Black Soldier Fly Larvae
- Thread starter MarieMc44
- Start date
Wowbango
Established Member
I've used them for Nigel while he was growing. Those 200 won't last long though for a chameleon of your size...I stopped using them when he was like 5 months old. They're pretty small, good healthy feeders though!
Wowbango
Established Member
Well, for comparison, I would be able to fit about 2-3 large ones inside of a dime. So it would take about 3-5 I'd say to make up about one superworm. SO he can probably eat 10-15 rather quickly I'd say.
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
Let lots of them pupate into Black Soldier Flies and your chameleon will go crazy over them, I promise you!. When I have Black Soldier Fly Larvae, I pupate lots of them into flies because then I can just let them loose in the cage and they get devoured. Flying around also seems to perk my chameleon's interests a little more than a little grub in my hand or a feeder cup ever did. Both the grub and the flies are great feeders and full of nutrition.
Davecameos
Avid Member
If your cham does not chew them properly they may not get digested and come out whole. I sometimes prick them with a needle.
They are high in calcium and good. My adult panther still likes them. I keep a pot in a warm room and wait until they turn into flies.
They are high in calcium and good. My adult panther still likes them. I keep a pot in a warm room and wait until they turn into flies.
MeruJack
Avid Member
I have some coming in the mail too from JaxyGirl here on CF. What's the best way to let them turn into flies?
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
I have bought from her as well. Good quality. Just leave them in the material she will send them in (a coffee ground mixture she uses) and make sure they are warm. Room temperature is fine (70'ish) but if you get it to more like 80 degrees they will pupate faster. I separated a handful of the larvae out and placed them into a small vented container with no substrate medium, just a bare bottom with shaved steamed carrots for them to gutload on. I took the rest out of the package she sent them in and put it all into another larger vented container, larvae and the coffee grounds medium and all, to be used as my fly container. I added a few sticks in with them to walk around on when they become flies. Without anything to munch on they will dig down into the medium and pupate. It's a little hard to tell when they do this because they look almost identical as a larvae when they are a pupae, except they will be a little thinner and harder. You will know the worms are ready to pupate when they become really dark. All they really need to pupate is heat though, and the closer to 80 degrees, the faster they will do it. Don't need to spray them with water or anything. Then when they pupate you will have flies in a few weeks. They don't necessarily NEED the medium to burry into as I had flies emerge in both containers I keep them in (the fly container and the larvae gutloader container). I just found the process to be faster when using a substrate medium for them to burry into. Chameleons love them. If you need any help then PM me or you can ask JaxyGirl as well.
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Fiona's Mom
Chameleon Enthusiast
I do the same....my veiled loves the action of the fly!
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
I have bought from her as well. Good quality. Just leave them in the material she will send them in (a coffee ground mixture she uses) and make sure they are warm. Room temperature is fine (70'ish) but if you get it to more like 80 degrees they will pupate faster. I separated a handful of the larvae out and placed them into a small vented container with no substrate medium, just a bare bottom with shaved steamed carrots for them to gutload on. I took the rest out of the package she sent them in and put it all into another larger vented container, larvae and the coffee grounds medium and all, to be used as my fly container. I added a few sticks in with them to walk around on when they become flies. Without anything to munch on they will dig down into the medium and pupate. It's a little hard to tell when they do this because they look almost identical as a larvae when they are a pupae, except they will be a little thinner and harder. You will know the worms are ready to pupate when they become really dark. All they really need to pupate is heat though, and the closer to 80 degrees, the faster they will do it. Don't need to spray them with water or anything. Then when they pupate you will have flies in a few weeks. They don't necessarily NEED the medium to burry into as I had flies emerge in both containers I keep them in (the fly container and the larvae gutloader container). I just found the process to be faster when using a substrate medium for them to burry into. Chameleons love them. If you need any help then PM me or you can ask JaxyGirl as well.
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They certainly love coffee grounds but that is not something I think makes a very good gutload.
I don't feed them as worms, letting them turn into flies.
Find out if they are endemic to your area. I have pounds and pounds of them in my compost bin. This winter I bought some and let them turn into flies and I was very disappointed in them. They were very poorly nourished--I got the runtiest flies I've ever seen in my life even after feeding them. They weren't from Mulberry Farms, though.
