Ordering feeders online?

[RoyBomb "Flex"]

So I've looked into ordering some feeders online but I'm not quite sure how to maintain all these bugs until I have to feed them. I know that ordering worms I can order the cup which will house them for 2 weeks but I don't want to give that many worms in that time frame. How can I keep them alive longer? I'm planning on ordering some silk and butter worms as I'm feeding crickets(gut loaded), dubias, and hornworms on occasion since I can find them locally. Also if anyone has other suggestions besides what I mentioned above I'm all ears. I am also going to start offering more veggies in his Dubia cup.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Dubia have been easy to keep, imo. I keep the ones I get online in a large cricket keeper because that's what I had. I just put in food/water crystals and egg crate and they are good to go while I feed them off.

A small container of blue horned worms is a good amount to add in for variety.

The BSFL come in a small cup. I add in pieces of carrot, squash, Apple to keep them moist. A cup of 100 lasts me 2 weeks. There has been a few larvae that escaped and turned into the adult fly and Ophelia likes them, too. So no loss... if we don't make it through the larvae, the fly gets gobbled up.

Hope that helped

 

[joshuadh2310]

honestly if you want to start saving a lot of money in the long run i would recommend starting your own colonies of bugs. it will save you thousands of dollars in your chams life. there are tones of videos and info on how to start and maintain colonies. and im sure you can always ask if you are confused on something

 

[Andee]

Depends, do you want to raise dubias? It would be the cheapest way, just get a decent sized opaque storage bin, I don't usually go below a 55 quart in the beginning. And then create airflow, heat, get your egg crates and gutload and your fruits and veggies. Pretty easy. I can go way more detailed if you want of how I take care of mine.

Silkworms never do well in cups. If you don't plan on raising them a small shoebox storage container will do just fine as a growing container, (I have my own mulberry trees to feed the leaves during the warmer seasons), make sure they have good airflow and gutter guard usually make cleaning them easier. But I just do paper towels on the bottom. But then again I breed mine to get the strongest genes in mine. So if some of mine die for some weird reason they were not meant to live because of poor genes. I have very few die offs anymore and still clean them about every other day. You wouldn't believe how much a bigger container can make healthier worms.

Butter worms are easy care, you keep them in the fridge and then take them out about 24 hours before hand if you want to try gutloading them. You can't raise them, they all have been radiated before being brought into the US.

As far as crickets the same amount of crickets as you have dubias, crickets will need 2 times the room to be healthy and happy, and 2 times the air flow. What a lot of people don't realize is cannibalism in cricket colonies has a lot to do with space and territory.

Depending on whether you have some extra space, stick insects are super easy if you get a low maintenance species.