Cost Efficient+Simplistic-Silkworms?

[Nihil]

I'm wondering what the easiest insect to breed and keep is, I was considering Silkworms.

I'm looking for something that's Easy, Low Odor, Cheap and of Good Nutritional Value. Silkworms seem good, only draw back is you HAVE to buy chow or have access to Mulberry which means you'll be buying something from a supplier, I'm looking for something simple so I don't have to buy from a supplier and will always have...Flies sound like they fall into that catagory, fruit is easy to come by...but they sound like kind of a pain. Something that with little care will do good. It seems silkworms are a good candidate for this, but breeding them...you'll have the worms for free, but you'll be buying the food constantly which means savings are minimal...or so it seems to me, I'd think you'd go through a lot of chow?

Any help or suggestions are MUCH appreciated,
Thanks In Advance!

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

Blaptica Dubia by far!

 

[royden]

Blaptica Dubia!

the dream feeder!

 

[lonomac]

Roaches and silks for staples. Yes you'll have to buy the chow if you cant get mulberry leaves but it isn't too expensive if you get the powdered form. Only other remotely easy one that I know of are meal worms but they're so cheap you might as well buy them as you don't feed them off as often, or shouldn't anyway. I have a cricket keeper with like 20 meal worm beetles but ill probably let them die off eventually. Fruit flys you can make go on forever but it consists of creating cultures for them to breed in but I don't really feel its worth the effort.

 

[lonomac]

Roaches and silks for staples. Yes you'll have to buy the chow if you cant get mulberry leaves but it isn't too expensive if you get the powdered form. Only other remotely easy one that I know of are meal worms but they're so cheap you might as well buy them as you don't feed them off as often, or shouldn't anyway. I have a cricket keeper with like 20 meal worm beetles but ill probably let them die off eventually. Fruit flys you can make go on forever but it consists of creating cultures for them to breed in but I don't really feel its worth the effort.

 

[Aquaseafoam]

I have to agree roaches are great!
Easy- check!
(No) Odor- check!
Cheap- not so cheap, but they breed easily
Good Nutritional Value- check!
I also have B. dubai- they are so simple. Just set up the enclosure and throw food and water gel in it when they run out. I check them once a week and have had them about 5 months without needing to clean the enclosure yet.
I want to get into silkies too- but my cham won't eat worm-like critters yet!

 

[Nihil]

Awesome, thanks guys! So I'll check out the silkworms and see how that goes, and maybe check into the roaches too, does anyone know off hand, what the nutritional values are on these two, how they compare? Just curious, if not, I'll look it up, thanks again everyone

 

[angus310]

anyone know where I can order a small bit of blaptica dubia? My fiance would kill me if I had tons of them. How much would you feed, as a staple?

 

[Nihil]

anyone know where I can order a small bit of blaptica dubia? My fiance would kill me if I had tons of them. How much would you feed, as a staple?

Google it, I just did! ha blapticadubia.com came up at the top, along with a lot of others, they sound like a good and easy source to check out...I'm guessing using as a staple diet, you'd let'em eat as much as your cham wants, until he's full, which would depend on the size of the food source at hand...here's another site http://www.exotic-pets.eu/blaptica-dubia.php they've got breeding info too

 

[angus310]

I have never been so excited to get roaches. I just placed my order. Only went with 50 for now.

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

50 is a lot more than what I started with.

Currently I'm running around in the middle of the night to pick
and wash mulberry leaves to feed the silkies.

They're much more work and have greater die off of young
than what I notice for the dubia's, who's care is very straightforward and simple.

Oh BTW, I'm referring to them as "hawaiian papaya flower beetles".
That seems to work so much BETTER than calling them "roaches"
(people always seem to get the wrong idea about them).

 

[Nihil]

Hey guys, one other question I forgot to ask, how long is full cycle time? Silkworms are a few months from what I've gathered with having to refrigerate the eggs and what not, what about the roaches? I've also read of some people not doing the cool down for the Silkworm eggs, but also read that they don't hatch sometimes and will require the cool down...any thoughts on that? Thanks for your help everyone.