Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm trying my hand at breeding superworms. I've bred mealworms...but this is my first shot at superworms, and already I've found a problem after 2 days. I read that you have to seperate the worms for them to become beetles, so I got some little hobby organizers and set up each beetle in its own compartment on a bedding of Gerber single grain rice baby cereal and a small piece of potato. Each section the worms are in is about 1 1/4 inches by 2 inches and an inch tall. They're filled about 1/3 to 1/2 with the cereal. Each slice of potato is about 1/5 the size of the compartment and about 1/4 inch thick. I set them up yesterday afternoon, and this morning, the bedding has solidified. Some only solidified half the bedding, while some solidified completely. It has about the flexibility of rubber. Is there anything that can prevent this? or am I best with just changing the bedding every day? Any help will be appreciated.

Ok well first off, I don't exactly know what species you have. There are two main feeder mealworm speciesv in the trade. The first is tenebrio molitor which is usually smaller, but occasionally some people feed them hormones that make them grow larger then they normally would(sometimes called superworms). The other species is zophobas morio(sometimes called superworms, sometimes called kingworms). which is the larvae of a tropical darkling beetle. These species have completly different requirments.

If you have the hormone enhanced tenebrio molitor then I would say feed them all off and just get some plain ole small mealworms cause these guys have serious problems becoming worthwhile feeders. Some people say that they cant become breed at all.

If you have zophobas morio (lets hope you do) then what you would want to do is to take a suitable tank/rubbermaid bin and fill it will about 6 inches of peat moss. Sprinkle oats and cornflakes on top for food, also add a corrot, potatoe or similar fruit/veggie for moisture. That should keep the worms happy and healthy.

Getting them to pupate can be somewhat tricky and there are 2 ways of going about it. In the wild the larvae would chew a little pupation chamber into a peice of wood and crawl in there to be safe. So, its not just about them being seperate to pupate, its about them feeling safe. The two ways Ive done this with decent results are to throw a bunch of decaying wood into to tank (which can be smelly and add some insects you didnt want to the tank if you didnt properly starilize it) or to put them into little black film canisters with some carrot. The wood in the tank requires a lot less work from you to maintain the colony, but has somewhat slower results whereas the film canasters work a lot faster, but can be a very long, boring thing to do.

My recomendations are to firstly, find out what you have. If you do have zophobas morio then I would use the wood in tank method along with throwing some in film canasters if your beetle population dips to low. If you have tenebrio molitor then I can help you out there too, just let me know.

I have the zophobas. I figured the safety and security thing for them being seperated...the organizer I seperated them in is completely opaque. The only problem I have is with the moisture solidifying the bedding. Perhaps the peat moss as a base in them instead of the rice baby cereal? Thanks

The reason for the bedding being peat is because these are a tropical species and need moisture. When you go to a pet store and buy kingworms the give them to you in either dry bran or oats becuase this prevents them from pupating.

Definatly switch over to peatmoss and keep it moist, but not wet. The best way that I can describe it is so that it feels damp to the touch, but when you squeeze it no water will come out. They are happier in the peat

Thanks. I'll switch them over when I get to the store tomorrow. I know the amount of dampness you mean. Thanks again.

Here is the exact way that I keep mine because I feel that I have left things out with the other two short explainations.

I use a 30 gal plastic storage bin with about 6-7 inches of moist peat moss. Every now and then I dump water into the bin to let some moisture get right down into it. The mealworms come to the surface when I do this (I assume that they think they will drown otherwise). I have about 80% of the surface area covered with partially rotted wood. I sterilize this wood by placing it in a bucket full of water then putting rocks on top of it then leaving it there for a few days. The reason that I started adding the wood into the bin was because I noticed that the adults almost stopped laying when I switched over to the film canaster method of pupation. Maybe they are laying their eggs on the wood?

I keep the adults and the young in the same bin and sprinke oats in every now and then along with throwing fruits/veggies in every few days to keep them hydrated. I try to make sure that there is always a little food in there for them too eat, but not too much because mites will start to come.

If you are keeping them in a tank (I was before I noticed this problem) then you will need a lid because the mealworms can crawl up the glue that is used to keep the tank together and get out.

With this set up I pretty much have a constant supply of these guys, but then again, I breed a lot of other insects for feeders aswell and dont fully rely on these.

If there is anything else you wanna know about them just ask and Ill answer as best I can.

Thanks. The only problem is I do not have room for a 30 gallon bin right now. I sleep in the living room of a 1 bedroom apartment, so all of my animals/feeders have to be set up on a bookshelf-style setting. Right now, I have a sweater box for when my beetles pupate. And you're right...I've heard that the beetles will be prone to lay their eggs on the wood. As for peat moss, will other substrates do? Perhaps bark mulch or potting soil without any additives (both of which I already have...that way I can set them up as soon as possible). If not, I'll just buy some tomorrow. Do you keep all the worms and beetles together and just let them propagate, or do you rotate enclosures so the beetles and worms are seperate?

The potting soil will work, but I've read that it is more prone to mite infestations then the peat is. Aparrently there is more acidity in the peatmoss and the mites dont like that.

A smaller bin/tank should work fine. I was just saying how I keep mine.

I do keep all the beetles and mealworms in the same bin along with the wood. I notice that the wood has holes in it where the mealworms burrowed in and pupated and eventually all of the wood is ground into a sort of dust and I have to replace it. There are only two reasons that I would remove the mealworms/beetles from the bin. One, is when I feed them to my herps/inverts. Two, is when I feel that they aren't reproducing fast enough while left on their own, so I take 50 or so mealworms out and force pupate them in the film canisters. Thus making more beetles, which lay more eggs, which turn into more mealworms which are then used for feeders.

I've done the whole bin rotation thing before, but it's not worth it, they dont mess things up as bad as crickets or even the roaches that I keep. I've had mine on the exact same substrate for over a year now and all seems to be well.

What I would do if I was you: Use the potting soil for now, then when I get a chance, mix in some peatmoss with it. Peatmoss seems to hold the moisture better.

Thanks again for all your help. I'll set up those worms seperately to get them to pupate faster to get at least some breeding going on. I've got everything else ready to go. Again, thank you for your help.

I had problems like this when breeding superworms. I finally just didn't give them any moisture source for adult worms that I wanted to pupate. Since usually when they get ready to pupate, they really don't move at all so I figure no moisture was not needed and it worked fine since no moisture to mold. Also, someone else said they used dixi cups. If there is no to minimal air exchange (cause you want to keep them in), cut out the moisture source or place in and remove within an hour or so each day.

I've just gotten my first baby superworms....All I did was take one of those organizers...put ventilation holes over each compartment and placed one superworm in every compartment..no bedding, no moisture. I tried with both of those at one point and got dead supers for my trouble..so I took to just placing them seperately without food or water and they pupated quite well..I've got a solid colony starting up finally..it just took time..