Waxworm breeding

[insectovore]

During one of my orders of waxworms quite a few turned into pupae before I could feed them off (they are a light brown color, not black). I mixed up some wheat bran and organic honey and put it inside a canning jar with a paper towel for a lid. this went into the top of a closet which gets quite warm. I began seeing moths soon after but they quickly perished. I worried they had perished so quickly that they would not have found each other and laid eggs. However, when I opened the contain today, about 3 weeks later, I was surprised at how large the larvae were. They are too large now for my bumblebee toads but I will use them for my arboreal salamanders and grow some up full size for my lizards.

 

[MissSkittles]

Yup, that’s how it’s done. The worms will make quick work of eating thru the paper towel though and make their great escape. I had tried cotton fabric and they were eating thru that. Now I use several layers of screening in the lid, and the little buggers sometimes still can force their way thru the holes, but they get trapped by the next screen layer.

 

[insectovore]

Yup, that’s how it’s done. The worms will make quick work of eating thru the paper towel though and make their great escape. I had tried cotton fabric and they were eating thru that. Now I use several layers of screening in the lid, and the little buggers sometimes still can force their way thru the holes, but they get trapped by the next screen layer.

Where do you get the screen?

 

[kinyonga]

They eat through plastic too.

 

[MissSkittles]

Where do you get the screen?

I’ve had to rescreen some windows and enclosures and so I have some left over. You can buy rolls of screening at any Home Depot, Lowe’s or other similar store - even Walmart used to carry it. Don’t get the fiberglass though…they can eat their ways thru that too. Last year I read an article about using wax worms to help rid the planet of some excess plastics. They must have some serious little tiny teeth to chew thru everything.

 

[insectovore]

thinking about using this https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0C4T7C3ZC?ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image&th=1

 

[insectovore]

Did you silicone the wire to thejar lid or how did you connect it?

 

[MissSkittles]

Did you silicone the wire to thejar lid or how did you connect it?

I tried a few different methods. First I just cut to fit the screen to set into the lid. That wasn’t quite secure enough so I tried hot glue to secure the screen on the inside of the lid. Not a great solution, so I then tried hot glue on the outside…also not great. The little buggers eat thru the hot glue and escape. Running out of ideas, I stuck some gaffers tape around the lids, so if nothing else, any escapees wouldn’t get far and would stick to the tape. The combination of it all has worked. The biggest part is having the multiple layers of screening though.
Hot glue inside one lid and hot glued some screen layers together on other to prevent warping and sharp poky edges.


Gaffers tape to better seal edges and capture potential escapees.


You can see how they climb as high as they can and set up home. * I separate out the bigger ones for feeding off easier.

 

[MissSkittles]

Another layer of potential escapee intervention is I place the jars inside of a bin. I keep them in my garage so they’re warm and grow better, but if they escape, I’ll never find them so am extra cautious. I do check them daily as well.

 

[insectovore]

I'd never heard of that tape. I'll see if I can find it at the hardware store. It looks like the ones at the top of the jar are bigger. I've not seen any indication any of mine climb yet but they are smaller. I wonder if running low on fresh bedding or moisture is prompting them to start to climb or maybe the urge to pupate?

 

[MissSkittles]

I'd never heard of that tape. I'll see if I can find it at the hardware store. It looks like the ones at the top of the jar are bigger. I've not seen any indication any of mine climb yet but they are smaller. I wonder if running low on fresh bedding or moisture is prompting them to start to climb or maybe the urge to pupate?

I had just given them fresh food when I moved the bigger ones to the smaller jar. It’s probably desire to start to cocooning or something. I have seen the smaller ones climbing the jar, but that was because they needed fresh food. Once I gave it, they went back down and were happy. I used gaffers tape because it’s all I had. Used up all the duct tape and haven’t replaced it yet. If you have at least 3 layers of screening on your lid, you probably won’t need the insurance of tape.

 

[insectovore]

Ok thnx Im going to try 2 layers of the stuff with finer mesh just in case i get any smaller climbers.

 

[insectovore]

They seem to be starting to climb a bit now but none have tried to get out. With temperatures in the low 90s they are growing fast and they seem to be generating even more heat inside the jar when I touch it it's much warmer than the shelf. The screen comes in tomorrow so hopefully they don't break out tonight. I'm noticing a lot of webbing now that at first i feared was condensation. Interesting that these seem so much more active than the store bought ones even after warming up. The home grown ones are wiggly worms and highly active.

 

[MissSkittles]

I can’t remember exactly why, but the store bought ones are less likely to cocoon. I think it’s some sort of growth inhibitor or something along those lines. Anyhow, your worms will cocoon and you’ll need to open the silk or coax them out. You will probably want to store some in the fridge to slow their growth.

 

[insectovore]

Thx I have found some all wound up in the silk already. I started feeding some off today and I'll put the rest in the fridge tomorrow. I made the #200 mesh lid with two layers of screen. Not pictured but I put Gorrilla tape around the outside.