Insect Farming

I farm all my own feeders because I believe it makes a BIG difference in the health of my animals. This way I can be sure that every insect I feed is packed full of vitamins and nutrition. I also sell these home farmed insects locally if you'd rather not try to do it yourself. I charge $5 for 100 of any size. They are very high quality, well fed insects. If you'd like to raise your own quality feeders using my methods you can find them below. Some are obviously easier than others.

Crickets

I recommend starting with at least a hundred large crickets. I prefer the black crickets because they seem to be a little slower and easier to catch, but your good old brown house crickets will work just fine.

Place the crickets into a deep 20 gallon plastic storage container. They're cheap and the large ones are tall enough that the crickets can't jump out. Drill a few holes along the upper lid of the wall, far enough up that the crickets can't reach them. Drill some more holes in the lid as well.

Egg crates stacked on top of each other will give the crickets plenty of hiding places, but they will be eaten over time and need to be replaced as necessary.

Half an apple or raw potato will give them moisture and food, but you'll want to give them an additional bowl full of high quality gutload. This assures that whenever you pull them out to feed your reptiles they are going to be packed with quality vitamins and protien. A gallon jar lid with a wet sponge in it will give them the water they need without drowning small crickets. Another option is to use a shallow bowl filled with cotton. The BEST source of water are commercially prepared gel forms.

You'll need to keep your crickets at about 88°F for strong breeders and the fastest growth rates, but they will survive at room temperature. 

I put a half inch of Bed-a-Beast in the bottom of my containers for the adults to lay their eggs in, but they'll also lay in slightly moistened paper towels.

Crickets reach sexual maturity between eight and twelve weeks after birth. The females will lay between fifty and a hundred eggs each, which will hatch in about two weeks and start the cycle all over again.

Mealworms

I recommend starting with at least 100 mealworms. Don't get the "giant" mealworms as they may have been treated with a growth hormone that prevents them from morphing into adults, and if they do morph they may be sterile.

Place the worms into a shallow plastic sweater box which are quite cheap from Walmart. You can drill holes in the lid and along the top of the walls to ventilate, but don't put any holes down low enough where the worms or beetles might escape.

Add 2-3 inches of good quality food as a bedding. I recommend Repashy Insect Diet, or Progecko's Gutload.

For moisture add half a raw potato or an apple, facing upwards so that it doesn't get the bedding wet. Replace it at least every week or it will get moldy and can harm your colony. You want to keep your colony's humidity level at about 70%. They'll still breed if they're too dry, but will not be very productive. If you can't keep the container humid enough with the potato or apple I recommend putting a glass with a moistened sponge into it. Just make sure that the worms and beetles can't crawl into it and drown.

You'll need to keep your mealworms at about 80°F if you want them to be strong breeders and to grow quickly, but they will survive at room temperature.

Mealworms will go through four phases in their lives. Egg, Larva (worm), Pupa and than beetle. 

Waste (frass) material will build up on the bottom of the container, and it will be full of eggs and tiny newly hatched worms. They're very tiny, and if you throw out the bedding you're likely to throw them out as well. 

The best way I know of maintaining a healthy colony is to pull out the beetles as they hatch from their pupa state and place them into a seperate container with fresh bedding in it that they can lay in.

You are than free to sift frass from your larger colony every month without worrying about throwing out eggs or baby worms. 

When you start to see larger worms in your egg box than it's time to switch. Sift all the worms from your main colony completely free of their old bedding and put a new fresh bedding down for them. Than dump your egg box into the big colony and give it two months before you start cleaning it again, that will give the eggs and babies a chance to catch up in size before you clean again. Go back to putting the beetles into the egg box again and you start all over again.


Waxworms

I recommend starting with at least a hundred large waxworms.

You'll need an escape proof 3 to 5 gallon container, which is a lot tougher than you might think considering how these guys seem to get out of everything no matter what steps you might take to control them.

I use a high quality gutload mixed with shredded wheat and honey in a double boiler until it is well blended. When it's well mixed spread it out onto a cookie sheet to cool and harden until it's cool enough to crumble into their container. It may still be sticky.

Get a sheet of waxpaper and fold it like a chinese fan and place it in the container so that it offers a place for moths to rest and lay their eggs.

Keep the container at 80°F for best results. The worms will grow and begin to spin cocoons. Moths will start hatching from their cocoons after two weeks. They will mate and live for about a week or so, laying their eggs in the wax paper.

After a couple of months you'll start seeing lots of tiny new waxworms in the mixture.

Waxworms can crawl right up a slick glass wall, and can squeeze out of very tight holes, especially when they are still tiny from hatching. I still haven't found a perfect method for keeping them contained. 

Once they get out they quickly like to infest your pantry, as they've done to mine. Not a project for someone that isn't totally dedicated to their reptiles!!