Superworm breeding

[Bigsky]

I fill a plastic tub half full of peat moss. Add the beetles, larvae, or whatever you have for a starter colony. Beetles need water, larvae do not. Beetles need a paper egg carton for roosting. Beetles will eat wheat bran, dog food, table scraps, or many other things. Beetles will lay eggs in the moist peat moss. Larvae will burrow down into the peat. Don't worry about adults eating eggs, larvae, or pupae. They are not cannibalistic. You have to be patient.

 

[GoodKarma19]

Great what do with it now

You can still feed the pupa to your cham! I used to feed off any unwanted pupae to my leopard geckos with soft-tipped feeding tongs. They still wiggle a bunch if you pinch the end of their abdomen, and it might be enough to spark some interest!

Throwing it in a bird feeder outside will also pretty much guarantee proper "disposal". I know my handy dandy pet starling bird is happy to eat anything vaguely insect-shaped!

 

[snitz427]

Throwing it in a bird feeder outside will also pretty much guarantee proper "disposal". I know my handy dandy pet starling bird is happy to eat anything vaguely insect-shaped!

My mom has a starling that gets my chams leftovers. Its funny to watch his technique... definitely plays with his food!

 

[GoodKarma19]

My mom has a starling that gets my chams leftovers. Its funny to watch his technique... definitely plays with his food!

Oh, 100%! Unless she's really hungry (in which case she gulps it and begs for more), Benny bird likes to repeatedly drop the bug, let it run away a little if it's able, and slowly dismember it whilst aggressively rubbing it on every available surface. It's an art form, truly!

I bet she'd love moths... I wonder how she'd do with a big ol' hawkmoth?

 

[JoXie411]

You can still feed the pupa to your cham! I used to feed off any unwanted pupae to my leopard geckos with soft-tipped feeding tongs. They still wiggle a bunch if you pinch the end of their abdomen, and it might be enough to spark some interest!

Throwing it in a bird feeder outside will also pretty much guarantee proper "disposal". I know my handy dandy pet starling bird is happy to eat anything vaguely insect-shaped!

Ok I like that idea better then killing it

 

[jamest0o0]

Oh that makes more sense. If there's lots of room for them to get away from eachother I'm sure they could pupate in the same bin. I forget who but some on here says they put corkbark in there bin and the superworms burrow into it and pupate.

That was me

 

[Calypratus]

I sometimes put out mealworms for the blue birds to eat. They seem to really like them!

 

[Toothless the cham]

Two more questions. Do superworms have to be in complete pitch black or is it okay to let in some light? And about how long are they before they are ready to pupate and become beetles. Lastly would this be suitable for putting them in to pupate.
Many thanks.

 

[snitz427]

Yes that would work great. I put mine in film canisters. The goal is just to separate them so they don't touch each other, otherwise they won't pupate.

 

[Toothless the cham]

Yes that would work great. I put mine in film canisters. The goal is just to separate them so they don't touch each other, otherwise they won't pupate.

last time I tried using it though they somehow found a way to get into each other's areas also do you know what size they are before they are ready.

 

[snitz427]

last time I tried using it though they somehow found a way to get into each other's areas also do you know what size they are before they are ready.

Mine were the “large” size. I’d say they are 2.5” or so in length. It supposedly takes about 4-5 months for the worms to grow large enough to pupate from egg. It took about 2 weeks for the ones I seperated to start to curl into a C (the start of pupation)

 

[Bigsky]

Two more questions. Do superworms have to be in complete pitch black or is it okay to let in some light? And about how long are they before they are ready to pupate and become beetles. Lastly would this be suitable for putting them in to pupate.View attachment 227062
Many thanks.

Two more questions. Do superworms have to be in complete pitch black or is it okay to let in some light? And about how long are they before they are ready to pupate and become beetles. Lastly would this be suitable for putting them in to pupate.View attachment 227062
Many thanks.

Larvae do not need to be in the dark to pupate.
They do not need to be held in separate containers to pupate.