Culturing and breeding Wax Worms

[aldebono]

There are a few varieties of recipes on the web for the Wax Worm Media. Here is what I found in my local grocery store. I will recount my success and failures in breeding my worms.

Baby Cereal- this provides some nutrients
Oatmeal- this is basically a filler
Karo Syrup- Your guess is as good as mine, but it was called for in other recipes.
Honey- This one makes sense to me, they must eat it.
Wax- This also makes sense. (Found near the mason jars used for canning)

I used fruit fly cups for housing and growing the worms and moths. They need a lid with airflow or they will suffocate. Found that out the hard way.


So I had my ingredients and my worms (caterpillars?) from a local reptile store. I was very excited to get my culture going so I started mixing the culture as soon as I got home.

Not long, I ran into trouble. The recipes didn't say how much to use of each ingredient, I thought this was surely disastrous for my bugs. The one guideline was to not make it too wet or too dry, and when you roll it into a ball, it should stick together but break apart easily.

So I eyeballed it and came out with roughly 3 to 1 in oats to cereal and 3 to 1 in Karo to Honey. I whittled my block of wax until I got about a palm full of shavings. Mix with your hands, you will have to make snowballs later anyway. No need to blend the oats into a powder, the ones I did got bad mold. Light mold does not bother them.

Your worms from the reptile store will be white sluggish blobs. Your media will harden to the consistency of concrete. You will worry that your poor little worms cannot eat through the concrete media.
About this time, your worms will pupate, sometimes under the concrete media where you will have to rescue them or else they will be in a tomb when they turn into moths.

Collect the chrysalis and put them in a few cups to populate. I didn't dare open a cup once they became moths. They are ugly little grey moths so no one get excited. At this time, you should put them in your snake rack.

Yes, put them in an area in your rack that is about 88 degrees. My first cultures I staggered in a bin. One right over the heat tape, one in the middle, and one in the front farthest from the heat. Only the culture directly over the heat tape developed baby worms, I moved the other cultures to the heat tape and they also developed little worms. Apparently the eggs or microscopic larvae were not killed by the lack of heat, possibly just stalled.

You can begin harvesting your worms at any stage. Grab a spare small bin, and put your ketchup extraction experience to work. You can pull the media apart on your quest for worms. You will not hurt, main, or squish them. I promise. They are extremely hardy.

Now, your little worms will be growing and eating and doing a good "Hungry Hungry Caterpillar" impression. Add new media on top of old as needed. If they get hungry and you are using fruit fly lids, in my experience, they will eat through the fabric of the lid in search of food. I would recommend you check them daily as they grow, or you will find yourself saying "How did you get out in the living room you little cute wo.... Oh No...." Yes, this happened. They are eating machines. Remember when you were worried about the exact consistency of your media and then it turning to a concrete block anyway? They don't care, they will eat it.

As they grow, you will notice some differences in your home grown worms compared to the worms you bought at the reptile store. While the store bought worms were white sluggish blobs who only made a chrysalis, your worms will be extremely active, silk spinning, cocoon making eating machines who are tough enough to take a pinch from tweezers or tongs without a scratch. Did I mention they were hardy? I also believe that when they find themselves without food and not able to escape, they will make a cocoon with an escape hatch at one end, and "hibernate" until more food arrives. I am testing now to see if you can force them to pupate with lack of food like Super worms.

They are the perfect size just after hatching to feel thumbnail froglets and after fully grown large enough to feed to crested geckos and bearded dragons. Just remember they are very fatty, so are not meant as a staple. But are great for putting weight on insect feeders.

Please let me know if anyone has questions. I can do a more detailed report on measurements if anyone would like. But I really think they key is to add that supplemental heat.

I still have a lot of unanswered questions, but I am doing some tests now and will keep this updated.

[I-KandyReptiles]

If they didn't turn into moths I'd think I'd try breeding them. My pregnant ASFs LOVE them, but moths are icky.

Great write up though. Maybe take some pictures next time you set up some more breeding groups.