Next fun insect to raise??

[Mtnlaurel]

Dubia are obvious, and I will raise them if my guy decides whether he likes them.

Crickets I will NOT raise, because they are just too noisy and they smell bad and they are so cheap and readily available.

But the blue bottle flies have been a blast. I will always have those. I think I'll do green too on occasion. They are super easy and fun.

The silkworms were fun, until I killed them, I left my thermostat outside of the incubator and cooked them. :-( but I will get more going soon.

I'm thinking black soldier flies next. Has anybody messed around with the "composting" by black soldier fly??

I'm also interested in isopods and stick bugs, maybe even superworms.

I'm looking for something that's easy and prolific without too huge of an investment, and appropriately sized for a panther Cham. I like bugs, and I hate shopping. And they don't have anything I want at the pet store anyway.

Maybe some other roach?

Which would you try next?

 

[Virgil1972]

Maybe a mantis species or stick bug.

 

[Mtnlaurel]

I really have a soft spot for mantises. I'm not sure I could feed them. I really like them.

But I'm researching stick bugs right now. There are so many, I want to pick something easy I can be successful with and I'm concerned about finding food in the winter...

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

You continuously cultured blue bottles? Care to share your protocol for that?

Nick Narta has some truly interesting species that are relatively simple to culture including 2 leaf bugs and I think 3 species of stick insects. A friend and I ordered some sticks from him and are culturing them with umbrella plants successfully so far.

 

[Mtnlaurel]

Oh no Joe not at all. It is my understanding that they only lay in rotting flesh which just isn't my thing. Actually it sounds dreadful. I'm pretty pleased to pay someone else to deal with that!
But you can buy the spikes, keep them in your fridge, and they hatch in about three days. They are super easy, fun and pretty inexpensive.

I didn't know stick insects could eat umbrella plants

The info out there on them isn't super comprehensive. I was thinking I'd have to roam around cutting ivy off old houses all winter.

 

[Mtnlaurel]

I've seen nick barta's stuff. He has an amazing selection.

 

[MSMorgan]

If you haven't tried supers, give it a shot. They're "super easy." Do a google search to find a lot of info. I keep a beetle box, a worm box and a feeder cup that I gut load. They're amazingly easy to breed.

 

[Mtnlaurel]

Lol @ super easy

 

[AZChamFan]

I would love to raise a species of stick insect or leaf insect, but the food plants are what always seem to prevent me from doing so. Here in AZ where I live, even the cactus have a difficult time getting through the summer - it's just not practical for me to grow plants to feed the insects. Has anyone heard of a species which will feed on one of the pre-made foods such as the silkworm chow, or perhaps greens which are readily available at a grocery store, and still thrive?! I'm talking about mainly stick or leaf insects. I do have a wonderful Dubia colony already! Mtnlaurel - don't hesitate to have a Dubia colony if your Cham likes them - they're super easy and quite fun to raise - I actually enjoy feeding mine and watching them. They also do not require humidity as I've heard some people say - I've had a thriving colony for many years and do nothing to add humidity to their enclosure - and it doesn't get much drier than where I'm at!! I agree with you on the mantises - the second one would tilt it's head and look at me that would be it - no way I could feed it to anybody!!!

 

[Remkon]

The silkworms were fun, until I killed them, I left my thermostat outside of the incubator and cooked them. :-( but I will get more going soon.

why do you even keep them in an incubator?
Room temps work just fine and incubation of the eggs can be done in the fridge.

 

[nick barta]

Mtnlaurel, If you look in the classified section here in the Forum, you will see my ads for 1 leaf insect and 4 stick insects. Your best choice since you live where harvesting food plants outside is not possible, is the Indian Stick Insect, it eats Ivy, Romaine Lettuce, and the Umbrella plant you (possibly) have in your chameleons' enclosure. For Roaches, the Orange Head roach is a great choice, they don't climb or fly, just like Dubia, and the nymphs are shiny, not dull like Dubia. They also move a bit faster eliciting strikes better. You can find the Orange Head Roach for sale at our new website, fullthrottlefeeders.com.

