I keep my worms and beetles in the sterlite drawer systems. A note of general caution: several of my dragons have died after eating wireworms, maybe they weren’t chewed and killed, and then fed on the dragons’ insides. I’m not the person who wrote the article, but I will tell you that my personal experience of trying to breed super worms in a powdered grain substrate with added veggies was a total bust (though it worked great for my mealworms). I’ve read lots of info online who to raise them and still nothing. If you have any questions or want to see any pictures I would be more than willing to answer or show you. When it is time for the beetles to mate, the male will transfer enough sperm into the female to fertilize all of her future eggs. Add about 1 inch of wheat bran or a pre-made gutload to the bottom of the container. You most likely won’t see them though as they are very tiny. Apparently they took it upon themselves to breed on their own. Why didn’t I think to grind it to powder first, doh! Now I see separating them too pupate is the key. The beetles and the superworms generally prefer darker areas. Thanks for the info Craig. Do male and female beetles (Tenebrio molitor) respond differently to rat feces containing eggs from the tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta? Do you let them die out or do something else? I have had my superworms for more than 3 years. It may take awhile, but, if it’s working, eventually when you look really closely at the substrate you will see tiny things moving. I have had the most success having all of my containers in a big cupboard heated with an infra-red lamp at 28 degrees celcius, I give them fresh carrots daily. I put new in every few days to every week. Hi, February 13, 2012 I had my super worms separated individually in really small plastic containers that I bought from the pet store so they can pupate into pupae then lastly into beetles. Forget that last question about separating eggs and beetles…totally missed a couple sentences…. You may now move the beetles to this container. the fish that they catch are the smaller chubs and algae eaters, and sometimes small goldfish. My breeding program is going well, but I have one question. I keep all stages of superworms at a temperature between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. What could possibly be wrong? I’m not having any luck with the eggs falling into my bottom bin. Let Google be your friend! Thank you! How do you grow superworms egg to larvae. 3. Commercial gutloads are really good but from Walmart you could use oats or a whole grain cereal. Good luck. After reading this site about breeding those cool things, I’ve never thought it would be that much work to get my 44 superworms started. A trip down to my local pharmacy, I asked one of the attendants if they still had any of the old cannisters (they used to process film on site) and he came back with about 40 of ’em in a plastic bag. As Cody said, the best thing to do is to change the bedding. Also, warmer temperatures give better results for breeding and growth. Any thoughts for why this is happening? i’ve done research on meal worm and found out that they do eat dead leaves,plants,animals,in the wild i trying old leaves for the meal worms to eat because they do eat dead things they seem to love it now i cant find out where to go to find out if super worms can eat the same thing as far as dead leaves so i can save myself alot of money theres dead leaves everywhere free do you know if i can use dead leaves for superworm to. I am always looking for easier ways to do things. Oh by the way Blacky, my crow is 15 years or older now and I have read that crows can live up to 30 years when kept in captivity. Most people use potato, carrot, apple, pears etc. I’ve spent hours trying to separate substrate from worms and usually sift then spend hours with tweezers picking out worms. Once the beetles emerge they can be a little sluggish. Catrina – I would be happy to watch your video! So far so good. thank you so much for this article. I’m breeding mealworms rather than superworms, but the life cycle is pretty much identical, so I wanted to give it a shot! Better to use Yorker bottles without the tops, they’re chceap and easy to order en masse. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! You can put all the pupae together. Would that work?? I desired to drop you a simple note expressing my thanks. It's a fairly simple process and with some time and patience you can raise your own feeders. I know you can raise mealworms on styrofoam, they love to eat the stuff. I did google it and was led to this page. They regularly pupate in this environment. Be sure to replace the banana on your kitchen counter every couple of weeks. I have limited experience breeding super worms but every time I kept the beetles in grain gutload they died pretty quickly. John F. Shea DOI: 10.4236/ns.2010.28107 PDF HTML 6,289 Downloads 10,831 Views Citations I have not tried this system yet but I want to know how and why there are centimeter long “baby” superworms always at the bottom of the geckos water bowl. You have saved me from spending so much money! Hoping for success, thanks for this info so much! Hopefully Cody, the author, will reply as well. The small larvae can reach the potato, but it doesn’t negatively affect the main substrate (and thereby the larvae). It’s not too