superworm help

[kjay]

Good day, i have my superworms in the beetle form no problem, but have yet to get any eggs, or a worm, temps are 75-85 subtrate is wheat germ, it has me baffled

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

They need peat moss, that seems the key for most people.

Chris

[Jayson]

they will lay there eggs on carrots. I use bran as substrate mixed with the powder from my mazuri rodent feed.

[-okapi-]

I have about 100 in beetle form right now and i cant tell if they are mating and laying eggs or not. Ive got them in a sterilite tub with chicken mash as substrate and carrots as water and a cardboard tube to lay eggs on. So far no eggs (that i can see) and no super babies (that i can see). breeding mealworms is so much easier... :grumps: :grumps: :grumps:

[-okapi-]

by-the-way, how long have you had them in beetle form? ive had mine for about 3 weeks

[DragnDrop]

I would suggest adding something for the beetles to lay eggs in. If they must, they will lay eggs in the substrate but they prefer crevices where the eggs are safe from predation. If you can get some very rough bark slabs you might find better results with your beetles. The females will deposit the eggs deep inside the cracks where they can hatch. Another option is something like sunflower stems, safe food for them to eat, great place for the eggs to be laid in. If you don't have sunflowers, try any non-toxic stem pieces from somethig like roses, lily stems, butterfly bush twigs etc.
If you have grain mites in the substrate you might not get many eggs to hatch. I've noticed if the mites show up, there are very few young worms, possibly the mites eat or damage the eggs and/or worms.

[-okapi-]

ok, thanks for the advice.

[-okapi-]

good news: i just found my first superworm babies! A few hours ago i dug around through the substrate and found 3 superworms. They are tiny, like the size of a thread and about 6 mm long. I transfered the beetles to a new bin to keep these worms from eating their younger siblings while they are still eggs. Also i noticed an odor from my superworm beetles. The cardboard tube smells a little funky and i sniffed a beetle (yes, i sniffed a beetle) and noticed the same smell on him. Anyone else have stinky superworms? They are supposed to be odorless arnt they?

[DragnDrop]

The beetles do have an odour about them, one you'll never forget either
There's no smell to the worms themselves unless the substrate is damp and moldy but if you have grain mites you might detect a slight lemony smell similar to lemon scented laundry detergent.

[WingedWolf]

Yes, that piercing odor smells like tanning solution, to me. Not unpleasant exactly, but tremendously powerful. It's a defensive odor that the beetles deliberately emit when they are disturbed--as long as they're calm, they don't have an odor.

I've used egg carton with mine--it gives the beetles a place to hide, and they lay their eggs in it readily.

[-okapi-]

More good news! i now have 2 tubs with super babies and 2 tubs with regular mealworm babies. There are more mealworms than supermealworms though. Do supers just lay less eggs or something? I started out with about the same number of mw/sw beetles.

[DragnDrop]

Regular mealworms breed way faster than supers. It takes just over a month for a mealworm to become a mature beetle, but several months for a super. My superworm breeding colony has about 40 beetles which produce enough worms for my feeder supply. You might not have as many supers as mealies but then 1 super is as much food as 10 or more mealworms so your 'feeder supply' is probably about the same.

[-okapi-]

nevermind, i definatly have more supers! i so much as touch the tub and the whole substrate becomes alive with movement. they just stay tiny longer than regular mw.