beetles stink!

[Zoey]

What do you do with superworm beetles after you are done breeding them? I read somewhere that the most humane way to euthanize insects is to put the in the freezer. Now I could be wrong, but it does seem nicer than stomping on them, or setting them loose in my apartment complex.

Anyway, I put them in my freezer in a plastic rubbermaid container (50+ mature superworm beetles) and now my freezer and refrigerator stinks !!! Only those of you who breed supers will know what I am talking about! Its just awful! I feel like my food is contaminated now.

I guess they got their revenge... The up-side is that I now have possibly hundreds of tiny supersworms for Loki and Nico!

 

[MojoThor]

well ive got about 50 beetles right now, i was just gonna let them keep humping and breeding until they died on there own

 

[invictusrules]

Yeah, I know that stink, but wow, I've never had 50 of them! Double ziploc in the freezer next time?

I've heard that newspaper is a good odor absorber in freezers/'fridges - crumple the pages lightly and change them out every day or so. Baking soda, too, is pretty good at de-stinking. Dump some on a plate (lots of surface area) or a bowl for fastest results.

Good luck and congats on the little wormies!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is their defense the stink glands. Why did you want to kill them for, they are still good for alot more eggs??
I keep ours for months & they just die of old age. I replenish the stock as they die off.
You could have just let them loose outside in a park or something.

Tracie

 

[Zoey]

Yeah, I think next time i will just let them loose outside somewhere away from our apartment complex. The little guys served their purpose and I guess they deserved to live out their lives. I would have just let them breed until they died, but I think I've got enough little baby worms to last me a while. Man... that stink was awful! But for the most part it's gone now. My freezer needed a cleaning anyway. :?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Well, you have to think ahead. While you have worms for now, you will need to replenish your colony at a later date. Since they grow so slow, you will need to take adults from this batch to pupate & the beetles you just got rid of could have still been laying. They lay for quite awhile.


Tracie