difficult, but keep it mind it takes months at a time to bring a colony to maturity. We had the opportunity to interview Kevin of New England Reptile Distributors, asking him about the amazing Tokay Gecko morphs they are working with. The beetles can bite very similar to the superworm larva. Found a couple of the black beetles also…. I just put him back in the cup. You can use really any type of container such as Rubbermaid and Sterilite but I’ve found cat litter pans to be most effective. Hi is there somebody who can tell me how many super worm beetles I can keep in a 20l container (one of these filing drawers). Since I tend to buy my super worms in bulk and use them up, I have no idea. Before removing these beetles you need to put together a new breeding container. Zophobas morio is a species of darkling beetle, whose larvae are known by the common name Superworms, King Worms, Morio Worms or simply Zophobas. The eggs are pretty tiny. About the film canister, you can use small empty plastic cups of yogurt container. I buy mine from http://www.mulberryfarms.com. I’m sure they can be composted along with the dead superworms, skins etc. I was also wondering if it could be the low humidity and or temperature. It does not have any dangerous chemicals and is nutritious i believe so I think we can use it. I would also suggest bumping their temps up near 80. For the babies I keep the temperature around 78 degrees Fahrenheit. As far as a female going on one mating I don’t know. As far as how long it takes for the eggs to start hatching it really depends on temperature. I’m now looking around for a bigger container of some kind to separate my adults super worms beetles, like I did my meal worms and their babies. I had those very badly a while back due to some bird seed I bought. I was kind of wondering why you were asking about gecko eggs in a post about super worms. Offer potatoes, carrots, fruits or water crystals as a water source. About every 2 to 4 weeks (depending on how many beetles you have in one container) remove the beetles from the bedding and place them in a fresh container as described above. You technically can keep them at that temperature. And how long does it take to get to Superworm size? That’s where our wood stove is and we wanted to see if this would speed up the process and it did when going through half way of the third week. I had quite a few beetles but have lost at least half. Aliza it could be possible that they’re eating the eggs. they obviously come with the meal you use which mine is a combo of oatmeal wheat germ and wheat bran, im about to give up on raising the worms because pantry moths can be devastating to your own food supply. I have not found any way to sex the beetles as they all look identical. I would put vegetable parings in with adult super worms and also did the same when I was breeding mealworms: eggplant peels, broccoli stems, pieces of zucchini and orange peels for example. Once there exoskeleton hardens their activity will pick up. My new question is, after mating when will they lay eggs and after laying eggs when the eggs will be hatch? LOL. I keep fresh carrot or potato in there at all times and I have also added water crystals. Like separate the beetles from the meal worms to? Dear sir. The 500 eggs laid would be in the female’s lifetime but results vary depending on the female. greetings. Good luck. are “Zophobas morio” – a lot of breeders prefer to call them “Morios” to make the difference clearer. Are they like other insect species and only good for a one off and then die or do they last longer? I had to change the arrangement because the super worms were biting the tail of one of my geckos, but if I were to breed super worms again, I’d recreate that situation: eco earth substrate with good drainage, misted daily, with grain stations “on the side”. Even the small larva superworm turns into pupa and into beetles. Moisture is extremely important for the beetles just as it is for the superworms themselves. Otherwise they may wander through the container digging up eggs and eating them. How long to the males live? Lol! they are pretty much hiding now.. but they did also just hatch like from 4 days ago till today?. I’m honestly not sure how you can tell whether the eggs are ending up in the right place or not since they’re so small. is it when you seperate all the worms in a different containers? if i was to keep the superworm in a deep 3 drawer plastic orginizer can they get out. We have set up a cabinet out in the garage, of course being Brisbane the temp is perfect out there, and our first beetle is coming out and out second pupa is on it’s way. They offer more protein than cric (crickets). What do you say. I bought my cups in the dollar store, something like 90 cups for $1.00. Superworms grow slowly and it can take 5 months or longer (depending on the temperature you keep them at) to become large enough to start the “morphing” process. If you want to read about it in Gecko Time, check out these articles: http://geckotime.com/bio-active-reptile-substrate/ http://geckotime.com/creating-a-bioactive-leopard-gecko-setup/. I decided to start raising insects as a money-making deal back in September, 2012. With COVID-19, the required air ventilation rates are different. If u take way the pieces u lost the babies too…. TOO EXPENSIVE! Hopefully Cody will respond to you as well. ; k so i put