BSF

[Gbetts1986]

i got some BSF larvae a couple weeks ago because my female veiled loves flies. Any one know how long they take to pupate and if there is anythkng I need to do to make them pupate quicker? I still have them in the container that was given to me when I purchased them online

 

[jpowell86]

Contact @JaxyGirl. I think she has the whole process down pat and could probably give you the answers you need.

 

[JaxyGirl]

i got some BSF larvae a couple weeks ago because my female veiled loves flies. Any one know how long they take to pupate and if there is anythkng I need to do to make them pupate quicker? I still have them in the container that was given to me when I purchased them online

What size is the larvae and is their color white or black?

 

[Gbetts1986]

They are white a few are lighter brown and they are pretty small..probably a quarter inch

 

[Gbetts1986]

 

[JaxyGirl]

Ok when they are white in color they are still at the stage where they need to eat. If they're in a small deli cup type of container move them to a little larger container with a lid. Just dump everything in including the larvae and the bedding they came in. Poke a couple of small holes in the lid smaller then the larvae or they will crawl out. They can climb up anything if there is moisture.

The Larvae can pretty much eat anything but your best bet is to
feed them small pieces of ripe banana (that's the best), used coffee grounds or other softer foods like cooked carrots that are easy to digest. Stay away from any type of fresh greens or vegetables which take too long for them to eat and it will mold and smell. They like to eat slightly spoiled foods like an apple that is about to go bad but not rotten. Only feed the worms what they can eat in about a day or two and add more food as needed.
Keep the worms at a temp between 75-85 degrees and they should start growing pretty fast.

At about 1/2"-3/4" long they will start entering the pre-pupa stage. Judging by the size of your larvae it might be in 2-3 weeks. During the pre-pupae stage the Larva will turn black in color and will start crawling around looking for a place to dig into in order to pupate and turn into flies. They call this the wandering stage. What you want to do now is to put the larvae in a container with some slightly moist coco fiber (not wet). Then you can just leave the container in a dry area at the bottom of your chams cage with the lid off and the larvae should pupate and hatch into flies in a week or so.

Hope that helps. Feel free to PM me with any other questions

 

[Peachypink]

Can you use a small cricket keeper for the container on the last 2 parts? I'm getting some delivered tomorrow so I'm glad this question was asked.

 

[Gbetts1986]

Thank you

 

[Gbetts1986]

Wow they are all over those bananas lol

 

[JaxyGirl]

View attachment 164365 Wow they are all over those bananas lol

That's awesome you already tried it! Yup bananas are their favorite!

 

[JaxyGirl]

Can you use a small cricket keeper for the container on the last 2 parts? I'm getting some delivered tomorrow so I'm glad this question was asked.

They might be able to climb out between the slats on the lid. If there is any humidity or moisture they can pretty much climb up anything and even stick to the underside of a lid and if there is a hole they will happily climb out

 

[Gbetts1986]

Yeah my Cham loves flies but won't touch the larvae! I actually thought she ate some from her feeder lol. I didn't realize they could climb right up the side until you said something so I'm sure that's what happened. grr

 

[JaxyGirl]

Yeah my Cham loves flies but won't touch the larvae! I actually thought she ate some from her feeder lol. I didn't realize they could climb right up the side until you said something so I'm sure that's what happened. grr

Lol! Yeah if you put them in a dish and they are slightly damp they won't hesitate to crawl out. I breed them and a couple of days ago I didn't close the lid tight enough on my Lavae bin and I had hundreds of them that escaped and were crawling around on my basement floor. There were so many that I had to sweep them up with a broom! Needles to say my BF wasn't to pleased Haha!

 

[Gbetts1986]

Haha well the last few nights I've managed to find crickets crawling on me in the middle of the night. 7 month old son decided to grab my cricket container and shake it everywhere and crickets went flying. Lol I thought I got all of them but apparently not

 

[Extensionofgreen]

Fruits are high in phosphorus and this cancels out calcium. Try feeding small amounts of organic baby food, lightly blanched greens, frozen/thawed produce, and baby cereal, and other soft foods, including, but with small amounts of fruit.

 

[Extensionofgreen]

Btw, ordering blue bottle or housefly pupae is a much faster and easier way to get the flies you are looking for and the flies can be gutloaded on many of the same things.

 

[Gbetts1986]

Ok. I put some kale in there, they didn't seem to keen on that. I got plenty of baby food though.

 

[Gbetts1986]

Much faster meaning they pupate faster ?

 

[Extensionofgreen]

They come as pupae that hatch in a day or 2.
Blanch the kale first, which means drop it in boiling water, until it's softened.

 

[Gbetts1986]

Ok. Wow that's fast, yeah I'll have to get some