Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Finally. Superworm beetles... Takes long enough doesn't it? And much trial and error... But yes.. Success finally. I need to get them started on breeding... cause tomorrow the newest addition to the family comes. A Savannah Monitor.. I'm psyched.

I successfully morphed superworms into beetles the second week in april I believe. It is now May 20th and I still dont see any baby worms! Half of the beetles have died already, the other half are extremely healthy, very active and breeding like crazy! I have them on a rolled oat substrate with egg flats and fresh fruit and/or greens every other day or so. I had to place the bin on a heating pad set on low because the bin wasnt getting warm enough. I dont know? I would have thought I would see baby worms by now! I guess the trial and error thing applies even after you FINALLY morph them. They definitely arent the easiest insect to breed Goodluck! Lindsay

ps. I am beginning to think the beetles are hunting down and eating the baby worms? At this time I dont have enough room to seperate them from the container. I think next time I will move them after a couple weeks and see if it makes a difference.

What are you trying to accomplish? What kind of animals are you planning on feeding these worms too. Superworms are very low in protein and other key vitamens, which is why they have always only been a suplemental feeder. We all know crickets are a major pain in the rear, so you should really look into roaches. They are great feeders for beardies, frilleds, geckos, chameleons, and monitors. They are very easy to gutload and make the ideal feeder. Easier to contain, easy to breed, live the longest, and provide the most nutrition. People just need to over the FEAR FACTOR and its all a walk in the park after that. Just don't get trapped into the cheap lobsters and hissers which climb and are a royal pain. Buy some non-climbers, let your colony grow, and eventually you will have a nice solid food source for your pets.

I like to have as many insects as I can in order to provide variety. I wanted to see if I could do it and for the most part it was a success.

Other then that, I have ordered some roaches. I went with lobster roaches after researching almost all those that you listed plus a couple others. My main reason for choosing lobsters was the cheaper price. But also because they are softer bodied and slightly smaller then some other species, making them a good choice for bearded dragons. I know they can climb glass but most have been able to contain them with vaseline or bug stop. I am going to use vaseline. Plus for me, I dont see a huge problem (but I could be wrong). The reason I say this is because I hand feed all my dragons, one insect at a time. This makes escapes a little less likely and it avoids the problem of the roaches crawling all over and escaping from the inside of the dragon enclosures.

My only worry, question is, do they bite? The roaches? I havent read anything about them biting.

I also came across a site that stated that lobsters were quite fast and tended to scatter (quickly) when accidently dropped or if they happen to flutter off your hand. On this same site it suggested cooling them before feeding. (Taking them off their heat source prior to feeding). I guess it slows them down to make them more manageable.

I think every insect has its own downfalls. Every person is different and what insect works for one person, might not work for the next and vice versa. My thinking is, if I dont try the species of roach or insect m interested in, I wont know whether it works for me and my reptiles.

Eventually I plan to have a few different species of roach for variety, that way I can cut off most of the supers and waxs, which are not the best nutritionally.

Lindsay Marie

Sounds like you are doing a good job of providing different food sources for your pets. The vaseline will work good to contain them in their cage, but it can get very messy when cleaning or if it gets hot. The bug stop actually works very well. The lobsters are so fast you will not be able to hold them in your hand. If you want to feed one at a time you will probably have to use some tongs. All the roaches I mentioned are easy for retiles to eat. The only ones I have had trouble with are the hissers. The thing I like about the non-climbers is that a one inch orange spot weights 1.5 times more than a one inch lobster. One of these day I will have to take some pictures.
James

Where can I get the tongs? Wont it squish the poor roaches. I dont want them to suffer more then they have to. I fixed their bin up last night. What a pain in the butt. I used pine shavings for substrate for now and cut 3 egg flats in half and glued the 6 halves, like sides together with paper/wood glue (all that I had). It made a neat looking housing unit. All thats left is the roaches and a paper plate with food. I also smeared a 3 inch band of vaseline across the top along each side. I put a thermometer in it and last night it only dropped to about 75. I have the bin on top of a wooden reptile cage, works kind of like a heating pad. I am not sure what the temps are with the cage lights on. I will check later. Hopefully its in the right temp range. We will see how this goes. If I dont like the lobsters I will just sell them. But I hope I can manage them just fine

Thanks, Lindsay

I haven't been able to persuade the person I live with to let me set up a roach colony or I would have one...I already breed Mealies.. trying my hand at Supers.. I buy crickets when I need them.... I also breed gerbils for the pinkies and rats... so I've got a pretty good selection of foods. I'm going to be feeding a Savannah monitor starting tomorrow...which is the other reason I'm breeding Supers. Right now my leo's eat a basic diet of Supers and Mealies... interspersed with Crickets and waxies as treats.

n/p
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Israel

I just think it sucks paying the same price for pinhead crickets as you do for adults. It just gets way to expensive when you breed and have baby lizards. Plus crickets tend to stick more and they die to fast and easy. I know they can be easy to breed, but it just seems like way to much work compared to my roaches that I give a piece of orange or apple, some crushed chow and they live and breed for years. I guess it just depends on the person and how much time they have.
James

Totally agree with you. I've tried my hand at breeding crickets,
but could never keep the pinheads alive. I'm just to busy doing a million other things to baby a bunch of bugs.

Israel
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Israel