Phoenix worm breeding caresheet..

[froggsong]

I apologize for replying to this older thread, but I must say, BSF larvae breed very well in simple table scraps and manure is not necessary. BSF do NOT lay their eggs in manure, scraps, etc, they lay eggs ABOVE a suitable site for the larvae. You do not need to prepare foods for the larvae, just give them your table scraps daily (including the meat, they will eat it before it can even begin to smell bad).

In suitable conditions, supplemental heat for BSF is not necessary, as they will produce alot of heat themselves. However, since you guys are in the UK and have lower temps than we do in the US, simply insulating the container should allow for heat retention.

At colder temps, the life cycle will slow. They will not eat as much, and they will take longer to grow (similar to the way mealies slow down when kept in the fridge). At higher temps the life cycle will be faster.

BSF are beginning to be used extensively in composting in the US, because they break down food scraps more quickly than composting worms, and the resulting compost can be fed to the worms to be further broken down. I suggest that anyone researching these worms check out this link: Black Soldier Fly Blog - Bio-Composting with Black Soldier Fly Grubs – Responsible, Fascinating and Simple. This is not geared towards reptile keepers, but has alot of good info. You might also do a search and include the term "vermicomposting".

BSF larvae are also "self-harvesting" at the largest stage. When they are ready to pupate, they migrate from the container to find a suitable place to turn into a fly. If you include ramps or tubes in your setup, they will simply crawl up and out into a tub for you to pull them out and feed them off, already clean and dry. You can set some aside to allow them to become flies.

Now, I will admit that I have yet to start a culture with these flies (due to the cost of even a small amount of them), however, I have been researching them for over a year, and there are alot of people having great results breeding them on accident here in America. I realize that it is warmer here, but in an indoor system such as most hobbyists would keep, there should be no problem breeding them in suitable numbers.

I don't think that this breeding info is completely accurate, and I don't think that it does these feeders justice. They are high in protein and calcium and can be used as a staple (but should be fed as part of a varied diet), eliminating the need to dust other feeders with calcium.

I hope that people don't get put off of attempting to culture these critters because of the confusion in this thread.

Good luck with all of your herping endeavors.

[Dragon Farm]

I would agree with the vast majority of what you say. But what you are talking about really is the raising of larvae which is easy. If you live in southern parts of the US or Europe then wild BSF will lay eggs near table scraps as you described. BUT try breeding BSF in captive conditions even when you are in the right climate range is very difficult. I don't believe its possible in the conditions described here. Please try it and let me know how you get on ! I tried it again this year quite by accident in a cage designed for chameleons kept outdoors with complete failure. A few metres away from that cage I have a large bucket with zillions of larvae from eggs laid by wild black soldier flies !

[LFG]

Anyone made any progress with these in the UK or know of a source of some?

[butterworms]

We are currently breeding up our own stocks, and can provide biopod+ for breeding purposes if anyone is interested.

Thanks

Lizard Lunch

[vukic]

if these guys require manure/ animal byproducts, would it be possible to use the excrement from your herp enclosures? after all you fish it out anyway.... and it's probably got an amount of protein in, else why would you need to breed these???


sorry to reopen an old thread but there's so little info about this on google.....

[Slashware]

Originally Posted by butterworms

We are currently breeding up our own stocks, and can provide biopod+ for breeding purposes if anyone is interested.

Thanks

Lizard Lunch

are you aware that google is posting
Warning - visiting this web site may harm your computer!

when you search for your site?

[butterworms]

Thanks for advising us of this.

The site was hacked, and it should now all be fixed....and live again.