We need some bran for the supers we feed to our girls. We used to be able to buy it locally but the only store we know of doesn't seem to carry it anymore. I plan on trying Safeway, we never go there as it's too expensive. Anyway, if I can't find bran, what else can I use for substrate for the supers? We plan on going the Tucson in one week and can find bran there. I need to know what I can use instead of the bran.
I got them to beetles, but I've never seen any baby supers that I know of. I wonder if I didn't have enough beetles of the correct sex, or maybe not enough.
BTW Tom, I did find bran at a local feed store at a good price $12.95 for 50 pounds. That's about 26 cents per pound. The only problem is they won't sell less than the full 50 pounds. 50 pounds of bran is a LOT of bran. My husband feels that it will go bad before we use it all up, even tho he uses a lot of bran for his health's sake.
I think he means whole grain rolled oats (I know there are several brands out there and don't have experience in buying at feed stores or in bulk), but I don't know if those follow under oatmeal oats, too. :? What did the label say?? Whole grain rolled oats can be used as oatmeal oats, but they shouldn't have any extra ingredients. I've used a combination of whole grain rolled oats, Cheerios, and All Bran cereal (I had no idea where to find actual wheat bran at first)...I added wheat bran in later and got rid of the All Bran stuff, but I know I went awhile without them. I don't know if they would breed in that combo or anything. I believe that I have read that some beetles prefer the oats to be ground up...but don't have the experience myself yet. Not sure that I helped any but figured I'd try lol.
I found red bran at Whole Foods. A big bag is only a few dollars. It's in those self serve containers that you scoop your own. Someone always asks me what I do with all that red bran and I love to see their expression when I tell them.