ZacharyLeesWife
Avid Member
Are these guys full grown in their worm stage and ready to separate?
Are these superworms big enough to pupate?
- Thread starter ZacharyLeesWife
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Virgil1972
Avid Member
I would say they are good to go.
ZacharyLeesWife
Avid Member
I have little black sauce cups coming to separate them, any advice on how many to pupate? How many eggs am I realistically looking at per female beetle? I appreciatethe help! This is my first go at a superworm colony.
Virgil1972
Avid Member
I am not sure how many eggs a female lays but I would pupate at least 20 to 30 worms. I pupated some but mine didn't breed so im not a big expert.
ZacharyLeesWife
Avid Member
I bought a batch of 500, minus the smaller ones and the ones that I've fed off, I probably have close to 100 about the size in the picture!
Virgil1972
Avid Member
Then pupate as many as you can.
absolutbill
Chameleon Enthusiast
Superworms have a natural lifespan of about a year before they die of old age, so you can take your time if you want. I bought a thread separator from JoAnn's Fabrics - a plastic box with a lid that has dividers that breaks the box into about 20 parts (in the cross-stitching department). I drilled holes in the top and used that to pupate, because then you can just grab one container instead of multiple ones. When I was actively breeding them for my own use (not selling them), I'd get 3 of those boxes and pupate them all, and then breed those. As I noticed my supply diminishing into my chams' bellies, I'd start again, allowing about a month or two to see babies from the time I put them in the box to pupate them. Good luck!
Matt Vanilla Gorilla
Chameleon Enthusiast
Yup, perfect!
ZacharyLeesWife
Avid Member
Thanks guys! I wouldn't even try to do the bug farm thing if I didn't have an amazing resource here, your input and advice is priceless! I have them in cups, and I just stacked the cups in a box with air holes. They're in my bug room with the heat at 85, and them humidity stay around 50 but I would guess that's lower in the cups even with the air holes I drilled in the lids. The pic is of them in their cups, I am trying to pupae 90 of them but I guess I'll have to take the natural attrition rate into account!
ZacharyLeesWife
Avid Member
Thathe is great because they are in those black cups inside a cardboard box with air holes!
absolutbill
Chameleon Enthusiast
You're on the right track! After they pupate into Aliens (I know they are called something else, but man do they look like Aliens)! I put them into a tupperware container to hatch into beetles. Once the beetles hatch I then throw them into a bin with bedding so they can start getting frisky. Don't wait - as soon as you see an alien turn into a beetle pull that beetle out because with no other food source they will eat the aliens. Then I just let nature take it's course. When I start seeing baby superworms crawling around I pull out the beetles and put them into a new bin of bedding and let them continue. Good luck and feel free to ask any other questions.
