Temp for breeding superworms
- Thread starter jojackson
- Start date
jojackson
New Member
Thankyou, anyone had die offs from mid 80's to low 90's?
Having a slight issue with controlling exact temp while keeping good ventilation.
Night time temp drops to low 70's ok?
Must it be really dark for the ones you want to force into beetles? There is no lighting except normal room light in day.
I couldnt get film cannisters so im using opague compartmentalised tacklebox like containers.
Having a slight issue with controlling exact temp while keeping good ventilation.
Night time temp drops to low 70's ok?
Must it be really dark for the ones you want to force into beetles? There is no lighting except normal room light in day.
I couldnt get film cannisters so im using opague compartmentalised tacklebox like containers.
laurie
Retired Moderator
Yes it needs to be dark. When I put my worms in little salsa cups I put a thumb tack hole in them and put them on a shelf with a towel hanging down from the shelf above. I often have 3 or 4 out of the batches of 12 that die instead of turning to beetles. I have no idea why, but my method isn't foolproof as you can tell. The closet I put all the worms in is the one in my lizard room. Temps are around 80 days to 67 - 70 at night. Closet should be somewhere close to that, but I never bother to measure closet temp.
Here is the old sheet someone posted to the forum(sorry I don't know who) that I started with.
There are some good places online to search out, try Google. That's how I found out how to do it. Anyway, here are some directions.
Get some nice plump worms at the pet store. Put them in some oatmeal (raw please) with a chunk of potato. Let them eat and poop for at least two weeks.
Get some covered cups like what salsa is served in or the individual little cup of cole slaw in a deli. We have a Fresh Burrito place by us that uses these cups. Put one worm in each cup. Punch a hole in the top with a thumb tack and set the cups in a dark warm cabinet or drawer. They will shed if needed then curl into a C shape for a couple weeks and then pop out of that skin into a crysalis. This crysalis takes about 2-4 weeks to develop. It will then start to turn brown, do a little shed (you will see the legs emerging) and then one day you will see this beetle. It starts out being very light colored, but darkens over the next couple days.
I take the beetle out of the cup and put it in a plastic shoe box with a mixture of wheat germ and oatmeal with a chunk or two of potato. Take the lumpy part of an egg carton (cup off the flat part) and turn it upside down covering your beetle. They will pile into one or two of the cups and hang upside down in there, warm and dark.
They will eat the meal and the potato, slowly. After about 4-5 days they will mate and start laying eggs which you will probably never see. When the eggs hatch the worms will be sooooo tiny you probably won't notice them. In about a month the teeny worms will grow big enough for you to see them, but not to feed to your cham.
This is a slow process, but you will realize hundreds of worms. The beetles will start to die off in about 2 months, but the worms will be growing.
Again, keep them warm, but don't worry about fresh potatoes, they seem to like them better when they have been sitting in the bin for weeks. One day you will pick up that piece of potato and see the worms are eating a hole in the potato. If you throw away the hardened potato piece you may be throwing away worms.
Don't feed them off until they get large, about 2" and fat.
I put worms into the cups about every month so I have an ongoing batch. I have 5 chams and am propogating 12 every month. If you have any young chams they can eat the smaller worms. My little ambilobe (4 months) loves the worms and gets 3/day along with about 8 1/4" crickets.
Good luck - it takes a long time but it is interesting and once they start you will have a nice colony.
Here is the old sheet someone posted to the forum(sorry I don't know who) that I started with.
There are some good places online to search out, try Google. That's how I found out how to do it. Anyway, here are some directions.
Get some nice plump worms at the pet store. Put them in some oatmeal (raw please) with a chunk of potato. Let them eat and poop for at least two weeks.
