Best way to keep multiple feeders for 1 cham

[celeste_knitter]

Hi

This may be a silly question, but I'd rather ask now than make mistakes once I get my panther cham. I know variety of insects is important for healthy as well as good gut loading practices. How do people house the various types: crickets, hornworms, silkworms, fruit flies, etc...especially for just 1 cham.

Pictures of feeder insect housing setups would be awesome too. Thanks!!

 

[ERKleRose]

I keep my red runner roaches and banded crickets in gasket sealed storage bins with the lids mostly cut out and window screen mesh hot glued over the opening. I keep my silkworms in a wide bin with knitting mesh over egg crate to catch the poop. I leave the hornworms in their container and add food as needed, to stall their growth I’ll store them in my wine fridge, along with butterworms and black soldier fly larvae until I’m ready to gutload them and feed them off. I keep my dubia roaches in one of the plastic containers from the pet store, and superworms in a small storage container with a mesh top.

 

[Remkon]

I keep my red runner roaches and banded crickets in gasket sealed storage bins with the lids mostly cut out and window screen mesh hot glued over the opening. I keep my silkworms in a wide bin with knitting mesh over egg crate to catch the poop. I leave the hornworms in their container and add food as needed, to stall their growth I’ll store them in my wine fridge, along with butterworms and black soldier fly larvae until I’m ready to gutload them and feed them off. I keep my dubia roaches in one of the plastic containers from the pet store, and superworms in a small storage container with a mesh top.

Wow, that looks needly done!

I basically do the same only my bins dont look as nice. I don't keep crickets in bins anymore as they smell and make a mess. I also have no room at the moment. I do keep 4 species of roach.

I have silkworms on the way, I'm curious what you mean by knittingmesh over egg trays, care to share a pic?
I'm also still looking for the best and easiest way to raise the newly hatched silks.

I had the idea to purchase document drawers to keep and breed superworms and possibly silkworms. Downside with silks is they will be a problem once they are big enough to build their cocoon.

 

[celeste_knitter]

I would love to see any/all pics. I had an idea for those 3 drawer plastic cases you can get pretty cheap for worms...not sure it would work.

 

[Remkon]

I would love to see any/all pics. I had an idea for those 3 drawer plastic cases you can get pretty cheap for worms...not sure it would work.

Would make a perfect setup for breeding superworms. Could do Dubia in em too but they need sone heat to reproduce.

 

[celeste_knitter]

Would make a perfect setup for breeding superworms. Could do Dubia in em too but they need sone heat to reproduce.

I'm not sure I can do dubia...totally irrational fear of roaches! Worms, crickets, moths...totally fine with!

 

[ERKleRose]

Wow, that looks needly done!

I basically do the same only my bins dont look as nice. I don't keep crickets in bins anymore as they smell and make a mess. I also have no room at the moment. I do keep 4 species of roach.

I have silkworms on the way, I'm curious what you mean by knittingmesh over egg trays, care to share a pic?
I'm also still looking for the best and easiest way to raise the newly hatched silks.

I had the idea to purchase document drawers to keep and breed superworms and possibly silkworms. Downside with silks is they will be a problem once they are big enough to build their cocoon.

Once my chams’ lights come on, I’ll snap a pic. I took an acrylic shoe drawer from the Container Store, melted holes through the acrylic on the top with a Dremel Butane VersaTool, covered the holes with knitting mesh and masking tape (I was too lazy to break out the hot glue gun and window screen mesh), put paper towel in the bottom of the drawer for easier poop pick up, then egg crate, then knitting mesh on top. I put the silkworms and mulberry leaves on top of the knitting mesh, and their poop falls through the grates. I do the egg crate so it’s like a bowl of poop, easier to dump out and less cleaning and replacing everything in there. Ignore the divider (you’ll see it in the picture), I had hornworms on the other side with the same setup, but they grew too fast so now I keep them in their original container in the fridge.

 

[ERKleRose]

I'm not sure I can do dubia...totally irrational fear of roaches! Worms, crickets, moths...totally fine with!

Same with me, my love for chams got me through it, now they don’t bug me as much (pun intended), the crickets still give me the creeps, though

 

[celeste_knitter]

Once my chams’ lights come on, I’ll snap a pic. I took an acrylic shoe drawer from the Container Store, melted holes through the acrylic on the top with a Dremel Butane VersaTool, covered the holes with knitting mesh and masking tape (I was too lazy to break out the hot glue gun and window screen mesh), put paper towel in the bottom of the drawer for easier poop pick up, then egg crate, then knitting mesh on top. I put the silkworms and mulberry leaves on top of the knitting mesh, and their poop falls through the grates. I do the egg crate so it’s like a bowl of poop, easier to dump out and less cleaning and replacing everything in there. Ignore the divider (you’ll see it in the picture), I had hornworms on the other side with the same setup, but they grew too fast so now I keep them in their original container in the fridge.

Can't wait to see a pic!

 

[celeste_knitter]

Same with me, my love for chams got me through it, now they don’t bug me as much (pun intended), the crickets still give me the creeps, though

I grew up in FL with the huge flying bbn palmetto bug/roaches. Crickets I can do but I'm not sure I can do roaches...PTSD for sure!

 

[Decadancin]

I grew up in FL with the huge flying bbn palmetto bug/roaches. Crickets I can do but I'm not sure I can do roaches...PTSD for sure!

It helps if you call them beetles ...

 

[ERKleRose]

Here’s the pics! (And yes, the mulberry leaves are dried out, I fed off all the silkworms and haven’t cleaned it yet, but it will be done before more silkworms come in!)

 

[ERKleRose]

Here’s the pics! (And yes, the mulberry leaves are dried out, I fed off all the silkworms and haven’t cleaned it yet, but it will be done before more silkworms come in!)

Just noticed my dog peeping through the window!

 

[Remkon]

That looks good. Gues it will work better with the leafs than it will with cooked chow tho. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[ERKleRose]

That looks good. Gues it will work better with the leafs than it will with cooked chow tho. Thanks for the inspiration.

It works wonders with both, actually! I just switched over to mulberry leaves because I found a good source, it’s much easier!

 

[NickTide]

Most of my feeders are on an 8' shelves with heat tape. Dubias and Orange heads are easy. You can keep a lot in a 10 gallon tank.. though I have a few tanks. I sort my nymphs with dish pans with holes in the bottom of different sizes. when I sort them, the smallest go into a small container (Glad disposable containers for leftovers) for growing out and the mediums go into another container for gutload and feeding. Largest go back in as breeders and future breeders. My stick insects are in a butterfly cage and about to be moved into a medium Reptibreeze that my chams outgrew. Super worms are in plastic shoe boxes. I have a few other containers for odds and ends like when I get crickets. I don't breed crickets. They are not worth my time when I can get 250 for $4.50 at rainbow mealworms and I seldom use them. Green banana roaches are kept in a gasket sealed storage container with window screen hot glued over a 6"x6" hole cut into the lid.

 

[frabjousday]

Here’s the pics! (And yes, the mulberry leaves are dried out, I fed off all the silkworms and haven’t cleaned it yet, but it will be done before more silkworms come in!)

LOVE the knitting mesh idea, although I don't breed any insects. It's a great idea layering them with egg flats for how I can store my own insects.