Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a 500 batch of superworms a week and a half ago or so and they seem to be dying off quite a bit. I am trying to find a way to house them individually but i do not have 500 film canisters on my hands. I am presently cutting and measureing pieces of corrugate plastic to make a grid they can live in, but that takes time and it won't hold them all.

The temp in there is /-70F and they have fed on a small amount of dog food and scrambled eggs. Carrots and apple pieces as well.

I lose about 10 superworms a day, is that normal for a colony of 500? They eat about 4 of each other per day, so i am asuming they arent getting enough protein.

Any suggestions would be super, thanks a lot.

I order my superworms 1000 at a time. I keep mine in wheat bran(sold at most feed stores). Or you can buy wheat bran cereal from your grocey store & crush it up. I keep all 1000 of mine in a large plastic tub(kinda like a sterlite container 'bout 8 inches high.) I also put in an egg crate like the ones that separate crickets during shipping. I give them apple, carrot or potatoes as a water source. This must be changed every other day or so or it smells bad. I have never had too many of mine to die when I keep them this way. I learned this from Armstrong Crickets. That's where I purchase my supers & crix.
Hope this helps,
Cricket

That's kinda strange.... Mine seem to be bulletproof. I order 1 or 2 thousand at a time, and they live for months, with little or no die off. I keep them in a small or medium plastic bin (maybe 20 gallons) with 2 inches of peat moss. That's it. They all bury themselves and even though they're crowded, they never have any problems. Sprinkle some sort of cricket gutload in the peat moss with them, then every other day, I sprinkle a random mix of veggies in there with them (peas, corn, small chopped carrots, green beans, etc.). They do well. I only give them about enough of the veggies that they're completely gone within the day, so you don't really have to clean the container much. If you have TONS of worms, or you don't use them fast, you may need to clean it out once the peat moss changes to a sandy type soil. You'll notice a difference it the peat moss after 2 months or so. I keep mine at around 80 degrees or slightly more, which I think helps alot. You may have yours a little bit cold. Out of curiosity, why are you trying to house them individually?
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

The dog food, etc. has too much protein. The greens have too much water. If you simply put them in an inch or two of DRY oatmeal they'll do just fine. Moisture kills these guys very quickly. They'll survive quite well with no moiture source at all although they need a little for breeding. For moisture I just put a sweet potato (with the skin still on it) into the container.

Of course, to gut load them properly I'd get the zophobos gut load from www.herpnutrition.com but to simply keep them alive, oatmeal and a sweet potato is perfectly fine.
Ed

P.S. I have no economic or personal interest in www.herpnutrition.com!!!! Although I do e-know the owner, Sue Donaghue, DVM.

I am presently keeping them in about 2 1/2-3 inches of oatmeal mized with a bit of wheat bran, and i have been feeding them apple, potato and carrot. I have been told to feed them lots of protein before...why shouldnt they have the protein, they are still eating each other!
I have an old lamp on them right now, otherwise it goes below 70 during the day. I don't know the wattage..all i know is that it makes it just below 80 in the substrate.
Anybody have anyu tips on breeding the supers?
Thanks

Hi protein is very hard on cham kidneys.
Ed

As for temps: I give mine no extra heat. low 70's in the days, mid to high 60s at night and they do great for many weeks at a time. Hi moisture foods just kill them and cause mold to grow. I find them to be quite intolerant of any moisture.

For breeding, folks often give them a bed of very slightly moist peat moss but I'd keepthat separated from the oatmeal, etc.
Ed

I realise that protein is bad for a cham's body, but isn't it mandatory for an insect to have protein, considering how much of a reputation they have for having a high protein centent? I only give them very small amounts of high protein food, so it is just enough for the worms to grow. I put my hygro/thermometer in their basin for a night and the max. humidity was 50 ish, is that too much? I dont see how there is so much bran and oats in there and it is still so humid.

Any good tops for breeding superworms would be great thanks.

IMO 50% humidity is too high for supers. They seem to die at the slightest hint of excess moisture.
As for the protein: I'm just passing on the info that I've learned from the such such as Ken Lopez & Sue Donaghue.
Ed

Ed,
I'm wondering why you think humidity is bad for superworms.... I mist mine daily (pretty heavily) and they do fine. Naturally, they live in caves, where the humitidy is very high, much more than 50 percent. I don't think high humidity is going to cause a superworm problem.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

Tyler wrote
I'm wondering why you think humidity is bad for superworms.... I mist mine daily (pretty heavily) and they do fine. Naturally, they live in caves, where the humitidy is very high, much more than 50 percent. I don't think high humidity is going to cause a superworm problem.

It's because when the least bit of water gets into a feeding bowl, I see all the supers dead within minutes. Granted that's in standing water. But also, I raise mine in oatmeal a dry commercial gutload and have virtually no mortalities in the few weeks I keep them. If I think they need any moisture I add a sweet potato & that's it. I've just never seen any need for added moisture and I've seen water kill them.

Of course, I notice you're in Las Vegas, not known for high humidity! Also, I understand that higher humidity is necessary if they're going to breed. But since I don't breed them, I see the water as being too dangerous to use.

Again, I'm not saying that misting will necessarily kill them. I'm saying that it isn't necessary to keep them alive and it could kill them, especially if it starts some fungal growth.
Ed

Here's a website on superworms.
www.drgecko.com/superworms

It tells about keeping, raising, and breeding superworms.
Hope this helps,
Cricket