my 50 or so betels from 1 bin to the other then i saw that the bedding in the first bin is all clumpy and stuff but it doesn’t feel wet/damp. I’ve been at this for many months and would really like to see it through. Hi Matt, I don’t know if you remember me or not but while back, I think early March sometime I mentioned about breading my own adult meal worms and my super worms beetles for my pet crow, where my local pet shop in my area was closing February 28TH of this year. <3. Many sites out there on how to look after them. I use the heat mats for seeds/plants, super worms, and for baby chicks after they hatch from eggs. This stuff kind of binds all the wheat germ and oatmeal and stuff together and it becomes sort of a mat. What do you do with the Beatles? They are dark in the front and back and larger but require nothing special. They will continuously lay eggs their entire lives. You can also try wiping off the superworms. Well, my manager brought back Super-worms and now I read that everything is the same BUT… I HAVE TO SEPARATE THEM!! Where as out in the wild 7-8 years only. With three hungry Blue Tongues we were wondering what to do as worm Saturday in a huge event in our house. The Z and E isomers and the saturated analog of … Also, thanks for the tip of grinding oats in the blender! I got grain mites and it was so bad. This item is made to put under a plant tray to help seeds germinate and also helps plants grow. We also open the box and let it air out at least once a day. are mealworms and super-worms different species. Also, can you please give me an estimated length of the worm before i can isolate them for morphing? But The Critter Depot Raises their I know my audience would enjoy your work. The grain mites are round and the super worms are long. You can use tackle box with the dividers they sell Em at wal mart for like 5 bucks and they work great. I am not sure that beetles eat eggs. Female beetles are rounder at their bottom. I notice something though about these beetles. Although I wish I did this back in may. They should be kept in a substrate of powdered grain so they can eat and you can sift them out to feed them to the geckos. It should be noted that inappropriate methods of fertilization, will preclude the ADELIA formula because the lower the nutrient amount, the higher will be the age of ´. Reconsider flushing the beetles. At the low end, incubating at 80 will result in hatches in 7-8 weeks and at the high end, incubating at 88 will result in hatches approximately 4-5 weeks. Superworms occur naturally in the tropical regions of Central and South America, but have spread across the world for use as food for reptiles and other insectivorous pets. Randy, It would be fine for them to eat a pupae as they are still soft bodied but I would not recommend feeding them the beetles. It did take months before I started seeing those tiny baby worms. They will do all this on their own. Their only purpose is to reproduce and create more superworm larva. Again, as I’m still on a small scale, I’ve got my *herd* in various containers (bottoms of juice bottles and milk jugs, mostly) near the back of the refrigerator where they get a good amount of very warm air. I’d imagine at least a few months. I’ve been breeding super worms very successfully in my gargoyle enclosure which has a coco fiber substrate and gets misted daily. Wouldn't it be better to spread the series of type specimens within the vicinity of the researcher as well as the region the specimens has been sampled from? Toss out the contaminated bedding and clean the container very well. This I call their “headlight” but unfortunately it does The males of Dynastes hercules can reach up to 180 mm and are therefore amongst the largest beetles. Ah, I see. Here is what Kevin had to say. I swear it took me a full year to get from beetles to full size superworms. Potatoes and carrots dry out to fast. What do the beetles turn into if anything?If they dont turn into anything what do u do with them? Have you ever thought about creating an ebook or guest authoring on other blogs? Thanks!! if a bearded dragon eats a pupa or a beetle can it harm the bearded dragon or even kill it? I have also gotten them in my roach bins. I have a 7-week old Savannah Monitor and he tends to prefer Superworms far more than crickets. The only problem is, when they are already in the beetle form they need to grow a lil bigger before they start on mating. I have never encountered grain mites so I don’t have first hand experience. I’ve found that placing the potato slices on the substrate surface (I use ground chicken layer pellets) tends to cause caking and possibly fungus in the substrate, so since I’m still in a small-scale situation I put a “mulch” of coarser edibles on the surface. Data concerning, the mineral nutrition of plants can be used in many ways. I have had many problems with mites and like someone asked earlier, I ALWAYS microwave my oats for 1 minute and then let it stand a few minutes to cool off before I place it in the containers, I have never had any problems with mites again. tokay are you a filipino ? The estimation of the age of a plant using new non-destructive processes will have significant environ-, mental and agricultural benefits when compared to methods which damage or kill plants. Would using a smaller size water crystal work? After hatching they are very tiny so it