cosmetic things, maybe color if that’s even possible. Again, any input is helpful. Suggestions. Tips. Experienced..

My plan atm is to buy a container of them to start off with and start selecting the traits that I want (if they are present). Then transferring those to another container and continuing their lifecycle and allow them to breed, and continue to select the trait. I would keep a main group of the ones that don’t fit the criteria for feeding and comparative purposes.

So I have some main issues/questions.. selecting for size might be difficult because it could be hard to tell if it’s fully grown or if it’s still small. I could separate the ones that I think are small and if they get too big I could just put them back. Same thing goes with color I think. Don’t they superworms change colors when they are about to/after they molt? How long does a superworm take to get to full size and how will I know if that is the case (assuming it is in optimum conditions)?

Thanks for all your help, this is just one of the things I thought would be really cool to do.

 

[rlschwer]

Hello! I breed superworms myself, and while I love your enthusiasm (and hopeful jump into modifying genetics), I can see a few issues.

First and foremost, attempting to breed smaller worms would be a feat. I've never had one smaller than ginormous (~2") successfully pupate. In addition, if you did manage, the smaller beetles tend to be bullied to death and eaten...

I'm not sure there are too many traits to try to isolate and selectively manipulate; superworms are pretty uniform as a whole. Maybe over generations you could get some that are slightly lighter or darker in color, but I don't see much if any variation to begin with.

If you could manage to breed them to be less aggressive toward each other, that would be cool. They have an annoying tendency to cannibalize as soon as they're moisture source is gone (or just too far away)!

 

[BenjiTheCham]

Hello! I breed superworms myself, and while I love your enthusiasm (and hopeful jump into modifying genetics), I can see a few issues.

First and foremost, attempting to breed smaller worms would be a feat. I've never had one smaller than ginormous (~2") successfully pupate. In addition, if you did manage, the smaller beetles tend to be bullied to death and eaten...

I'm not sure there are too many traits to try to isolate and selectively manipulate; superworms are pretty uniform as a whole. Maybe over generations you could get some that are slightly lighter or darker in color, but I don't see much if any variation to begin with.

If you could manage to breed them to be less aggressive toward each other, that would be cool. They have an annoying tendency to cannibalize as soon as they're moisture source is gone (or just too far away)!

Thanks. This is the feedback I was looking for I have had superworms before (it has been a while though) but I haven’t bred them before.

I like the idea of less aggression. I’m not sure how exactly I would do this, but I will definitely give it a shot.

I haven’t gotten my supers yet, but I will on Tuesday or Wednesday, so then I’ll try to observe them more and see what I can do

 

[bbohannon13]

I would suggest breeding for traits that make them more beneficial as feeders. Softer shells, higher production, ect. The really technical stuff such as calcium is pretty expensive to test unless you start doing the chemistry yourself. Those are the type of things that are very welcome. If you do end up creating something like that, please patent the worm before selling. You have the right to do that and should be rewarded for the hard work.

 

[BenjiTheCham]

I would suggest breeding for traits that make them more beneficial as feeders. Softer shells, higher production, ect. The really technical stuff such as calcium is pretty expensive to test unless you start doing the chemistry yourself. Those are the type of things that are very welcome. If you do end up creating something like that, please patent the worm before selling. You have the right to do that and should be rewarded for the hard work.

Thanks for the advice. I was actually thinking about this stuff as well. I don’t think it would be very easy to test calcium and such, but shells are a good idea that I didn’t think of.

I’m definitely going to update my progress as I go! Maybe I’ll start a blog

 

[Ramrod]

Why? Good luck

 

[BenjiTheCham]

Why? Good luck

?

 

[BenjiTheCham]

Why? Good luck

If you’re asking why do I want to do this, I want to do this bc I have been interested in selective breeding for a while and it would be cool to have my own ‘breed’ of superworms.

 

[jamest0o0]

I'm really not one to knock somebodies plans or ideas, but I think you'll be disappointed with superworms. Maybe not though, who knows what's possible... You may have more fun selectively breeding roaches or isopods. That's where the cool morphs and stuff can come in. There have been people that bred all gold dubia colonies by separating the ones that start to get the goldish color to them.

 

[BenjiTheCham]

I'm really not one to knock somebodies plans or ideas, but I think you'll be disappointed with superworms. Maybe not though, who knows what's possible... You may have more fun selectively breeding roaches or isopods. That's where the cool morphs and stuff can come in. There have been people that bred all gold dubia colonies by separating the ones that start to get the goldish color to them.

I’m not doing roaches, Ik I’ll get over it eventually.. but it’s not the time.

I would definitely do isopods but I wanted something that I could feed somewhat regularly. I heard that isopods have too much phosphorus to feed often. I might just do it anyway though. What kind of things can you do with isopods??

 

[Grayson Payne]

Yeah, @jamest0o0 is your guy for roaches/isopods

 

[jacksonchamnew]

What do you feed superworms besides cooked oats? How do you gut load these. The ones I get at pet store are in sawdust and oats I guess. I never feed them other food.

 

[jacksonchamnew]

What do they have for water source?

 

[BenjiTheCham]

What do you feed superworms besides cooked oats? How do you gut load these. The ones I get at pet store are in sawdust and oats I guess. I never feed them other food.

What do they have for water source?

I’ve never actually bred superworms before, but I am starting in a few days..

When I had them before I kept them in the container and had no problems, but those may not be the most optimal conditions for breeding. I’ve heard of wheat bran, oats, and soil.

For moisture I think people use things like carrots or potatoes. I’m not sure how my containers of supers survived without moisture though..