Anyone?

C

Cockroach

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 25, 2003
Messages
57
Does anyone here culture their own waxworms? I bought a few hundred of the little guys a couple of weeks ago, and now they're starting to pupate. I made my own waxworm bedding/food, and they really gorge themselves on it. I just removed 82 pupae from the tub that I have the waxworms in, and some of the pupae are absolutely HUGE!
Not only am I culturing food for my fish and herps, but it's a neat experience. Any experiences with culturing waxworms would be of great help to see if I can improve on my rearing abilities. Thanks!


laters,
Bill:D
 
Dark

Dark

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 15, 2003
Messages
538
:? :? :? No one know about wax worms I guess.:? :? :?
Sucks your the only one on boards
that know about waxworms.
:? Good luck with culturing your waxworms.:?

From
Eric
 
Gillian

Gillian

Arachnoblessed
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Aug 13, 2002
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Bill,
I think Nixy does..
Peace, light & eternal love...
Gillian
)0(
 
N

Navaros

Arachnoprince
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Oct 23, 2003
Messages
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I've never done it. Too much work. There are recipes online for making their food, seems like ay too much.
 
Wade

Wade

Arachnoking
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Aug 16, 2002
Messages
2,929
What are you using for food/bedding? Bran and honey? I've considered it before, just haven't gotten around to it.

I was once told that beekeepers would burn down your house if they knew you were culturing waxworms on purpose!

Wade
 
C

Cockroach

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 25, 2003
Messages
57
Wow! I thought I'd never get responses to this post! I'm using a mix of bran, honey, beeswax, dog food, and maple syrup. They grow very fast on the mix, and I've already got bee moths flying around in a tall cage.
Luckily we have very few bee keepers around my area, so I don't think anyone will be burning down my house! We have a lot of fishermen around my town(me included), so there's a great demand for the little guys.
There's very little work involved with this project, and I've had a lot of success so far. I have about 35 bee moths flying around their cage.


laters,
Bill:D
 
Buspirone

Buspirone

Arachnoprince
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I've thought about trying to culture them and had several websites with substrate recipes and directions bookmarked. Most of the waxworms I've bought from pet stores were small and I didn't think they would be suitable for my needs so I went with superworms first. I might give it a try down the road since it doesn't look too difficult to do.
 
C

Cockroach

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 25, 2003
Messages
57
Well, the waxworms that I bought as stock to breed were HUGE! The other waxworms that I've bought to feed to my herps before these were pretty small and weak looking, but these are beefy looking! They are so healthy looking that I figure they must be sound enough to make good strong moths.
I hope you have some luck finding some nice, big, strong ones to culture for your own uses.


laters,
Bill:D
 
C

Cockroach

Arachnosquire
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Sep 25, 2003
Messages
57
Also, my Green Tree Frog likes them too:). She will chase them around her tank, even catching them in mid-air:D .


laters,
Bill:D
 
dennis

dennis

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
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Jan 2, 2003
Messages
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Originally posted by Wade
I was once told that beekeepers would burn down your house if they knew you were culturing waxworms on purpose!

Wade
Click to expand...
Why would that be??
 
N

Navaros

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
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Oct 23, 2003
Messages
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Waxmoths fly to bee hives and lay eggs in the cells, the bees take care of the moth's larvae because they look and act pretty much exactly like baby bee larvae. The wax worms get taken care of by the bees and start eating the hive until they pupate and fly away to mate.
 
Wade

Wade

Arachnoking
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Aug 16, 2002
Messages
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Yes, apparently they are a serious pest to bee keepers. I don't know if they really would get THAT mad about it, but that's what I was told.

Wade
 
C

Cockroach

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 25, 2003
Messages
57
Well, I'm giving up on trying to raise them. I'm allergic to the dust-like material that the moths give off. I spent the better part of the morning in the Emergency Room at the hospital with severe breathing problems. Luckily I'm better now, even though I'm still having a little asthma.
I've fed the moths to my tree frogs and fish, so that ends all of those moths. I'm just going to order them in bulk, I can get quite a lot of them for very cheap.


laters,
Bill:D
 
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