will be difficult to see them. i am using chicken laying mass as a bedding for my betles, is it fine? I leave the old bins alone with food and moisture sources but I still cannot see any baby worm larvae in any of the former bins. Thanks, Aliza. I expect this will work the same for the superworms. just would like to ask, how long will it take for the eggs to hatch? As for the pantry moths. in the wild the beetles are severely territorial and kill all the other males i keep mine in my 100 gal snake terrarium where its a more natural setting its all self sustaining they build nests and produce on their own. thanks in advance guys. I would use separate bins as described in the op. It sounds to me like they are not getting enough moisture therefore the superworms that hatch are preying on smaller larva and eggs. It works a freaking treat. My frilled dragon loves them. Let’s say my container is 12″ x 12″ and 5″ deep how many is safe to put in there? You have Grain or Pantry Moth larva which will hatch into moths. They been sleeping on top of each other, into 2 separate groups. The bedding you keep them on is their food source. I would get a long but not tall sterilite container like a 17 gallon and line the bottom of it with the 2 oz cups. I have some web-like material in with the baby superworms (which have been separated from the beetles). I never see a beetle on any of the food, the beetles are all hiding underneath the egg carton. Getting a male and female Almost all beetle species need a male and a female to reproduce, they are not parthenogenic. I have no idea, but my attempts to breed super worms in a gutload substrate all failed. my mom hates me for having these in my room, i think bugs r cool tho. A lot of my pupa look like they have dried up beetles or something and are not turning into beetles at all, not sure what is going on but it has been a few weeks in pupa stage and no beetles. This is their third stage of life. because i am too.. i havn’t fed my baby worms any veggies for moisture in maanny weeks ..will they die ? New to breeding super’s any advice would be much appriciated , Ok:) so I have been considering breeding feeders for my beardie for a long while no, as my LPS has really crappy superworms, and the pack is always 1/2 dead. Keep in mind too much moisture will cause the bedding to mold. With regards to the egg cartons the answer would be no. If you are looking to increase your efficiency or just start a new colony of super worms please try my method you will not be sorry and the tackle box cost 5 bucks!! I’d been reading up on the various uses of these critters and decided that it’d be a good way to make some residual income, so I started with standard meal worms (bought in mid October at a convenience store that was selling them for fishing bait–sales opportunity #1). After it turns into beetle. what are they and how do i get rid of them? It happens. I should have known better! Due to the digital era they are becoming harder to find but I’ve always had good luck at the Wal-Mart and Costco photo centers. I do this for rice and flour in my pantry and live in warm/humid Florida and have no issues once I discovered this tip. Some problems that you might find: small white mites that came from the peat moss; mealworm infestations indicated by webbing and/or production of small moths; mealworms from other sources. I’ve added a misted paper towel in the past that they seem to like and gather at. Months later I found the container with a nice circular hole in the top. I have been looking for an alternative to the typical “mesh bottom” that supposedly allows all the eggs to fall through, but as anyone who’s used this method long enough knows, it doesn’t quite work out as well in real life as it does in theory, with many eggs and baby worms never making it through the bottom and instead end up mixed in with the beetle tray. This common pest of stored legumes has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every continent except Antarctica. Some of the more recognizable beetles in the subfamily Dynastinae have males that possess thoracic and/or cephalic horns (Figures 1 and 2). my beatles are still very light colored and seem “sluggish” and thay seem to be hiding under the egg crate in the dark is this normal for new beatles? Okay I added a big junk of an egg carton into the small fish tank and all those black beetle moved into it, in one bunch. I plan to spread this news because I owe the Internet for being able to feed my bearded dragons by myself so it would only be right if I let everyone else know what I learned from my studies, trails and errors. lol, my gecko loves mealworms and superworms pupaes. In mass rearing of mealworm, Tenebrio molitor, I have a problem. To breed fruit flies peel a banana and leave it on your kitchen counter. i only kept one worm, its in my dresser drawer in an empty pill bottle, can i let it go outside? These guys just do their thing without much help from me. For exposure time of less than 0.5 h with infection probability. Stag Beetle Lucanus cervus - Linnaeus, 1758 Identification hints: Male stag beetles with their large antlers are absolutely unmistakable. As well for your budget I am also running on a tight budget. I just started “growing” Superworms. I breed my own supers and beetles Email me if you have any questions. 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