Bsf

[Ramrod]

What members are breeding bsf and are they difficult to maintain? I'm tired of the online buying. I am currently breeding Dubia and Superworms
As well as mealworms for other critters but thinking about trying bsf. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[jamest0o0]

Bsfl take space and uvb from my understanding. The flies need to be able to fly around and hang on somewhere. YouTube videos show people's set ups for them.

I had some breed in my enclosure, but not nearly efficiently enough to sell or feed off.

 

[Ramrod]

Bsfl take space and uvb from my understanding. The flies need to be able to fly around and hang on somewhere. YouTube videos show people's set ups for them.

I had some breed in my enclosure, but not nearly efficiently enough to sell or feed off.

Thanks for the reply, yeah that's why I didn't know if it was worth the effort. I will check out the you tube videos and see what thier doing. Not really interested in sales just need for feeding.

 

[Hashtag ChamLife]

I have and do breed them. Its super easy even. I have them in the same viv as my hawkmoths. When the moths die, the BSF lay eggs in them. Circle of life!
From there I harvest the flies mostly. I also will move the moth into a small deli cup with some substrate and add fruit/veg/bug burger. When they're done eating the moth, they'll go for the food. Sometimes they'll split between the two. Either way, the moths do not last long.

Best wishes.

Edit: I don't do anything other than occasionally mist them. I keep them in the viv on my porch

 

[Ramrod]

I have and do breed them. Its super easy even. I have them in the same viv as my hawkmoths. When the moths die, the BSF lay eggs in them. Circle of life!
From there I harvest the flies mostly. I also will move the moth into a small deli cup with some substrate and add fruit/veg/bug burger. When they're done eating the moth, they'll go for the food. Sometimes they'll split between the two. Either way, the moths do not last long.

Best wishes.

Edit: I don't do anything other than occasionally mist them. I keep them in the viv on my porch

Good info and helps with my decision whether to go for it or not. Many thanks

 

[Hashtag ChamLife]

Here's the viv by the way. I put a small tomato plant in there to start with... then switched to using cut offs of hibiscus. [Tomato leaves are toxic, hibiscus is actually beneficial and cheaper]



Here's a closer shot of the deli cup:



You can see the hawkmoth is a husk, that took a matter of hours. I just put that "fresh" one in there as she just died.

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to (try) and answer them. I just kinda wing it (bad pun). But so far I have BSFL, hornworm and silkworm eggs... so must be doing something right!

 

[jamest0o0]

Yup outside porch in a big screen cage is a big reason of success there. Very cool set up you got with the hawkmoths and bsfl

 

[Ramrod]

Here's the viv by the way. I put a small tomato plant in there to start with... then switched to using cut offs of hibiscus. [Tomato leaves are toxic, hibiscus is actually beneficial and cheaper]
View attachment 250436


Here's a closer shot of the deli cup:

View attachment 250437

You can see the hawkmoth is a husk, that took a matter of hours. I just put that "fresh" one in there as she just died.

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to (try) and answer them. I just kinda wing it (bad pun). But so far I have BSFL, hornworm and silkworm eggs... so must be doing something right!

Thanks for the pics. I have plenty of room and I am pretty good at building my own cages. Just didn't know exactly how big of an enclosure they would require. Unfortunately there are no hawk moths to offer so where would they lay eggs.What kind of temp. required for optimal breeding?

 

[Hashtag ChamLife]

Thanks for the pics. I have plenty of room and I am pretty good at building my own cages. Just didn't know exactly how big of an enclosure they would require. Unfortunately there are no hawk moths to offer so where would they lay eggs.What kind of temp. required for optimal breeding?

The viv I used is actually quite small. I think that's part of why I didn't end up with many hornworm eggs, so I'll be using a bigger one for them the next go round. For the BSFs I have them in a 12x12x18-24 ish I think (I'd have to measure for the exact size but it's pretty small). They don't really need much room. They fly around and sit on the screen for the most part. I'd say you could use just about anything for them to lay in... think about a traditional "maggot", cause that's what they are = P. Dead stuff is great! Anything soft would work though.

For temps, I keep them on the porch so anywhere from low-mid 70s up to mid-high 80s. They get some morning sun but I use a chair cushion to shade them from the blitzing sun. I also keep the soil in the bottom damp as I keep the hawkmoth pupae in there. Also I keep the coco fiber stuff they come in damp in the deli cup. Both those factors, mixed with Florida's natural humidity, would say doesnt drop below 40%.

I'd imagine you could use something like a bug burger maybe? I guess you could, in theory, try a piece of meat or fish.

 

[timw1]

Can't be too hard to breed, I have a never ending breeding cycle going on in my cham enclosure and I even try to get rid of them