CULTURING FOOD ITEMS..
Tired of buying tons of crickets, waxworms and mealworms at the store, only to run out a week later?
this page will be dedicated to recipes for growing food items for your pygmie's ( and other herps too).
this will cover small scale breeding, not commercial.
covered items will include:
fruit flies
Waxworms
mealworms
springtails
( and others that i am working on ).
HOW TO BREED WAXWORMS:
to start, you will need to purchase one medium tub of waxworms from a supplier. either Wamart, Petco, Petsmart, etc.
next, you will need a glass mason jar.
cut out the center of the mason jar lid and place a nylon sock over the lid. this will allow for proper air exchange.
for the medium:
1 box Gerber's Mixed Cereal,
100 ml honey
100 ml glycerine.
2-3 long, thin pieces of corrugated cardboard.
Mix honey and glycerine in a container and pour into cereal. Mix with a spoon until all cereal is moist.
the medium should not be sticky. it should hold its shape when squeezed in the palm of your hand, but crumble very easily.
line the bottom of the mason jar with 1-2 inches of the medium.
place the corrugated cardboard vertically in the jar. ( take off one layer of the cardboard so that the corrugated center is exposed)
place in the jar the wax worm larvae.
replace lid
place mason jar on a shelf in a closet or somewhere similar. the jar needs to be kept warm but not hot.
check the jar often. in roughly 2-3 weeks you will start to see eggs hatching and small larvae.
there is no need to feed or water the jar.
once the worms reach the size you want, remove them and feed to your animal(s).
you will need to start a fresh culture every 2 weeks or depending on the rate of usage.
HOW TO BREED FRUIT FLIES:
Fruit flies are a perfect feeder insect for smaller reptiles or hatchlings such as baby chameleons and frogs.
Fruit Fly cultures can be kept at room temperature (around 72 degrees F).
try to avoid freezing temperatures and temperatures above 100 degrees F.
Use the following recipe for making your own medium:
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 teaspoon agar (available at health food stores)
1 tablespoon molasses
1/8 teaspoon calcium proprionate
1 package baking yeast
combine all ingredients into a blender and blend until finely ground..
place half of contents into small glass jars, plastic bottles or pre ordered fruit fly cups.
place a secure lid on top. make sure that there is a way for fresh air to enter. you can achieve this by removing the center of the lid and hot gluing fine mesh inside, or by plugging the top of the containers with a piece of fine foam, cut to fit.
add a small amount of fishing line, wax paper or thicker thread for the adult flies to climb on.
after the medium has cooled to room temperature, add roughly 50 adult fruit flies to the container.
DO NOT feed from this container.
let the adults establish themselves for a week or so. you will then start to notice tiny larvae crawling on top of the medium and up the sides of the container..
you DO NOT have to feed the growing culture.
the larvae will begin to pupate.
they will then hatch into fruit flies.
once the culture has established itself enough, and there are numerous fruit flies, you may then begin to feed from the container.
use the same method above to start a new culture in 1-2 weeks. or depending on how fast you go through the flies.
CULTURING SPRINGTAILS:
They are soil and/or litter dwellers main food supply for them include fungi that decompose organic matter.
To start, you will need some potting soil. many people suggest using mixes formulated for African Violets.
place a good amount in a microwaveable container.
cover the soil mixture in water and allow it to hydrate for 10 minutes.
after hydrating the soil, drain off the water and microwave the soil until hot.
after the soil has cooled, place a few inches in an air tight tupperware container and add water making depressions in the soil to create areas of "pooling water"
you will then introduce your starter culture of springtails. ( starter cultures can be purchased through online suppliers).
food for the springtails will consist of high quality fish flakes. ( if and when the flakes start to mold, do not remove them. this becomes another source of food for the culture. )
mist the container to keep the medium moist.
new cultures will need to be set up depending on the rate of usage.
keep all cultures at room temp. never exceeding 80*F
CULTURING MEAL WORMS:
to start, you will need these items:
1. Plastic containers with good lids.
2. Bran flakes
3. Carrot and potato slices
4. 30 to 50 larger not small Mealworms or 10 Tenebrio beetle's
5. A warm dark place
take some wheat bran and spread a layer 1-2 inches thick along the bottom of the container.
place a few slices of potato or carrots on top of the medium. this will be the food and moisture for the mealworms.
replace the slices when they start drying up.
place a medium sized group of mealworms into the container and replace the lid.
keep the container in warm, dry, dark place.
in the coming weeks you will start to see the larvae pupate.
take the pupae out and place into a spearate container.
this separate container is set up similar to the first, except that there is no need to feed them.
After about 18 to 24 days the pupa start to hatch and young adult beetle appears, watch out for the new beetle's and remove them as quickly as you can, so they don't start feeding on the other dormant pupae's.
you will need a third container to hold the beetles.
place the beetles into the container that is setup like the previous two.
place pieces of carrot and potato into the enclosure.
the beetles will start to mate and deposit their eggs into the medium.
every second day, you will need to sift through the medium using a fine strainer. this will allow for the small eggs to fall back into the container with the meal worm pupae.
the sifted medium will then need to be placed into a fourth container set up like the previous three.
cover the medium with a piece of white paper or Hessian cut to fit.
replace the lid
Then place the container somewhere dark and warm for 30 to 40 days, you must spray water on the paper or hessian every day to keep the whole culture moist.
It then starts all over again.
MORE TO COME...........
