A surprise today

[jewl495]

Today I went out add some veggie scraps to my compost pile and much to my surprise I have BSF larva everywhere. My compost is actually moving like crazy and these suckers are HUGE! :shock: I will have to take a pic of them and post it. I'm curious if I could feed them to my dragons. There aren't any chemicals or anything that I would consider harmful in my compost. So what would be the difference between my bin and a biopod?
Julie

 

[jewl495]

So I finally got around to getting a pic. I've decided to invest in a biopod for next yr so I can raise and feed these guys to my dragons. I just can't bring myself to feed from he compost pile just in case.

I have seen the black soilder flies around both years we have lived here, but I thought they were wasps until I found these guys in my compost pile. I've been killing the the poor flies because I totally thought they were wasp. I'm really excited about this....next yr I'll be raising my own Reptiworms to feed!

 

[Kaiser]

I'm jealous. Ha ha, but seriously, that's great! I would probably wait until getting the biopod too, even if your compost pile is organic and clear from harmful substances.

And funny story about the black soldier flies being confused for wasps! The first time my worms turned into flies, I was surprised myself! Good luck with your new project next year! :]

 

[jewl495]

The funny part about the wasp is what i left out....You should see me running away from the garbage can screaming because they are around there a lot, and I swear they chase me. I kept looking for nest wondering why the darn wasp are so interested in my garbage can. Geez :roll:

From the reading i've been doing you should be able to add the worms to the biopod and then continue you have them produce for you. You just need to let enough of them complete their lifecycle, so they will return to the biopod. There was a guy on here a few months ago that was planning on ordering one. I wrote him to see if he has any tips he can share. There are so many of us that use them as feeders, that a bipod would pay for itself rather quickly. I guess BSF's can be found all through the US.

 

[Kaiser]

Ha ha, I'm sorry to laugh, but that's a funny story! How'd you figure out they weren't really wasps? Just decided to gather up your courage one day and take the time to check?

That would definitely pay itself off in the long run. Ordering them all of the time really takes a toll out of the ol' cash reserves. From what I've spent on them so far, I could probably have already bought a couple of biopods, ha ha... And if anything, if you have a nice surplus, you could probably make some money selling them if you have anyone in your local area who are interested. If I had an opportunity like this, I would definitely take it. Hopefully the guy replies back and can help you out with it. Good luck! :]

 

[wilddanny88]

Those are HUGE! I guess you can contribute that to them being raised in their natural environment and not an indoor facility like Reptiworms, Phoenix worms and such are raised in. I'm not sure on whether or not you can feed them to Kratos though...

 

[wilddanny88]

I just looked up what a Biopod is. Geez they are expensive! :shock:

 

[jewl495]

Ha ha, I'm sorry to laugh, but that's a funny story! How'd you figure out they weren't really wasps? Just decided to gather up your courage one day and take the time to check?

That would definitely pay itself off in the long run. Ordering them all of the time really takes a toll out of the ol' cash reserves. From what I've spent on them so far, I could probably have already bought a couple of biopods, ha ha... And if anything, if you have a nice surplus, you could probably make some money selling them if you have anyone in your local area who are interested. If I had an opportunity like this, I would definitely take it. Hopefully the guy replies back and can help you out with it. Good luck! :]

Hehe I didn't put two and two together until I found these guys and started reading on them, and the biopod. Then I kinda had to laugh at myself at how ridiculous I behaved. :lol: You are right in the fact that it will pay for itself. I just need to establish a feeding medium, I'm not so sure about feeding mostly grains as a source of food. They love nitrogen rich food so feeding vegetable scraps is good, so maybe feeding both. I haven't found information on using the BioPod as a source of reptile food. People mostly use the Biopod for their Chickens and they feed the larvae pretty much anything. I don't know how healthy that would be for the dragons. So maybe sticking with veggies and grains together would be a good thing. I will say that I've seen the inside of some peoples biopods online and I even question how healthy or unhealthy of an environment it is. :shock: Id like to know what the phoenix worm, reptiworm, and calciworm facilities look like.

I just looked up what a Biopod is. Geez they are expensive! :shock:

Danny they are expensive but when you consider how much you are paying for the larvae they biopod would pay for itself in time. I just spent $40 on a thousand that are half the size of what is in my compost! :? I should take pics and compare and post. I buy the large size from Reptiworms. So basically placing 5 orders would pay for the biopod.

 

[wilddanny88]

Danny they are expensive but when you consider how much you are paying for the larvae they biopod would pay for itself in time. I just spent $40 on a thousand that are half the size of what is in my compost! :? I should take pics and compare and post. I buy the large size from Reptiworms. So basically placing 5 orders would pay for the biopod.

You got a point there.

 

[Kaiser]

Ha ha, well, it's good that you found out about them! I think it's a pretty good find. But yes, definitely do your research and ask around for anyone else who has a fully-functional biopod going on for diet options and how the environment should look. I wonder how the major companies' facilities look like myself, and what they use to feed their larvae.

I would assume you could feed them mostly vegetables, grains, and fruits, like what most other bred food sources are fed. Probably avoid anything your bearded dragon couldn't eat.

And it'll most definitely pay for itself. I've been using ReptiWorms for about a year and a half, and for just the first half of a year alone, my bearded dragon was going through a 5000 count bucket (almost $70) per month... Could have had a few of those biopods going by now with that kind of money, ha ha...

 

[foolsgold]

If a biopod it a little expensive for you there are also tutorials out there on how to make your own out of a 5gal bucket and about $20 worth of stuff.