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[Mtnlaurel]

@Remkon i kept them in there because my house gets pretty cold, and I was hoping I could have them grow a little faster and feed them off a little sooner. I can be impatient and I like to tinker around with stuff, much to my dismay. I was kicking myself for that one for sure. I know it was unnecessary.

@nick barta congrats on the new website. I saw it today, and heard all bout your feeders. Will be checking it out for sure.

I'll be keeping my eye out today for the wild raspberry plants that grow around here. I'd think they are dead, but I will check it out anyway... fingers xd!

@AZChamFan I will do Dubia, I'm just not sure he will eat them. I'll keep trying, but he's been on a bit of a hunger strike, so I don't want to go to all that expense and effort and end up with thousands of roaches and no eaters. I've just loved praying mantises since I was a little girl. I bet chams love them, but I'll have to stick to stick & leaf insects I think. :-D

 

[Remkon]

@Remkon i kept them in there because my house gets pretty cold, and I was hoping I could have them grow a little faster and feed them off a little sooner. I can be impatient and I like to tinker around with stuff, much to my dismay. I was kicking myself for that one for sure. I know it was unnecessary.

I keep them in my chameleons room which most of the year cools down to 59F at night...
I have not noticed a real change in growth summer compared to winter either.
They appear to grow slow when they are small and increase growth once they get a bit bigger.

Instead of increasing their growth speed you may just want to manage their birth.
Hatch a few at a time by taking some out of the fridge sooner and some later for example; after 2 months of having the eggs in the fridge take out 100, then take out another 100 every week later. Raise them, use 75 of them as food and use 25 to pupate and produce new offspring. You will have plenty of eggs that way and if a generation fails you have only a 1 week gap.

 

[Mtnlaurel]

I'll remember that for the next go 'round. This was my first batch. I was just pretty excited to see if he would eat them. It's gonna be egg ordering for me for a while until I get things established. But to be honest I'm having almost as much fun with the bugs as I am the Cham.

I read a care sheet somewhere that said they do best around 82-83, at least for the first week. My house isn't even close to that.

 

[AZChamFan]

Mtnlaurel - this might be a little off subject but since you love mantises - do a little search for "Mantis" 2017 calendar. I have one of these hanging at my work place - it's a gorgeous calendar by the amazing photographer Igor Siwanowicz. You can also find his website - he has countless AMAZING mantis photos unlike anything you've ever seen. The calendar should be available on Amazon.

He also photographs chameleons and there is a chameleon calendar with his photos as well - I have that one here at work also!!!

 

[JacksJill]

I'm trying breeding snails right now. So far they are very quiet and are eating left over supermarket veggies. I'm still waiting for my wild caught adults to lay eggs that I will feed off when they grow to the right size next summer.

 

[djdanny402]

What do you guys keep most of these insects in?

I've had small amounts off dubia roaches and crickets at one time and kept them in those tupper wear, wantan soup looking cups with the vented lids so far.

 

[JacksJill]

My crickets & dubia are kept in 50 Qt sterilite/rubbermaid bins that I cut rectangle of the lid out and replaced with glued in aluminum screen. Half the container is egg crates leaning up on their edge, the other half is for food & water sources. For the crickets I put 4 inches of smoothed down packing tape around the inside top to keep them from climbing.

 

[AZChamFan]

Since silkworms can be reared on a diet made from powdered mulberry leaves, I wonder if stick insects could be reared in a diet made from powdered bramble leaves? I understand they will accept romaine lettuce but it just doesn't seem like they would make as nutritious of a feeder if fed lettuce!

 

[Mtnlaurel]

@AZChamFan that calendar is BEAUTIFUL. I was like meh, whatever, I'll check it out. I am shocked. I really like photography and that is just amazing.

Jacks Jill aren't your snails going to be too crunchy? That's pretty cool. Do they smell bad? I just remember having a pet snail (aquatic) as a kid and it's water really stunk. I'm pretty sure my mother just threw her out. Moona, my first pet, lol!