wax worm size and concern

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Longfellow777

Sub-Adult Member
Beardie name(s)
Frey'ja
Hello Everyone we hope all is well with you and your babies. We just got some wax worm in the mail i ordered small and they are still a bit bigger than her eye space. Being how they are easier to digest is this ok its not a huge difference. She normally eats 60 - 80 dubia a day with some BSFL here and there, and has np eating her salad either. So my conclusion is she eats and passes food well. Poops everyday, healthy poo :lol: do you think it will be alright i wont until i have heard back from my people (you all). Should i cut them in half she may still eat them if they are moving a lil :twisted: my wife hates the idea of doing this :lol:

Btw Freyja was born in may so around 4 months old or so
 

Draven88

Hatchling Member
The wax worms being a soft feeder should not be a problem as long as they are just a little wider as they will get bitten up a bit when feeding. They are a treat feeder though as they are fatty and large amounts can cause problems.

I would suggest also adding something like Silkworms and more BSFL in place of some of the Dubia. Dubia are great feeders especially if you have a colony and control their food intake, but if your getting them delivered they often are fed a protein dies up around 20% which increases UA (Uric Acid). By keeping a colony and keeping their protein intake closer to 5% it helps a lot with UA and mitigates some of the risk of UA being passed along to your beardie.
 

Longfellow777

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Frey'ja
oh cool so how many a week you advise? (wax worms)
Ive read a lil about the uric acid and vet visits retaining to this im gonna get her into the vet in the next couple of months and see how all that is going. But i have been thinking about silks. I am wanting to start something up colony of my own of either those or the dubia as my wife and I spend a pretty penny as is :roll: I am afraid though if i spend the money on starter kits (adults and what not) or silk eggs that i will mess it up somehow i cant get the feeders to feed her and spend the money on starting the colony at the moment :banghead:
but i always have dubia and BSFL on deck for her so i rotate as much as possible but she loves her dubia :?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Silk worms are a great staple --- feed those wax worms sparingly - like 3 at a time couple of times a week til they are gone - I am lucky in that aspect my dragons dont like wax worms -
you can get silk worms from here they come cupped for now as they are out of bulk and those come small www.reptilianarts.com cupped come w/ food - try mulberryfarms.com for starting a colony if that is what your interested try there or for pricing as well as here https://www.coastalsilkworms.com/
Not sure who else has silk worm pods etc some others on here might tho
the dubias I didnt try starting a colony but seems I got one - my roaches have been breeding and I have a ton of little babies in the aquarium now -- :roll:
Karrie
 

Draven88

Hatchling Member
There are ups and downs to both Dubia and silkworms as far as your own colony.

Starting with silkworms hatching their eggs can be a bit tricky, you will want a decently warm area at least (around 80F or a little higher) for the best egg hatching. If you have a small incubator it really does help. On top of that it will require specific food for them that i would recommend having a extra supply of as delays in shipping with hatched eggs will be a problem. They also require a clean environment as they are susceptible to bacteria and such more then other feeders (though not so bad as some sources make it out to be).

Now Dubia will be easier, and as Karrie mentioned given the right conditions they will just breed on their own. Most recommend a ratio of around 3-5 females to 1 male (if you start by buying adults try to get that ratio). Their downside is the life cycle is much longer than many other feeders so it will be longer till the babies are grown to become the new adults and continue the cycle. This can be made easier if you start with some of all sizes / continue ordering the food while the colony grows to avoid using up the colony. Eventually colonies get large enough you will have more than you need.
 

Longfellow777

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Frey'ja
Hell yeah I think I’ll try the Dubia I think it’s more practical given but I have to work with. Thank you for the info on starting the silk worms now that I know more I can properly ponder. And yes they make it so low carbs are the most fragile things ever when it comes to being susceptible to bacteria so that became a worry of mine so thank you for mentioning that’s up played a little bit And yes. So I should just buy the adult starters from the vendor I go through it comes with mixed adults like 300 random and a crate feeding supplies **** like that ? what temperature do they thrive at?
 

Longfellow777

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Frey'ja
thankyou to you both i am already budgeting in the costs for a starter kit from aafeeder.com where i get my Dubia and BSFL. The kit includes 4 egg cartons, 8 oz. chow, 4 oz gel mix, 3 male adults, 6 female, 100 mixed. 33 sm 33 med 33 large. with a 10% overcount on mixed but most places weigh a lil extra anyway so thats no biggie but ive looked and looked this being the best for the cheapest, other sites that were less were not male/female ratio like you spoke of. All for 42 bucks and I know they get here within two days all my orders from aafeeder.com

I will be buying pods of silk worms thankyou for that info guys !
 

Longfellow777

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Frey'ja
Was curious I have been on the mullberryfarms before and had noticed they said to order 2 weeks out or something like that due to back order? Have you or someone you know ordered from them recently? If so what was the wait like
 

Draven88

Hatchling Member
I have ordered from them for silkworm eggs and chow. I will go through my experience but I do want to start with despite an issue everything was corrected and handled great by their support.

So i orderd a comco of silkworm eggs and chow from them. I received the eggs but no chow. Now this was my first time getting silkworms so i did not have chow on hand. I notified their support and they re sent the whole order, but they sent the chow and eggs seperately. Not really a big deal but the chow was several days behind the eggs.

This is the exact reason i suggest being ahead on the food just in case of any shipping delays. That way you arent stuck with a problem since getting them to eat anything but mulberry leaves or the chow is a longshot at best.

With that said it was a shipping problem and my experience with mulberry farms itself was great. Their mistake on the first shipping was made right without any push back at all, they just fixed it right off.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I ordered a little while back and they were real slow like 2 weeks behind - I ordered from reptilianarts after I had from mulberry and reptilianarts had their order to me w/ in a week so it was here way before mulberry
Karrie
 

Longfellow777

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Frey'ja
Well luckily I have Dubai the BSFL and then the wax worms right now so when I start feeding her the silkworms I will plan accordingly knowing they will take a little longer than my Dubai orders thanks again guys for the info I will probably try reptilian art First. So happy I found this form!
 
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