Growing hornworms...

[Honda99300ex]

do you have them on a light cycle, under a light?

 

[forum1983]

do you have them on a light cycle, under a light?

No they are outdoors, and they buried themselves under 5-7 inches of dirt...so I guess you can say they are on a natural light cycle. I figure this is what they do in the wild, so it can't hurt, right?

 

[Honda99300ex]

Well if they don't have at least 14 hours of light per day(don't ask me why lol) they will go into diapause and can remain that way for months before they emerge as moths. Any idea of your light cycles right now? Hopefully it works out, its a really cool process to watch. My 10 pupae should be emerging any day now.

 

[forum1983]

Well if they don't have at least 14 hours of light per day(don't ask me why lol) they will go into diapause and can remain that way for months before they emerge as moths. Any idea of your light cycles right now? Hopefully it works out, its a really cool process to watch. My 10 pupae should be emerging any day now.

Interesting. It makes sense. I think they would be getting 4-6 hours of direct sunlight each day, and then a few hours more of indirect sunlight the rest of the day until the sun sets. But like I said, they dug down in the dirt a few inches so technically they aren't getting any light. If this is true then I'll need to dig up the rest of the cocoons so they can be put in the light. Do you have a particular lighting system that you use? Could I keep them in my dragon's enclosure if they are protected to share that lighting system? Cause I'm not will to invest in another lighting/heating setup just to raise worms.

 

[Honda99300ex]

I just have mine under a simple fluorescent bulb .

 

[forum1983]

I just have mine under a simple fluorescent bulb .

So it doesn't have to be a special UV light or even a light that gives off heat? Just a normal household bulb or fluorescent?

 

[pumpkinman]

I'm coming in a little late on this one. Horns are my next project. Lots of information on the net about breeding them but very few photos and vids. I like to read but I really like pictures!!!
If anyone has some setup pics or vids I'd love to see them!!

Chris

 

[forum1983]

I'm coming in a little late on this one. Horns are my next project. Lots of information on the net about breeding them but very few photos and vids. I like to read but I really like pictures!!!
If anyone has some setup pics or vids I'd love to see them!!

Chris

Chris, I'll try to help you out with some pictures

 

[Honda99300ex]

yes, just regular fluoro's. 4 of my 12 emerged as moths tonight, they are bouncing off the box right now haha

 

[Shoulon]

Pic's? =)

 

[pumpkinman]

Ya, there is a saying on the forums in another hobby of mine. No pics = it didn't happen. Lol.
I'm dying to see pics of rearing boxes. The only one I have seen is the cardboard one on the manduca project. They leave out many important details on that site.

 

[forum1983]

Here is a picture of my larva box, but this is from www.manducaproject.com so you've seen their setup. I have to dig out my other cocoons today so I will try to take pictures of my "cage" I made for the moths.

 

[pumpkinman]

Thanks for the pic! The larva box is a no brainer.
What I am unclear on is the rearing box. Is there a tub full of dirt at the bottom? Humming bird feeder for moths. Do you feed the larva in the rearing box or just keep in larva box until they are full grown?
Is a live plant in the rearing box necessary?

 

[pumpkinman]

Also, how do you handle the eggs and get them out of the rearing box without letting the moths out?

 

[forum1983]

This is the first time I have gone through the cycle, so I too am unclear on the entire process. However, I can tell you and share picture of what I do know so far. I will take pictures of my "rearing box" later and post them here. I specifically got a 3.5-5 gallon bucket and drilled some drain holes in the bottom, filled the bucket with a little bit of rock to help keep the potting soil in so it doesn't drain through the holes easily. I then placed a tomato plant in the bucket and fill in around the plant with more soil and placed the bucket with the plant in my box. NOTE: from what everyone is saying tomato plants are toxic to bearded dragons so be careful. Once my worms were ready to pupate, I pulled six or seven of them and placed them on the soil in the bucket and they dug down into the dirt straight away. This is normal, as they will dig down a 5-6 inches in the dirt to protect themselves while they pupate. According to Honda99300x, you do not actually need to put a plant in the rearing box, just place the plant next to it so when the moths do hatch they smell the plant and will lay eggs on whatever they can in the rearing box. What I planned to do what let the moths lay eggs on the plant and then pick the eggs off the plant before they hatch. From what I've read, the moths lay eggs within a couple days and then the moths die within a week. Any eggs I do not find but then later find the worms on my plant, I was just going to throw away since I can't feed them to my dragon if they've eaten any of the plant. Plus, a single full grown worm can eat an entire plant in a night so imagine have a bunch of small ones on a plant, they would probably eat it just as fast. So I've been rethinking my plan of keeping the plant in the rearing box. But I do need to dig out the other cocoons that are still in my bucket somewhere. As far as food for the moths, I was going to use an old plastic container from sour cream or something similar in shape and size. Drill some holes in the lid for the moths to eat from. Boil water and add sugar and boil it for 5 minutes to create a syrup, let it cool and pour in the container give to the moths. Or I've heard you can just buy hummingbird food to feed the moths. As far as the rearing box itself I didn't like the idea of using cardboard outside, cause I figured it would fall apart pretty fast, so I'll show you what I made out of some 1x1 lumber and window screen, it isn't pretty but it works. And if you don't put a plant with dirt in the rearing box you have a couple options. 1) put a container with a couple inches of dirt in the rearing box and place the larva that is ready to pupate in the dirt and they will do the rest, they will be protected because they are in your box. 2) I've also read that you can take the larva that is ready to pupate and wrap it in a paper towel, place it in a container and place the container in a dark dry place and they will turn into a cocoon. Hope all this helps, I will try to get the pictures up in a couple hours.