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Dr. Gecko's Guide To Raising and Breeding Superworms 
  How To Breed Superworms
 

Breeding superworms is actually a very simple process and its highly recommended if you have a lot of hungry mouths to feed.   We use plastic drawer systems to raise our colonies and separate the various life cycles while others like to use regular plastic containers or even aquariums.

It is a good idea to remove the pupae into their own container until they have turned into beetles at which point, you can move them in with the rest of the beetles.  It is not uncommon for the worms and beetles to nibble on the pupae - thereby killing a potential breeder.

If you want to start breeding your own superworms, we suggest you start with a culture of approximately 100 worms to get a good start at it.  We keep our feeding colony separate from our breeding colony just to make sure we are not dipping into our food reserves.

As discussed earlier, the worms will turn into pupae (those little alien-like creatures).  These pupae after approximately 10 to 15 days, they will emerge as beetles.  It is these beetles that will breed and lay the eggs.  The beetles start to mate and lay eggs within several days (roughly 1 week) of pupating and will continue to do so for approximately 4 months (after which they die).

The female beetles tend to be significantly larger than male beetles.  These females can typically lay up to 500 eggs throughout their lifetime.  Each egg is roughly 1/20th of an inch and sticks to the substrate so chances are, you will not see the eggs - some may also lay their eggs on the egg crate or pieces of wood.  The eggs hatch about 1 week after they were laid.  These worms will achieve optimal growth rates when kept between 75 and 80F.

Be careful when cleaning and replacing substrate/food that you do not accidentally throw out the eggs or baby worms!

  How To Get Beetles Faster
 

Unlike with mealworms, it may take a while longer for the superworms to turn into pupae if you leave it up to them.  We like to speed  the process up a bit using the method below.

You will need to invest in some containers for this.  We have found embroidery floss boxes, nuts/bolts drawer units or even film canisters work well.  We prefer to use the embroidery floss boxes.  Melt or drill a ventilation hole in each compartment and then include a bit of the substrate mixture in each.

  1. Take approximately 50 adult-sized superworms.

  2. Place one worm per compartment in the container of your choice.  Do not add any food other than a bit of the substrate.

  3. Place container in a warm, dark area and leave alone for about 7-10 days.  In the dark, the worm will start to curl up into a ball and then change into a pupae.

  4. Remove the pupae to its own container until it has turned into a beetle.  By removing it to this separate container, you prevent worms and beetles from nibbling on the pupae, thereby killing a potential breeder.

  5. After approximately 1 to 2 weeks, the pupae will change into beetles.  At this point, move them into your breeding container.

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