SARBEAR
Sub-Adult Member
So on the 28th of September I attempted to start my own super worm colony.
Now, exactly 10 days later, guess what??
WE'VE GOT PUPAE!! (thanks to a couple people who helped me out a lot!! )
There's only two so far, but I'm guessing the others will turn within the next few days.
Now I had a few people ask how I did it, and what you need to start one, so I'm gonna have a go at explaining it as clearly as I possibly can
(Keep in mind this is how I'm doing it, there's so many ways to start one, and this isn't the only way, although it's obviously working, so far, knock on wood :roll
What you'll need:
-Something to separate each super worm into their own compartments, I am using a bead organizer which seems to work really well
This is the one I'm using, I found this one at walmart for $5 each, I looked at a couple different stores, and $5 was the cheapest ones I could find.
It's important to isolate the super worms to stress them out, in order to get them to pupate faster then they normally would. In order to stress them out, do not put anything in there with each super, no food, no bedding, nothing. You can use a lot of different things to isolate them, whether it's a plastic cup, an old film container, or anything plastic. Stay away from styrofoam, or paper cups because they can chew their way out. And also make sure you don't put holes in their reach, they can chew their way out of even a plastic cup if they can reach the hole.
-Super worms (obviously ) you want to make sure they are rather large, the bigger worms you can get, the better.
-You'll want to poke holes in whatever you're using to isolate the supers. I found that propping the lid of the bead organizer open worked better as they can breathe easier.
So once you have them all separated into their own compartment, set them in a room that is pretty warm and dark, I found that my room itself was too cold, as they all became "lifeless". But once I moved them into my closet and shut the door, they started moving around more and eventually turned into their "C" shape.
And after about 10 days, You'll get your first pupae.
This is the stage I'm at so far. I moved my pupae into a different container (an old container the super worms came in) Which I put some oats in the bottom. You can either leave them in the organizer until it turns into a beetle, or move it. But I decided to move them because I want to clean the bead organizers once they're all out of it.
At this point you're going to want to buy something to store your beetles in once they've all turned so you're ahead of the game and not scrambling at the last minute.
This is what I got:
You can pick these up just about anywhere, I got mine from walmart for $8. You can even use regular plastic tubs with lids, whatever floats your boat I just thought these looked nicer.
So after another couple of weeks, your pupae will turn into beetles
These beetles will be white like this:
Then turn red like this:
And then they will turn a solid black when they're fully matured:
Once they are fully black you'll want to move them into the container you got to store them in, in my case the 3 drawer organizer. I will be putting the beetles into the bottom drawer:
You'll want to put something in there for them to climb on, I'm using paper towel rolls, you can also use egg crate. For the substrate, I'm using some cheap plain ol' oatmeal. You can use wheat bran as well if you'd like. You'll also want to throw something in there for moisture and food, like a half of potato, celery, carrots, basically anything laying around your house that may be going bad you can throw in there. Just make sure to watch for mold, as mold can make all your super worm babies "sick" and in turn, give you a bad batch that you can't (or shouldn't) feed to your reptile.
-Once your beetles have mated, the females will be laying eggs in the substrate. After they have mated, and laid their eggs, most of the beetles will die off. What I will be doing once they all die off is, moving the ENTIRE drawer and it's contents the the middle section of the organizer. That will be known as my nursery drawer. (Make sure you have something in this drawer for moisture/food as well)
There, the eggs will all hatch, and once the babies get big enough to see, I will move that ENITRE drawer to the top section of the organizer. (Make sure you have something in this drawer for moisture/food as well)
There, the worms will stay until they have grown big enough to feed to my bearded dragon.
-And then the process will start all over again
I hope it was helpful to some, and if anyone sees anything they can correct me on, please do
Now, exactly 10 days later, guess what??
WE'VE GOT PUPAE!! (thanks to a couple people who helped me out a lot!! )
There's only two so far, but I'm guessing the others will turn within the next few days.
Now I had a few people ask how I did it, and what you need to start one, so I'm gonna have a go at explaining it as clearly as I possibly can
(Keep in mind this is how I'm doing it, there's so many ways to start one, and this isn't the only way, although it's obviously working, so far, knock on wood :roll
What you'll need:
-Something to separate each super worm into their own compartments, I am using a bead organizer which seems to work really well
This is the one I'm using, I found this one at walmart for $5 each, I looked at a couple different stores, and $5 was the cheapest ones I could find.
It's important to isolate the super worms to stress them out, in order to get them to pupate faster then they normally would. In order to stress them out, do not put anything in there with each super, no food, no bedding, nothing. You can use a lot of different things to isolate them, whether it's a plastic cup, an old film container, or anything plastic. Stay away from styrofoam, or paper cups because they can chew their way out. And also make sure you don't put holes in their reach, they can chew their way out of even a plastic cup if they can reach the hole.
-Super worms (obviously ) you want to make sure they are rather large, the bigger worms you can get, the better.
-You'll want to poke holes in whatever you're using to isolate the supers. I found that propping the lid of the bead organizer open worked better as they can breathe easier.
So once you have them all separated into their own compartment, set them in a room that is pretty warm and dark, I found that my room itself was too cold, as they all became "lifeless". But once I moved them into my closet and shut the door, they started moving around more and eventually turned into their "C" shape.
And after about 10 days, You'll get your first pupae.
This is the stage I'm at so far. I moved my pupae into a different container (an old container the super worms came in) Which I put some oats in the bottom. You can either leave them in the organizer until it turns into a beetle, or move it. But I decided to move them because I want to clean the bead organizers once they're all out of it.
At this point you're going to want to buy something to store your beetles in once they've all turned so you're ahead of the game and not scrambling at the last minute.
This is what I got:
You can pick these up just about anywhere, I got mine from walmart for $8. You can even use regular plastic tubs with lids, whatever floats your boat I just thought these looked nicer.
So after another couple of weeks, your pupae will turn into beetles
These beetles will be white like this:
Then turn red like this:
And then they will turn a solid black when they're fully matured:
Once they are fully black you'll want to move them into the container you got to store them in, in my case the 3 drawer organizer. I will be putting the beetles into the bottom drawer:
You'll want to put something in there for them to climb on, I'm using paper towel rolls, you can also use egg crate. For the substrate, I'm using some cheap plain ol' oatmeal. You can use wheat bran as well if you'd like. You'll also want to throw something in there for moisture and food, like a half of potato, celery, carrots, basically anything laying around your house that may be going bad you can throw in there. Just make sure to watch for mold, as mold can make all your super worm babies "sick" and in turn, give you a bad batch that you can't (or shouldn't) feed to your reptile.
-Once your beetles have mated, the females will be laying eggs in the substrate. After they have mated, and laid their eggs, most of the beetles will die off. What I will be doing once they all die off is, moving the ENTIRE drawer and it's contents the the middle section of the organizer. That will be known as my nursery drawer. (Make sure you have something in this drawer for moisture/food as well)
There, the eggs will all hatch, and once the babies get big enough to see, I will move that ENITRE drawer to the top section of the organizer. (Make sure you have something in this drawer for moisture/food as well)
There, the worms will stay until they have grown big enough to feed to my bearded dragon.
-And then the process will start all over again
I hope it was helpful to some, and if anyone sees anything they can correct me on, please do