Superworm tubs

[glenCOCO]

I'm going to be picking up a bulk order of 500 superworms tomorrow and I was wondering how big their tub should be. Would keeping them in a 6qt sterilite be too small? Also, how long do Superworms live when in their larva stage?

 

[fresnowitte]

A 6qt container is rather small I'd double or even triple that....you don't want the worms to be over crowded as then they are more likely to munch on each other. Make sure to keep them well fed and hydrated by feeding them leftover veggies this will help keep from them being canibalistic.

If you had two of the 6qt containers maybe...but I think you'd be better off with one
of this size for storing 500 in.

(Note...old pic and not enough substrate...needs to be about 3 or 4 inches deep. )

The larva stage begins when they are microscopic...by the time we purchase them as feeders they are already about 3 to 4 months old. The larva can under proper care and conditions live close to a year in this stage. However full grown is about 2 to 2-1/4 inches so once they reach this big they are capable of morphing when separated.

 

[Amber31190]

for 500, i use a 20 qt, or the one next up not sure qt size, not to get weird but superworms are the bomb and are soo cool.

 

[glenCOCO]

I just switched to a 16qt and it seems to be working great. Thanks! How often do you feed these guys? They eat A LOT. I put a bunch of carrots and a huge leaf of romaine in there and it was gone in a couple hours. I dug in there to look for it and sure enough it was all gone. If they keep this up, I'm going to have to replace their food like three times a day. That's more work than my beardie!

 

[fresnowitte]

Are you also keeping them in a bran substrate?
I feed mine daily the leftover veggies from making beardie salads. Each day I pull out the uneaten veggies if any from the day before and replace with fresh ones.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

I also use raw potato's.

 

[glenCOCO]

I'm using the bran that they came with plus some blended oatmeal that I had at home. Their appetite has died down considerably since yesterday. Maybe they were just hungry? The "bug farm" where a bought them keep the superworms that they are selling that day in a bin without any substrate, so maybe that might explain the savage appetite.

 

[runningguy]

I use an 18 gal rubbermaid tub for 250 medium/large supers. I have been having a major problem with them eating each other. When I had small supers almost none of them did. I throw a few pieces of moist veggies/fruit in the tub every day. Maybe that doesn't provide the water that they need. The oatmeal they are in is very dry.

Are they more likely to eat each other if it is dark? I have them in a dark colored tub.

 

[glenCOCO]

That seems pretty big for just 250. Maybe they're having trouble finding the food so they just eat any worms that are close by.

 

[runningguy]

You might be right. But it is a rubbermaid tub, so it is tall more than long and wide. It has 16 X 22 inches of floor space.

 

[protiemama]

Sounds like I need a bigger container. I have a 10 gal aquariun with oatmeal and wheat germ. should have used bran? I knew it didn't sound right. They get lots of potato chuncks and fresh greens daily.

Sandy H

 

[glenCOCO]

Is it working fine for you? If they're alive and not eating each other then you must be doing something right. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.