Superworm Care and Breeding, a Step by Step Guide

Status
Not open for further replies.

gemstone

New member
I have read this thread and will add my experience breeding supers even though I have only been doing it since early June.

Posted on the first page "500 eggs in a lifetime - of which around 50 will hatch". There is no way this is true from my experience.

I tried switching every 2 weeks and averaged only 8 worms per beetle per week. So from early June until July 25th I raised only 1700 worms. Then I switched every week and now almost tripled my worm production averaging 21 worms per beetle per week. So from July 26th - August 8th, I counted almost 2500 for the 2 weeks. I can count them 2 weeks after the switch but there are a few still too small to see. I should be able to count the August 16th batch this weekend and expect over 1400 worms from 64 beetles, 35 are females. BTW, I have noticed the baby worms seem to like to hide so check under the egg crate to see movement sooner.

My substrate is a mixture of oats, cornmeal, chick feed, wheat bran and crushed bird seed. Just enough to thoroughly cover the bottom of the bin. I put carrots and cucumbers on halved toilet paper rolls. Egg crate and toilet paper rolls for hiding that I leave after the switch and put new ones in with the new beetle bin.

The only negative is the number of bins needed to switch out every week. Anyway if anybody tries switching out weekly maybe they can post their results to compare with mine.
 

goblinsly

Hatchling Member
If you switch every week it doesnt mean you will have much more bins. Lets say it gives you 4 new bins a month. Wait another month and put all 4 bins into one ( soo all eggs will be hatched and biggest difference in age between worms will be 1 month, soo they prolly wont eat eachother ).
 
i read this again trying to kind of memorize it so when i start supers i know how and i will keep reading this helpful post to look back to with a question. :blob8: :mrgreen: 8) :D :) :wink: :blob5:

THANK YOU :notworthy: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :bikerwave: :bikerwave:
 

h0ndap0w3r

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
as to the other post about the amount of eggs that actually hatch... i was going off of information that i had found on a bunch of different websites.. like i had stated earlier in the trend it is an accumulation of all the information i could find from all the different sources. Supers never really go bad.... only mine started to eat each other after about a year or so of being in the worm stage...dunno if it was age or something else happened but that seemed to be the case.
 

paul23

Member
Started my superworm and mealworm colony a couple of weeks ago. Mealworms are definitely doing better than the supers. I have 3 beetles already and 26 pupa. The superworms finally started to pupate a couple of days ago and I now have 11 pupa from the 20 superworms, but I have had 4 superworms die, so I only have 4 worms left that will either pupate or die. Hoping for pupa. :)

The mealworms are only staying as pupa for about 5-6 days, which is much quicker than I have read online. I hope the superworms do the same, then I might have beetles by the weekend. It has been very hot here this past week, so maybe that has something to do with the speed?

Anyway, thanks for all the info in this thread, it certainly helped me.
 

mike022

Member
Today I went to check on my aliens and found 2 big red beetles!!!! I put them in a dark plastic stacking drawer 9Wx15Lx6H and put 2in of substrate (half oatmeal and the other of the GreatLakes Hornworm brand of their superworm food). I also put a toliet paper roll and piece of a egg crate in their. What else should I add? What kind of food does the beetles prefer? Can i use the yellow cricket water crystals? The temp is in the low 80's, is that ok? Thanks guys
 

gemstone

New member
IMO, if you are going to switch your beetles to a new drawer every week or two then 2 inches of substrate is overkill. I put just enough to thoroughly cover the bottom.
 

Trogdorpheus

Juvie Member
I know everyone says to switch them every few weeks to allow eggs to hatch and worms to grow, but I was curious if they should stay in their first bin a little longer? In other words, is there a certain amount of time between emerging from alien to beetle before they become reproductively active?
 

goblinsly

Hatchling Member
It doesnt matter how often you move them. Those of us who move them every 4 weeks or those who even move them every 7 days only do soo to get the max amount of supers out of it. But even if you never move them, you will get supers. As to how often newely emerged bettles become sexualy active, i would say that very soon or around time when they turn black.
 

Trogdorpheus

Juvie Member
I caught an alien emerging to beetle today and managed to get a few pictures of its first leg movements and the shedding of "alien skin" if anyone is interested.
 

beardie osk

Extreme Poster
I've tried 3 different sets of trying to breed supers, everything goes well right up to the beetle stage, and then they live happily ever after, but I never get any worms. I've used different substates as mentioned, heat vs no heat, moved the beetles to different bins after 3 weeks and still no worms. :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: No clue why the worms don't come. :banghead:

This may be a silly question, but, when you transfer the beetles to a new bin, and your waiting to see tiny worms,................ when do you put something in the bin for moisture to hydrate the eggs/worms?
 

goblinsly

Hatchling Member
When you move bettles to new substrate ( put them on oatmeal ) make sure they get moisture source everyday. Small piece of potato will do. And after 4 weeks move bettles to new bin. By then you should clearly see small supers. Add small piece of potato to them everyday, but very small piece since they are small, hence dont eat much.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

No members online now.

Still Needs Help

Latest resources

Latest profile posts

I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

Forum statistics

Threads
155,899
Messages
1,255,678
Members
75,965
Latest member
williamyoung
Top Bottom