Is it a good idea? - Bought me some superworms

[paul23]

Hello all, recently I have been thinking about getting a BD, but there are a few doubts that may hamper whether I get one or not.

The first thing is the climate here. I am in the Canary Islands where the weather is pretty warm all year round, but the problem is the humidity. Typically the humidity is around 50-80%, is this too high or will it be OK that high. Like I said temperature isn´t really a problem. Winter is normally no colder than 15ºC (59ºF) and summer is between 30-45ºC (86-113ºF), with the added heat lamp no problem there. It is the humidity I am worried about.

The second issue is actually getting the BD. I have never seen any in petshops here and Google isn´t really finding anything for breeders here. However, I have found a few for sale over the past few years on Craiglist type sites (Spanish equivalents) , so there are some around. It is going to difficult though. If anybody has any tips on finding one it would be greatly appreciated.

The third issue is very similar. Live food. I have never seen it for sale anywhere, I have however seen the odd chameleon in the pet shops with a cricket or two running around, so again they are here somewhere. They may be wild caught ones though, which I really do not want to do. What I would like to do ideally would be to get a Dubia colony going, but how hard would it be to actually get any sent here and for them still to be alive when they arrived.

The final thing is feeding schedule. Morning feeding is not a problem and can be done like clockwork, but the afternoon is a problem. I start work at 8:45am and return when I finish, which can be anywhere between 5pm - midnight. However, most days (maybe 90%) I am home for 6.30pm - 7pm. Would it be a problem to feed at 8.15am (same time as the turtles) then feed again at 7.30pm with lights off at 9pm? The odd final meal might be missed.

The rest of the stuff I think I have covered. I already have 2 Red Eared Slider Turtles, I am already familiar with UVB and heat lamps. I am going to build a viv 120cm x 60 x 60 (4ft x 2ft x 2ft), if I do get one.

Thanks to anyone who can help,

Paul

 

[Rukii]

Unfortunately I can't help, I'm sort of a beginner as well, but i'll bump this post up so someone who can help will read this. I recommend messaging Tracie ( Drache613 ) about the humidity and stuff, she's quite an expert

 

[Livey]

Unfortunaly the only breeders i know only ship to Europe..
Not sure on the humidity sorry :|
As for roaches, you will just have to shop around to find someone to send them, i no its difficult!.
I am currently starting a dubia colony. and seems pretty easy!
How about emailing some members that live is Australia?
Maybe they could give you a heads up?

 

[Frito]

they way i understand it humidity will not kill a BD directly but it can and will give them respiratory infections that could kill them.

i'd say 50% is probably ok but 80% is going to be too high, what you could do is put a de-humidifier in the room that you keep the BD in to lower the humidity

 

[paul23]

Thanks for the replies so far.

After some further investigation I have found some breeders in Spain, but they all state that they will ship to the whole of Spain except the Canaries. Most use a shipping agent called MRW, who I have seen there vans here, but they also state on their website that they only offer pet shipping to mainland Spain, so I need to figure out a way to get one from the mainland. It definitely looking more possible though.

Humidity is not a huge issue. I can´t effectively humidify the room due to the size and a few other factors. In the winter the humidity gets ridiculously high because of the turtles and their water evaporation, for that reason I need to bring in a lot of fresh air to keep the humidity in the room normal and stop my walls and ceilings going mouldy. I can however make something to keep the viv at a constant humidity. I am an air conditioning engineer, so building something like that is not a problem. I was going to build a climate control system anyway, more on that later when I figure it out

Still not found anything on the live food though. That could be the stumbling block I beginning to think.

Thanks Again

 

[paul23]

Still researching this and as predicted, live food is a problem.

The reason you can´t buy it here is because you cannot import anything that can breed and survive naturally here. It´s a environmental protection thing apparently. That rules out pretty much everything except for catching wild crickets, which would probably be pretty hard to do and get enough. Plus the health risks.

Unless anybody has a got an amazingly good idea, I don´t think I´m going to be able to do this sadly.

 

[paul23]

Maybe a possible breakthrough. I popped in to the petshop today. They have an Anole in there, and in it´s food bowl were some kind of a worm? They were about an inch and a bit long, golden/yellowish colouring. They were alive as they were riggling around. What would they be and would they be suitable as staple diet?

I didn´t have chance to ask the staff in there about them as I was in a rush. But they must have got them locally somewhere as I said above, you can´t import stuff here.

 

[Frito]

sounds like a mealworm or maybe a superworm

i feed my beardies super worms, if you put them in bowls they will get out more often than not

 

[paul23]

Thanks, just googled superworms and although they were a a bit more yellow than the ones I found on google, that does indeed look like them.

So supers are alright as a staple then?

 

[Frito]

yeah for adults 15-16" or long yes its fine

 

[Trogdorpheus]

Being on an island, I'd expect that bait shops and such would sell crickets and stuff in bulk. Assuming fishing is popular out there... Maybe something you haven't considered yet?

 

[paul23]

hmmm, interesting idea. I think that they use seafood as bait and you can see they fisherman in the beaches in the mornings getting things out of the rock pools, but maybe it might be an idea to look in to thanks. There is only sea fishing here, as we don´t have any rivers, lakes, streams etc. Just the sea. I don´t know if that would make any difference?

Thanks for the replies, I´ve a shimmer of hope now.

 

[AndyT]

Sorry, but most worms cannot be staples. The only staple worms that I know of are phoenix worms, super worms, and silk worms. What you saw were most likely meal worms, butter worms, or a worm indigenous to the area the pet store is in. Though it could be the super worms. Checking for bait shops is a good idea.

Andy

 

[paul23]

If I get chance tomorrow, i´ll try and sneak a picture of one and post it. Should of done that today really. I´m sure you lot would be able to identify them straight away.

 

[paul23]

Quite an interesting trip to the pet store today. The girl that normally works there wasn´t in, some other guy was there. There were worms again in the anole cage so I asked him if they sold them, to which he said they would do yes. I asked what type they were and got "worms?" Anyway, he took me in to the back of the shop and there they had three tubs.

These are what I thought were superworms. These are what they are feeding the anole.


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Then they had these bad boys. No idea what they are, but they are huge. They are about the thickness of a cigarette, maybe a bit thicker and about 3.5-4 inch long. These had a lid on the box so the pictures didn´t come out too well.


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Also, this was in the anole cage. I think it is a superworm pulpa.


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