Superworm Care and Breeding, a Step by Step Guide

[Amellio]

Bump

Plus I wanted to let everyone know that I got about 6 "aliens"

 

[ddma]

what if i don't want to breed them, how do i care for them, feeding, substrate , container, how big of a container? , etc

 

[DragonsInKansas]

Same way you care for the beetles. Plastic shoe box, with some sort of grate over the holes. Wheat bran substrate (or some other mixture, everyone uses something different) Then every couple days throw a sliced carrot in there. Make sure to get any part of the old carrot out if there is any left. When the bedding levels get low throw some more on top. Easy easy. They'll go on forever like this.

 

[ddma]

so if i wanted to keep 500 to 1000 supers at a time , what size plastic shoe box/container should i use. can't they get over crowded if i don't use a big enough container ?

 

[GoFast]

So of my 46 aliens I now have 42 beetles. 1 of them died and the other 3 should be popping out any time now. Probably when I get home form work this afternoon.

 

[DragonsInKansas]

They don't really get over crowded, if you don't keep them hydrated they will eat each other, so keep those carrots a coming. If you're going to do that many you might want to get something a little larger, just to be safe. But they don't need tons of space. Probably something with the "foor space" of like a piece of paper, that would give you plenty of room.

 

[fresnowitte]

When the bedding levels get low throw some more on top. Easy easy. They'll go on forever like this.

Actually once the substrate goes low it's because they have eaten most of it meaning there's alot of frass/worm poop...at this time it's best if you change to new substrate.

so if i wanted to keep 500 to 1000 supers at a time , what size plastic shoe box/container should i use. can't they get over crowded if i don't use a big enough container ?

You actually want something bigger than the shoe box for that many. I have a 40qt/38l sterilite container that works great for 1000 worms at a time. But you want about 4 inches of substrate.

An I highly suggest fresh veggies daily as well as water crystal this way you won't have any die off due to worms eating each other for moisture.

 

[DragonsInKansas]

Now I have a question: So you just drop water crystals in the bedding? Like you do with veggies? I use water crystals for my roach bins and for my crickets so it would be great if I could use them for these too.

 

[fresnowitte]

No...you want to place them on a plastic lid not directly into the substrate that would cause mold which isn't good...Because they will pull it under just like they do the veggies. I like to use the lids off of the plastic coffee cans the sides are a bit taller and helps keep it from getting burried so quickly. If you use a plastic lid like off of sour cream or something like that they bury it to fast...you need to remove the dampish substrate when they bury it to prevent molding. But I have had great success doing it this way. I have been growing them for over a year now...without any die offs...an I'm able to grow enough to feed all my beardies(9) all year long. It's so nice not to spend all that money on feeders anymore.

 

[DragonsInKansas]

Yea, i'm slowly creeping towards being cricket free. Working on roaches, and I need to up my superworm production. Though the other beardie parent of the house got a part time job at a petstore so 50 large crickets are now only costing 80cents, so my mind is at ease now about being eaten out of house and home.............though now it only makes me want more (dragons not bugs)

I'll give the water crystals a try

 

[fresnowitte]

I switched to Turks over a year ago and started the supers...went an entire year without crickets...but now I have 39 babies in the house an it's a pain to seperate that many small roaches...so I had to resort to small crickets again to relieve my frustration on sorting. I'm hating them! Nasty crickets! It was such a nice year without that smell and the ants. I find that the ants like crickets an always seem to invade my house when they are here...but they don't bother the roaches or worms. :roll:

 

[Amellio]

Do the beatles need light? I have them in a 3 drawer cart thing in my closet. Which I keep the door open to the closet but not a whole lot of light gets in there. So is that okay?

 

[AnimalFriend4]

why do you put them in side cups? to MAKE them morph? confused

 

[Amellio]

why do you put them in side cups? to MAKE them morph? confused

Yes you do that to stress them out so they can morph. They have to be isolated from everything. Don't add food, some ppl add a pinch of bran or something and others dont.

 

[DragonsInKansas]

Do superworms shed? I have some that are big and white.......are these just superworms that shed or are these the evil type that ruin your batch?