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
I didn't use it as a gut load. That's just what they came in from JaxyGirl and I used that same material to let them burrow into and pupate. Worked quite well. I gutloaded the larvae I was feeding off with steamed carrots all sliced up and some apple and banana all mushed up.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
Let me try to say it again--Lately I'm not doing a very good job getting my message across.
By gut load, I mean feed. If you don't feed your feeder bugs they have no choice but to cannibalize themselves to survive and your feeder becomes less and less nutritious. That applies to all feeder insects from Black Soldier Fly larvae to crickets.
MeruJack
Avid Member
Do the larvae need soft foods or does it matter? Can they eat fresh fruits and vegetables without cooking them first?
Thanks! This is great information people!
MeruJack
Avid Member
I have bought from her as well. Good quality. Just leave them in the material she will send them in (a coffee ground mixture she uses) and make sure they are warm. Room temperature is fine (70'ish) but if you get it to more like 80 degrees they will pupate faster. I separated a handful of the larvae out and placed them into a small vented container with no substrate medium, just a bare bottom with shaved steamed carrots for them to gutload on. I took the rest out of the package she sent them in and put it all into another larger vented container, larvae and the coffee grounds medium and all, to be used as my fly container. I added a few sticks in with them to walk around on when they become flies. Without anything to munch on they will dig down into the medium and pupate. It's a little hard to tell when they do this because they look almost identical as a larvae when they are a pupae, except they will be a little thinner and harder. You will know the worms are ready to pupate when they become really dark. All they really need to pupate is heat though, and the closer to 80 degrees, the faster they will do it. Don't need to spray them with water or anything. Then when they pupate you will have flies in a few weeks. They don't necessarily NEED the medium to burry into as I had flies emerge in both containers I keep them in (the fly container and the larvae gutloader container). I just found the process to be faster when using a substrate medium for them to burry into. Chameleons love them. If you need any help then PM me or you can ask JaxyGirl as well.
Thanks!! I can't wait for them to arrive tomorrow.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
Why on earth would you think a bug needs food cooked?
They don't like leaves or grass but love fruit and veggies. They lay their eggs in rotting fruit and vegetables.
JaxyGirl
Avid Member
I have bought from her as well. Good quality. Just leave them in the material she will send them in (a coffee ground mixture she uses) and make sure they are warm. Room temperature is fine (70'ish) but if you get it to more like 80 degrees they will pupate faster. I separated a handful of the larvae out and placed them into a small vented container with no substrate medium, just a bare bottom with shaved steamed carrots for them to gutload on. I took the rest out of the package she sent them in and put it all into another larger vented container, larvae and the coffee grounds medium and all, to be used as my fly container. I added a few sticks in with them to walk around on when they become flies. Without anything to munch on they will dig down into the medium and pupate. It's a little hard to tell when they do this because they look almost identical as a larvae when they are a pupae, except they will be a little thinner and harder. You will know the worms are ready to pupate when they become really dark. All they really need to pupate is heat though, and the closer to 80 degrees, the faster they will do it. Don't need to spray them with water or anything. Then when they pupate you will have flies in a few weeks. They don't necessarily NEED the medium to burry into as I had flies emerge in both containers I keep them in (the fly container and the larvae gutloader container). I just found the process to be faster when using a substrate medium for them to burry into. Chameleons love them. If you need any help then PM me or you can ask JaxyGirl as well.
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Hey trickedoutbiker,
Thanks for the nice shout out!!
JaxyGirl
Avid Member
Actually my BSFL are gut loaded very well
The majority of their diet consists of a healthy nutrition packed food similar to cricket crack. The adult BSFL are large plump and juicy and the flies are huge as far as black soldier flies go. They honestly eat better then I do..Lol!
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JaxyGirl
Avid Member
BSFL can pretty much eat anything but depending on what you feed them they can't digest it very quickly. So anything squishy and soft like cooked vegies, ripe bananas, ripe apples, etc will be eaten quickly. Fresh fruit and vegies, greens, peals and rinds take a while for them to eat and chances are the food is going to mold and spoil by the time it is eaten. This can cause a lot of smell, pathogens and bacteria which ends up on the Lavae. My BSFL are raised indoors and are super clean because of the nutritious diet I feed them and my chams love them and the flies
