# Breeding Super Worms



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Breeding Super Worms

Materials:
-3 Rubbermaid container with lid (6$ at Wal-Mart) of approx. 5 gallons each
(Length and width are more important then height so a container with a large footprint is ideal)
-50-100 film canisters (ask at Wal-Mart film section as they will give you tons for free)
-substrate (I use wheat germ and oatmeal)
-egg cartons (also can use those paper cup trays)
-drill and drill bit

Method:
-Put 12 film canisters into margarine container (repeat with multiple margarine containers or cottage cheese containers (7 per container)
-Put containers into Rubbermaid 
-Buy 50 to 100 worms and put ONE in each container (use the largest ones)
-Add a pinch or substrate to each container
-Wait a week until they curl up (check every other day and remove and replace dead worms)
-A week or so after they curl up they will shed and look like a albino aliens (may of seen this in meal worms)
-A week after this they will do there final transformation into a beetle (red right after morph but will turn black in 48hrs)
-With checking every other day for dead ones you can add the beetles to the contains described in the following

Beetle container

-Buy all materials
-Drill lots of holes into lid for ventilation or cut entire lid off (leave frame still) and glue on a window screen)
-place substrate in the containers (enough to just cover it)
-Add an egg carton
-Add the beetles as they hatch
-Beetles will not be very messy so you don't have to clean them
-Every day (or every other) add a piece of potato, lettuce, apple&#8230; or any other fruit or vegetable to the container
-Take out when new food goes in
- They do not need a water bowl, they get all the water they need from the food
- Do not let the container get moist or the substrate will get moldy (good ventilation is the key)
-They will then deposit eggs on the egg carton, after the eggs hatch they will go into the substrate and grow
-Keep doing every thing the same and soon the worms will be larger (1inch) and the beetles can be moved to the third Rubbermaid (1st for morphing to beetles, 2nd & 3rd to alternate laying the eggs and growing them)
-The worms are messy but I don't clean them until after I move then to a container to be fed to the predator or to the 1st container to be turned into a beetle, I just add more substrate- they will also eat apples, potatoes, lettuce&#8230;(you are what you eat so you want well fed worms)

-	By the time they are at feeding size the batch from the container the beetles were in should be at a decent size so remove the original a batch of worms, clean the container (add new substrate and egg carton then the beetles

-You then grow the 2nd batch as you feed the first to your lizard

Remember:

-	The beetles wont breed if there cold so keep it in a warm place or use a heat mat 
-	After the batch is at feeding size add some of then to the 1st container to be turned into beetles (the beetles will die about 4 months after changing into beetles)
-	Feed them well and they grow faster and are healthier food for the predator
-	Don't let the Rubbermaid get moist or the substrate will mold
-	It takes a month or so before you get your first batch but after that you will have plenty 
-	If there isnâ€™t good ventilation the thousands of little worms will smell like ammonia so add some new substrate and air out the container

If you have multiple reptiles this will save you lots of money!


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2007)

Very interesting. Thanks Sean.

My early attempts at keeping Superworms were a gnat-cloud-spewing mess. 
I tried to keep them in a substrate of rotting, soft wood and feed them apples. The worms lasted a long time, but the substrate smelled bad and huge clouds of fungus gnats spewed from the box and collected at all of my windows, eventually dying in piles on my window sill.


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## blackmaskelong (Aug 18, 2007)

you can get them super cheap at the expo this sunday hope to see you all there... http://reptileexpo.ca/mississauga/index.php


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

i found you have to use things that are natural like oatmeal and wheat germ because i tried using bran buds cerial and it just got moldy

i found for food lettuce works best since it gives them moisture and wont create humidity making the container go humid

also they will smell a bit unless you keep adding some new substrate so you might want them inan unused room or outside (in a warm garage or shed (the wont breed if the temp is low so you could use a heatmat)

i think oatmeal lasts the longest but if you add a bit more at a time it wont smell then change it 100% for your next batch


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## blackmaskelong (Aug 18, 2007)

one thing i might add never use pine chips nothin pine it's a posion to any lizard!


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

dot they sell those at lfs or are those cedar or something else?


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## blackmaskelong (Aug 18, 2007)

ahh don't know what you are talkin about!


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Captive Herps said:


> one thing i might add never use pine chips nothin pine it's a posion to any lizard!


then i asked that arnt pine chips sold in lfs or is it another type of wood


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## blackmaskelong (Aug 18, 2007)

yup! i know thay sell it for anamal bedding needless to say thay should say do not use with reptiles!


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2007)

sean-820 said:


> one thing i might add never use pine chips nothin pine it's a posion to any lizard!


then i asked that arnt pine chips sold in lfs or is it another type of wood
[/quote]
Pine and cedar release volatile aromatic compounds that will eventually kill any reptile or crustacean placed in the same terrarium as that bedding. 
Generally, that kind of bedding is used only for mammals.


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