bdalton
Sub-Adult Member
So, a few months back i bought 25 waxworms. Since their treats, i still had about 20 a few days later i went to give my loves a couple and they were all cacooned (spellcheck lol) so i thought, i dont want to waste them, so ill give breeding them a shot. 2 weeks or so later i noticed a moth, and within 2 more days there was about 10. Well, problem was, the petstore that i bought them from had them in shavings, and told me to do the same, and this was my first time buying them so i had no idea if that was the right way to keep them, until i googed how to breed them and it said use bran and honey. At this point i had moths and couldnt replace the shavings without them flying away, and was worried i would mess up the eggs, so i kind of threw the bran/honey mixture on top with the wax paper and quickly closed the container. Its one of those plastic pet containers with the colored top that has the small pop up entrance. A couple weeks later all the moths had died but nothing was happening. I kept checking everyday, until one day i noticed teeny tiny worms on the side of the container. They were about half the sizd of an eyelash, very small. So i put stockings over the top because the were climbing to the top. As soon as i put the stockings on, one slid right through. So, i put another stocking on and waited. I saw them for a few days, then it seemed like everytime i looked, i saw less. I only ever saw maybe10-15. So, this was probably around Christmas, maybe even before. I checked everyday and eventually just stopped seeing them. I had them under the bottom of my one beardies tank stand, on the floor under the roach bin. I guess i forgot about them, and didnt remember until last week. I checked last week and still didnt see any, but it looked like the bran was starting to mold. My boyfriend kept making fun of me for holding out hope, and i kind of was too. I thoughtthey had all just gotten through the stockings or just died and were too small for me to see. So for the last time i stuck them back under and said i would clean it out soon and try again. So, today i picked up some more, made the bran mixture (last time i think i used too much honey and it was extremely gooey and sticky, so i thought maybe they couldnt move either, got stuck and died) went to get the container and started to clean it out and saw a HUGE, fast waxworm. The biggest one ive ever seen, it was definetly over an inch and fat as anything. I was like YES, even though theres only one soul survivor, i still did it! Well, since it had been so long, all the mixture kind of formed into a bunch of small balls that looked like they were covered in mold. I broke one open just to be sure, and sure enough, there was about 10 in the first one i opened, about the size of a maggot. It wasnt mold, but whatever it is that they spin. There was about 10 balls, and everyone i opened had about 10 in it, ranging in size from a strawberry seed all the way to a large adult cricket. They were all inside the balls, in the middle of the bedding and all these weeks ive never seen them. Now i have over 100 waxworms that i dont know what to do with. At first i thought id just keep breeding, but in one cycle i have this many so that would be wayyy too many. Im just going to keep the big ones cool while the small ones grow and feed the large ones.
How ironic?
Sorry its sucha long story, but i had to share! It cracked me right up. Im also in the process of breeding supers, and they have been in the beetle stage for about 2 weeks, but the waxworm situation was discouraging me since i thought it was sucess when i saw babies, then thought it was an epic fail when i didnt see them anymore, so now i feel more open minded that it will work!
I also have dubias ive been trying to breed, but made the dumb mistake when i bought my first 100 of getting them the appropriate size for my girl to eat, which was i think 3/4" at that time, instead of adults back in october, and they justtttt matured a couple weeks ago. I think im doing everyting right (heat, humidity, darkness, egg crates, big plastic sterilite container) but havent gotten results yet. I dont remember how long it said it could take, since i did all the research back in october, but i think theres something im missing so i have to re read up on breeding them again. I thought i remember somthing about the male to female ratio being a factor, but my girl wont eat adults and my boys too small, so im not sure how to accomplish that. I dont want to kill them or waste them. So if im correct with the female ratio needing to be higher, i will give whoever wants them a bunch of adult male dubias!!! Lol
I doubt anyone even made it this far, but im done rambling now! Lol
How ironic?
Sorry its sucha long story, but i had to share! It cracked me right up. Im also in the process of breeding supers, and they have been in the beetle stage for about 2 weeks, but the waxworm situation was discouraging me since i thought it was sucess when i saw babies, then thought it was an epic fail when i didnt see them anymore, so now i feel more open minded that it will work!
I also have dubias ive been trying to breed, but made the dumb mistake when i bought my first 100 of getting them the appropriate size for my girl to eat, which was i think 3/4" at that time, instead of adults back in october, and they justtttt matured a couple weeks ago. I think im doing everyting right (heat, humidity, darkness, egg crates, big plastic sterilite container) but havent gotten results yet. I dont remember how long it said it could take, since i did all the research back in october, but i think theres something im missing so i have to re read up on breeding them again. I thought i remember somthing about the male to female ratio being a factor, but my girl wont eat adults and my boys too small, so im not sure how to accomplish that. I dont want to kill them or waste them. So if im correct with the female ratio needing to be higher, i will give whoever wants them a bunch of adult male dubias!!! Lol
I doubt anyone even made it this far, but im done rambling now! Lol
