Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i am attempting to breed superworms and have looked up a few different pages which were referenced in this forum. however, i do have a couple more questions from somebody with experience in starting their own colony. first, how long should it be, on average, for these things to morph into beetles? i have 12 of them in their own individual containers and it has been about a month and still no beetle. in about 3 of them, i have found that they have molted once, but other than that, nothing.

also, for my second question, do i need to supply any kind of water for them? i know that you need to do so for the beetles, but i have yet to read anything stating that i need to or that i don't need to for the superworms.

thanks!

Well..what I have had success doing is using one of those tackle boxes..with the separate containers. I put a superworm in each one, with a tiny bit of wheat bran. Then I put the entire container inside of a dark box. I HAVE had some that have died..but the majority turned into beetles within 1-2 weeks.
And now I have tons of superworms babies It does take awhile, but you should get it with patience.
Just remember one thing...put the beetles in a LARGE container..b/c you wont want to throw away the potato slices. Just leave them in there, that is what they lay their eggs on.
Also..make sure the tub is ventilated, or else the potatoe slices will grow mold..and thats where the horrible smell comes from (and you thought it was the superworms, hehe) Actually, they stink too, but not as bad as rotten potatoes!!
That should be it..Good luck! Hope I helped!!

Crystal Light

I'm doing the whole superworm breeding for the first time thing now.. and just got my first beetles... I didn't have any success at all with putting substrate or moisture in with the ones I was pupating.. so I just put them in an empty campartmented box and then in a dark place.. lost fewer that way to death. I now have lots of pupated superworms and just waiting for them to hatch.. only 2 beetles so far but still.. not bad for a month's work....I originally bought 1000 superworms...but with my geckos and now my monitor eating them...they're dwindling fast *l*

Same deal - superworm in each compartment, in the dark, warm closet. A few died, and the rest have turned into beetles. It took anywhere from two to three weeks for them to turn. They will curl inot a "U" - stay that way a while - then pupate into larva, then after a week or so, turn into beetles. I don;t have babies yet,, but hopefully soon. BTW, the superworms don't need water or food when they are in the individual containers.
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Hairless Mice, Roaches, Mealies, and Supers...