This is getting ridiculous. I need to start breeding.

[MonitorLove]

So I'm having a couple problems...

1) I live in a small town, with no petshop.
2) The 'nearest' petshop is an HOUR drive away.
3) 90% of the time, the stupid petshop does not have what I require.
4) Online stores are murdering me with shipping costs.
5) I have a very hungry baby Savannah Monitor.

So I need to start breeding my own bugs. Specifically mealworms, crickets (unfortunately), and silkworms.

I kinda don't want to breed crickets and mealworms, due to the fact that they stink like crazy, crickets escape, and mealworms are just...mealworms. But if I mention 'roach' my dad might just have a stroke. And I don't know if my Savannah is willing to eat roaches...

Heck, I'll just get some and see what she does.


Anyways...
Could some uber helpful people give me some tips/tricks/hints/links on how to accomplish breeding these buggers? I've read up on how to raise and breed Silkworms and it doesn't sound to hard, and I'd be getting the eggs from Mulberry Farms to get started.

Also, if someone could possibly point me in the direction of someone/some place in Missouri. As close as possible to Vernon County. I would love you forever.
And then some.

Thank yooou ^^

[Clear]

www.feedersinc.com

I would recommend getting roachs! They are super easy to breed and you dont have to deal with the mass die offs or the horrible smell. I currently have turks, dubia, hissers and orange heads, turks and dubia are my fav feeders.

[Michelle.C]

We just moved from Vernon County! I lived in the Nevada/Bronaugh area. There is a really awesome pet store (Pet Care Warehouse) for rodents in Joplin, I really miss it. They have the prettiest little mice in the world. I stopped and picked up ten or so on a visit to Vernon County last month.

Anyway, back on topic.

Like the other poster, I'd suggest breeding roaches. B.dubia (Guyana Orange Spotted Roach) or N. cincerea (Lobster Roaches) have good meat to shell ratio. There are pros and cons to each species.

N. cincerea can climb walls, but with vegetable oil, that is easily taken care of. They are fast breeders, nice size, but not really large enough for a Savannah.

B.dubia are quite large, they can not climb walls, but they are good at "fluttering". Meaning, keep a lid on these guys! The true negative with them is they are pricey for feeders and slow breeders.

http://www.aaronpauling.com/roaches/products.php?cat=7 Has good prices on N. cincerea.

The positives to both species, they are one of the healthiest feeders you can breed, they have no odor.

Seeing as you father disapproves of Roaches, I'd go with B.dubia. They are rather attractive and there aren't any risks of them escaping and colonizing (in Missouri). They are a very tropical species.

Sorry I couldn't provide information on the feeders you listed. I was spending $40 a month buying crickets, never got them to breed and the smell was awful. I haven't bought feeders in over a year since I switched to Roaches. It costed me $75 to start my colony and I feed two Bearded Dragons, Two Leopard Geckos, One Argentine Black and White Tegu, One Nosy Be Panther Chameleon and Two Crested Geckos off of that one colony. Feed the roaches well, keep them warm and they will save you a fortune in feeders and air fresheners.

[Clear]

I have never kept a lid on my dubia colonies, i do keep a lid on my turks tho, they seem to get a little lift when they "flutter". Dubia do breed really slow, lobster roaches breed really fast and so do turks, they only down side to turks is they are egg layers and the eggs can take up to 40 days to hatch. I prefer turks over lobsters any day!

[Michelle.C]

I haven't kept Blatta Lateralis yet, I heard they are less able to climb, which is a positive. I also heard they didn't have as good of a meat to shell ratio as n.cincerea/b.dubia. Any truth to that?

I breed Lobsters and Dubia. The Lobsters are great for fast reproduction, and mass feeding. My Dubia colony isn't fed off of as common. I just feed off excess males for right now, trying to give them time to get going.

[Clear]

I dont have any scientific data to back anything up, but i think they should be about the same (turks and lobsters)

[TheShortBus]

my room mate just got some roaches today and his savanna went right after one with out hesitation. we have crickets, super worms and roaches now and ill tell you the roaches are the least creepy and annoying to me. crickets do smell and get out from time to time, and the super worms just creep me out and ive had the really big ones bite me. i just dont like bugs lol. but i forget what kind or roaches he got, but they are wingless and cant even start to climb the side of the tub we have them in. dont even have a top on it. just threw a orange slice or two in and have a heat lamp over them.

[Beardedragon]

Silkworms are really easy to keep, they just cost alot. They are the easiest bug to breed, ever ( After breeding supers mealies roaches and crickets thats saying something) Once they are moths, you will have eggs within hours of them breeding. My best tips are buy alot of food for them, dont clean like crazy like everywhere tells you to( I think this actually lowers their immune system, only clean when you have to) I have a small colony right now ( about 70 that are all about to cocoon!) and 1000 eggs. I got them thinking that if you even looked at them wrong they would die, but they are pretty hardy if kept right. Just keep them warm with alot of food on top of them. Also, get dry food. You can get premade but buying the dry will get you more for less. What I did was buy a little bit of premade and ten pounds of dry, just to see what it looked like and if I messed up my first batch my silks didnt have to wait another two hours to eat the next.

Hope this helps- Matt

Ps. Funny how he mentioned the op wouldnt be allowed breeding roaches and that is all this thread gave them

[Clear]

Ps. Funny how he mentioned the op wouldnt be allowed breeding roaches and that is all this thread gave them

Everyone believes roaches are horrible, but they are not!

[Beardedragon]

Everyone believes roaches are horrible, but they are not!

I know, but he asked for silkworm info because some people cannot be believers( his dad)