Superworm colony a GO!

[clarkrw3]

Superworm colonies a GO!

So I am pretty excited. This morning I had 27 beetles that had finally finished their transformation!! I got 100 large superworms 4 weeks ago and since I didn't end up having a adult cham to feed any of them to I got some tackle boxes and started with my colony. Out of the 45 superworms I put into the individual sections of the tackle box I only lost 2 and those I think were a little small so they probably were not ready yet. I am going to refill it tonight and maybe the rest will be beetles. I was surprised that some of the beetles were black and some were a maroon color (anyone know the difference?). I am doing the sterilite drawer system for my colony so the big ones are in the bottom the beetles are in the top with a screen bottom of their drawer and the middle will be for the eggs to drop though and for baby worms.
To this point they have been really easy to keep and I have been feeding my young cham's small 1" supers limiting them to no more than 2 per day and they LOVE them.

BTW does anyone know if bran is a better bedding than oats? For the ones I am feeding off I have been using Super Chow but have been using oats and carrots for all the rest and for the beetles? If anyone has any good experience and hints I am all ears! All that I know at this point I learned from kids on Youtube LMAO.

 

[suzi]

That's awesome, just yesterday I found my first beetle in my "Kamz" cage ( must of buried into to plant soil) I was thinking of starting a colony. What type of bedding are you using and how often do you haft change it out. Do the beetles require the same food and potato for moisture as the worms?

 

[Leroux2008]

Can our chams eat the Beetles?

 

[clarkrw3]

That's awesome, just yesterday I found my first beetle in my "Kamz" cage ( must of buried into to plant soil) I was thinking of starting a colony. What type of bedding are you using and how often do you haft change it out. Do the beetles require the same food and potato for moisture as the worms?

So far I have been using Oats for bedding but have been thinking about mixing it 50/50 with bran. For the ones I am actively feeding I mix in a good amount of Super Chow (from Tiki Tiki) similar to cricket crack to gutload the worms. I need to change out the bedding but have so far had the same for 4 weeks so as long as it stays DRY I think it lasts a while. Also I have been told if you get a cheap strainer from the dollar store etc you can keep most of the bedding and the poop will fall out. The poop is really a fine dust that is reddish brown (filter outside) and will allow you to keep all the bedding and just ad to it as they eat it.
For the beetles (mind you I just got them this morning) I put them in the drawer (with mesh bottom) and have a oat bedding with carrots and a couple of half buried TP rolls which they immediately went into I have seen people use egg crates and cleaned out avocado husks as places for the beetles to hide and "get busy" You can use carrots or potatos for moisture but I use carrots because they NEVER smell.

 

[clarkrw3]

Can our chams eat the Beetles?

I would be interested in knowing this as well but they are pretty HARD so it would have to be a pretty good sized cham that has a pretty good bite and it would have to be a very small part of their diet...but not sure

 

[suzi]

So far I have been using Oats for bedding but have been thinking about mixing it 50/50 with bran. For the ones I am actively feeding I mix in a good amount of Super Chow (from Tiki Tiki) similar to cricket crack to gutload the worms. I need to change out the bedding but have so far had the same for 4 weeks so as long as it stays DRY I think it lasts a while. Also I have been told if you get a cheap strainer from the dollar store etc you can keep most of the bedding and the poop will fall out. The poop is really a fine dust that is reddish brown (filter outside) and will allow you to keep all the bedding and just ad to it as they eat it.
For the beetles (mind you I just got them this morning) I put them in the drawer (with mesh bottom) and have a oat bedding with carrots and a couple of half buried TP rolls which they immediately went into I have seen people use egg crates and cleaned out avocado husks as places for the beetles to hide and "get busy" You can use carrots or potatos for moisture but I use carr

ots because they NEVER smell.

Cool thanks Clark, I have also been meaning to ask you (totally off topic) about having your Kamz outside in AZ. I used to live there and may be moving back next year. I didn't have chameleons when I lived there. How many months can they be outside and it the humidity a big issue, or not too bad?

