Phoenix worms as staple

I've read several conflicting threads on this subject. Is it or is it not okay to use them as a beardies staple? I don't want to start a dubia colony and I don't want to deal with raising crickets. Any and all input would be greatly appreciated

They are perfectly fine to use as a staple. They just are a bit more expensive than other feeders like crickets and dubias.

-Brandon

thanks for confirming that. I can't really do crickets or dubias due to my fiance's OCD, she hates bugs eventhough I have two tarantulas that we get crickets for every other week, but she definitely doesn't want me breeding crickets or dubias, whereas phoenix worms don't require a habitat, etc so she doesn't have to 'see' them

They would be a great staple when used with a multivitamin (no added calcium). Easy to keep and maintain, require no feeding, and great for beardies.

However, they are expensive, and you can only keep so many at a time. You couldn't buy thousands at a time to save money, without them going bad or turning in to flies.

Our 1 year old beardie still enjoys phoenix worms, but I imagine that it would take 100-150 a day to fill him up. $10-15 a day would add up quickly ($3650-5475 per year to be exact). We also have a 6 month old who won't eat them. She would eat 50-100 a day if she would (she eats that many small dubia a day). $5-7.50 per day ($1825-2738 per year).

Goodtruant":2a0m5gzf said:

However, they are expensive, and you can only keep so many at a time. You couldn't buy thousands at a time to save money, without them going bad or turning in to flies.

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There is a way you can buy and keep bulk amounts actually. If you buy a wine fridge you can store bulk amounts in there for I believe a few months. 1 month at the least.

Wine fridges don't get as cool as refrigerators which is why you'd need a wine fridge and couldn't use your own fridge.

-Brandon

Keeping them in a wine fridge is true(50-60 degrees I think) it puts them in a dormant state. I plan on buying 5000-10000 and keeping them in a wine cooler when I can start buying them next month.

Also 10-15 dollars a day for 100-150 of them is VERY high. I've heard them as little as 5 dollars for 100...Even in Canada, which has some of the most expensive prices, they're 8.50 for 100.

You can also gut load them(there's a stickied thread in this topic) and that will cut down on how many the beardie will eat because they grow to almost twice their size.

so getting them from the supplier, phoenixworms.com at $40 for 1000 is considered 'expensive'?

wulfie":7eaz3q4h said:

so getting them from the supplier, phoenixworms.com at $40 for 1000 is considered 'expensive'?

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Considering that you could go through 3000 in a month (or more), you might consider $120 per month expensive (depending on how much money you make, and considering how much it cost to have a dubia colony). You also have to consider the cost of a wine cooler, and the electricity to run it. And I don't see the option to get 1000 for $40. I see you can get 600 small, or 400 large, for $28 + $6 shipping. I'm not sure how long you could keep a beardie going on small worms. Our adult wont eat smalls, only the large.

On the PW website, if you got a deal on shipping ($10 for 3000 shipped?), the worms would cost $0.05 each. $150 for 3000. $1800 per year, for small worms.

It would cost $213 for 3000 large, $2556 per year. (sorry, I wasn't buying in bulk in my earlier math)

I've ordered them from Florida Herps before, and it was a little cheaper, but the worms were really bad quality. It was $59 shipped, for 1000 large worms, now I see it's $69. At least 1/2 of the 1000 were dead on arrival, of which they would only offer store credit, no refund.

We keep our worms at about 60-65 degrees and they will keep good for about 3-4 weeks, and then turn black. Luckily our dragon will still eat the black non moving ones, so they last 5+ weeks. Any colder and they started dying off.

5000 large reptiworms for $80 (http://bit.ly/19o9Ai2) that's $960 a year and that's if you go through the full 5000 a month
10000 large reptiworms for $130

wulfie":2oe4utjn said:

5000 large reptiworms for $80 (http://bit.ly/19o9Ai2) that's $960 a year and that's if you go through the full 5000 a month
10000 large reptiworms for $130

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That's a great deal! It's really more like$100 for 5k, and $160 for 10k, with tax and shipping though. Also you have to consider how much time it will take to get through 10,000 worms. 3+ months with one beardie? I don't think they would last that long before they turned in to flies.

The only problem I had with the repti's was the substrate. It's super messy and hard to remove. I also had more die-offs than phoenix worms (ordered direct).

After ordering thousands of worms from 4-5 different places, I only order the black fly larve through phoenixworms website.

drop 'em in some water, substrate comes right off and larvae float
I really don't think it's gonna be THAT expensive to feed just one beardie, especially since their live prey vs fruits/veggies drops off after they've grown, 20% live 80% fruit/veggie

wulfie":29tmq5en said:

drop 'em in some water, substrate comes right off and larvae float
I really don't think it's gonna be THAT expensive to feed just one beardie, especially since their live prey vs fruits/veggies drops off after they've grown, 20% live 80% fruit/veggie

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Not that repti's I got, the substrate is more like peat moss, everything floats and sticks. Phoenix worm substrate sinks.

and what's the cost of phoenix worms vs reptiworms?

wulfie":b8ruofa7 said:

and what's the cost of phoenix worms vs reptiworms?

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Repti's are much more cost effective.

then reptiworms it is