Wax and Pheonix Worm Colonies
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:01 pm
I bought 100 of each wax and pheonix worms yesterday as a start for colonies of feeder insects. I posted some of my info in another thread, so I'll just quote it to here.
So today I went to my local Dollarama and bought supplies for the bins. I spent a total of $6.43 ^.^ I bought 2 bins, a set of 2 mesh placemats for lids, some wax paper, some thick poster paper, and some duct tape.
For the wax worms, I made up a mixture of oatmeal and honey and put it on the bottom of the bin. I then added crumpled wax paper to be used for laying eggs, and tossed in the worms. The placemat was partly duct taped on top as a screen. Result:
The pheonix worms required a bit more work to set up, but still very easy. I first built a box out of the poster paper and duct tape, and added a ramp with an incline of under 45*. I then cut several thin strips of poster paper, and made egg areas by folding one strip like a fan, then taping it to the other strips to make alcoves. I then taped this to the wall of the bin, with one on each side. I put the placemat over, then put some of the older food in my fridge in, followed by the worms.
After this I took the tanks to my room and set them up under a heat lamp. Here they will live and hopefully breed and produce many nummy wormlings for my skinks.
Fatal_S wrote:The pheonix worms should be fairly easy to maintain and breed. I can also feed them the skink food that's gone bad, or my family's waste food. Tommorow (later today) I will be setting up the worm habitats, and afterwards I can make a post about what I'm doing, etc.
For now, if you'd like:
http://www.windward.org/notes/notes66/walt66-7.htm
This site is great, but the site it links to:
http://www.esrla.com/brazil/frame.htm
Is amazing for information. I got most of my info from these sites.
Another site:
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/waste_mgt/smit ... les/A2.pdf
Fatal_S wrote:Okay, well i'm bored, so I drew up what I'm hoping to use as a setup:
Definately not my best drawing, but it works.
Explaination:
The plan is to buy a plastic bin maybe 2' x 1' for now, then upgrade if the colony actually grows.
Above the bin, in blue, we see a light. This is a CME I just removed from Wocket's tank because it's too weak. I'm hoping the heat will jump start the colony, and once it's going I can slow it down anytime by providing less heat/food.
Food will be scraps and waste foods from my family and any skink food that goes bad. In this drawing the food is the scribbles drawn in pencil. You can see the food coming through the top, and into where the larva (black dots) are. Yumm.
The food goes through a funnel (may not be added, depends on if it's needed), the purpose of which is solely to keep the loose flies from escaping. But if some do, meh, they're harmless so I'll just catch them and feed them to Fang or my next spider... or my dog.
The green thing on top is the lid. On the left side under the lid is a layer of black, which will be cloth or fly netting or something to keep the flies in when I open the lid.
At the bottom of the tub on the left side is a blue ramp leading to a ledge. This is where the larva ready to pupate will go to pupate. They do this naturally, so no worries for me. And once every few weeks or so I'll just wipe whatever's gathered on there (pupate shells, dead flies, etc) and wipe it back into the food.
Above the ramp, in green, is a series of egg carton pieces or the like attatched to the bin where the flies can lay eggs and rest. The eggs hatch, the hatched larva then search for the food, and fall down back to the bottom. Then it starts again.
As for water, the food may contain enough moisture, or I may mist occasionally if they seem dehyrated.
Hopefully this will be a self sustaining colony that I just feed, and leave. I can collect worms by simply scooping them up, picking them out of the food, and throwing the food back. If I use the funnel I'll just have to remove it first. For the small version I may just have a layer of fly mesh over the whole top, and i'll just open it enough to stick the food in or get worms out. Once I get it set up I'll post about it, and we'll see if it works.
So today I went to my local Dollarama and bought supplies for the bins. I spent a total of $6.43 ^.^ I bought 2 bins, a set of 2 mesh placemats for lids, some wax paper, some thick poster paper, and some duct tape.
For the wax worms, I made up a mixture of oatmeal and honey and put it on the bottom of the bin. I then added crumpled wax paper to be used for laying eggs, and tossed in the worms. The placemat was partly duct taped on top as a screen. Result:
The pheonix worms required a bit more work to set up, but still very easy. I first built a box out of the poster paper and duct tape, and added a ramp with an incline of under 45*. I then cut several thin strips of poster paper, and made egg areas by folding one strip like a fan, then taping it to the other strips to make alcoves. I then taped this to the wall of the bin, with one on each side. I put the placemat over, then put some of the older food in my fridge in, followed by the worms.
After this I took the tanks to my room and set them up under a heat lamp. Here they will live and hopefully breed and produce many nummy wormlings for my skinks.
If you decide to get into those, let me know. I have a detailed dubia caresheet, complete with pictures.