 

[Justin Ward]

i wanna say that ive heard you can feed the freshly molted beetles...also, just a quick question to anyone who has bred supers (not trying to hijack your thread) but what is the ratio of beetles, to number of supers yielded? if i start off with 10-15 supers to try it out first (dont want to start out with like 100 until i have done it once and know what im getting into) will that yield a decent amount of supers?...i dont want to have like 1000s and not have anything to do with them

 

[clarkrw3]

I might start with 30...I hear the yield is pretty good but different people have different success with getting them to pupate without dying. I have not heard many that had as high of a yield from worm to beetle as I have had (beginners luck) but the beetles can live a couple months I think and over the lifetime can have a lot of offspring. You just have to keep changing out the drawers below (if using the screen technique) because the beetles will eat the new hatching worms if given the chance. Also the larger worms will eat the smaller worms so you have to keep similar sized worms together.

Or so I have heard LOL

 

[Citizen Snips]

Mind posting some pictures of your beetle rig? I want to start one soon.

 

[Justin Ward]

I might start with 30...I hear the yield is pretty good but different people have different success with getting them to pupate without dying. I have not heard many that had as high of a yield from worm to beetle as I have had (beginners luck) but the beetles can live a couple months I think and over the lifetime can have a lot of offspring. You just have to keep changing out the drawers below (if using the screen technique) because the beetles will eat the new hatching worms if given the chance. Also the larger worms will eat the smaller worms so you have to keep similar sized worms together.

Or so I have heard LOL

can you see the eggs when they lay them? or how often should you switch the beetles to another bin? ive read up a good bit on breeding supers, but i figured i would check out different peoples individual techniques

 

[pssh]

The maroon beetles have not fully hardened yet.

 

[clarkrw3]

Mind posting some pictures of your beetle rig? I want to start one soon.

I will try and take some pictures tonight and see if they make things a little clearer.

can you see the eggs when they lay them? or how often should you switch the beetles to another bin? ive read up a good bit on breeding supers, but i figured i would check out different peoples individual techniques

I am not sure if you are just moving the beetles from one bin to another every week or two I think. If you have the mesh system like I am doing you don't have to worry until you can see the worms and until they are big enough so as to start eating the eggs (which are really small) Then you should put another tray under it to catch more eggs.

The maroon beetles have not fully hardened yet.

Thanks my two thoughts were not hardened all the way or sex difference.

 

[BillandKaren]

We use non medicated chicken layer and bran

 

[clarkrw3]

We use non medicated chicken layer and bran

What are you feeding the beetles in those dishes?

 

[BillandKaren]

What are you feeding the beetles in those dishes?

water crystals

 

[clarkrw3]

water crystals

Thanks I will throw a bowl of those in there....

Mine seem to all be hanging out on top of one another in the corner....is that normal?

 

[clarkrw3]

As a disclaimer none of these are my original ideas...just picked up on the web.


So some have been asking about my colony and my set up so here are the pictures that I promised

Here is the tower for the beetles the egg catch bin and the bottom has full grown supers that were getting out of the short tower (I think with kid help)

Here is the bottom of the beetle drawer. I cut out the bottom and hot glued in the mesh so that the little supers/eggs will drop through.

And here are the beetles new home (just need to add some water cristals

Most of my beetles seem to be hanging out in the corners??

Here are the trays I have been using for the worms to pupate. They get put in one in each slot and then put in the dark in the closet. I also poked holes with an RC lexan reamer.

And here you can see the different stages of life
The one in a C shape is getting ready to pupate

 

[franticurchin]

wait so no food in with them in the tackle box?

 

[Justin Ward]

wait so no food in with them in the tackle box?

yeah they tend to pupate faster with no food...just keep them seperate and dark, in a nice warm place for about 2 weeks

 

[clarkrw3]

wait so no food in with them in the tackle box?

No, if they have food they will not pupate or at least so I have heard. To be honest I haven't tried putting them in there with food but I know that all mine did their thing without food. They need to feel alone (I saw someone put them in a big bucket of wet dirt) and be in the dark, and be full grown to pupate.