Get some covered cups like what salsa is served in or the individual little cup of cole slaw in a deli. We have a Fresh Burrito place by us that uses these cups. Put one worm in each cup. Punch a hole in the top with a thumb tack and set the cups in a dark warm cabinet or drawer. They will shed if needed then curl into a C shape for a couple weeks and then pop out of that skin into a crysalis. This crysalis takes about 2-4 weeks to develop. It will then start to turn brown, do a little shed (you will see the legs emerging) and then one day you will see this beetle. It starts out being very light colored, but darkens over the next couple days.
I take the beetle out of the cup and put it in a plastic shoe box with a mixture of wheat germ and oatmeal with a chunk or two of potato. Take the lumpy part of an egg carton (cup off the flat part) and turn it upside down covering your beetle. They will pile into one or two of the cups and hang upside down in there, warm and dark.
They will eat the meal and the potato, slowly. After about 4-5 days they will mate and start laying eggs which you will probably never see. When the eggs hatch the worms will be sooooo tiny you probably won't notice them. In about a month the teeny worms will grow big enough for you to see them, but not to feed to your cham.
This is a slow process, but you will realize hundreds of worms. The beetles will start to die off in about 2 months, but the worms will be growing.
Again, keep them warm, but don't worry about fresh potatoes, they seem to like them better when they have been sitting in the bin for weeks. One day you will pick up that piece of potato and see the worms are eating a hole in the potato. If you throw away the hardened potato piece you may be throwing away worms.
Don't feed them off until they get large, about 2" and fat.
I put worms into the cups about every month so I have an ongoing batch. I have 5 chams and am propogating 12 every month. If you have any young chams they can eat the smaller worms. My little ambilobe (4 months) loves the worms and gets 3/day along with about 8 1/4" crickets.
Good luck - it takes a long time but it is interesting and once they start you will have a nice colony.
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jojackson
New Member
OK, Ill take some temp readings and find a dark place.
This is my first time ever breeding these things. I bought a colony of about 250 megasize worms, have about 40 ready to pupate.
Never been able to get these here before this weekend.
Local insect breeders are ripping folk off by repackaging large mealworms and calling them 'superworms'. They are just mealworms, name is T. something or other.
This colony is zoophoba morio. Wish me luck, I have lots of lizards, some turtles and frogs that just love the things, not to mention my cham!
Thanks for your advice everyone.
This is my first time ever breeding these things. I bought a colony of about 250 megasize worms, have about 40 ready to pupate.
Never been able to get these here before this weekend.
Local insect breeders are ripping folk off by repackaging large mealworms and calling them 'superworms'. They are just mealworms, name is T. something or other.
This colony is zoophoba morio. Wish me luck, I have lots of lizards, some turtles and frogs that just love the things, not to mention my cham!
Thanks for your advice everyone.
jojackson
New Member
Laurie, Thanks for the extra info
just one more question please...
When you have your new beetles in a tub ready to breed, how long do you leave them there? wont they eat the baby worms/eggs after a while?
Can you give them so long, say, a month, to do the tango and lay eggs, then remove the beetles to a new tub for another month or so till they die so the small worms can grow?
ok make that two questions, whats the normal time from worm to full beetle?
just one more question please...
When you have your new beetles in a tub ready to breed, how long do you leave them there? wont they eat the baby worms/eggs after a while?
Can you give them so long, say, a month, to do the tango and lay eggs, then remove the beetles to a new tub for another month or so till they die so the small worms can grow?
ok make that two questions, whats the normal time from worm to full beetle?
laurie
Retired Moderator
Worm to beetle is 2 or 3 weeks. When they look like they are see thru and getting little legs you know they are on the way to beetles.
I guess i never worry about the beetles in with the egg/babies. As long as they have potatoes I don't think they bother the babies. Also it seems the beetles move on to another egg cup after the eggs are laid. I know I have lots of different sizes of worms together with no problems.
I guess i never worry about the beetles in with the egg/babies. As long as they have potatoes I don't think they bother the babies. Also it seems the beetles move on to another egg cup after the eggs are laid. I know I have lots of different sizes of worms together with no problems.
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