Is anyone breeding waxworms??

[Piraya1]

I'm attempting to breed waxworms at the min. I have a large lunchbox full of cocoons and am putting them into ventelated jars for when they turn into moths. Then see if the moths will mate...

Does anyone have experience in this department?

[repoman]

this is what i found when searching and the wax paper is sold on ebay,


Keeping and breeding wax worms
Best way to start raising waxworms is to go to the pet store and buy a few.
Prepare an escape proof container for them ie 3 to 5 gallon tank with screened lid (tape it on later).
You will also need a substrate- get some bran and honey- mix it together in a double boiler until it is well blended. Remove the mix from the double boiler- spread it out on a cookie sheet to cool and harden, when the mix is cool crumble it into the tank. Yes the mix may still be sticky.
Put the wax worms in the container with the substrate.
Add a few crumpled balls of wax paper as well.
Keep the wax worms at room temp. eventually the waxworms will begin to spin cocoons. They will remain in their cocoons for approx two weeks- then moths will emerge.
The moths will mate and live for about a week or so- they will lay their eggs in the wax paper.
A couple of weeks after the moths have died you will see lots of tiny worms. They grow fast if they are kept at room temp- so once they are half grown you may want to store them in the fridge in a container with small air holes and some of the honey and bran mix. If you leave them at room temp the cycle will begin again.
The reason that I suggest taping the screen lid on is that the wax worms can climb glass and they can also crawl through the screen if they are small enough, also when they are in the moth stage they fly around so you will want a secure lid to keep them in the container.
Enjoy- it's quite easy- but if they escape you may find that your house is full of them!,repeat dont let them escape

i got the months just hatching so still waiting for the eggs,heres hopeing

[BELIAL]

don't really understand the whole breeding waxworms thing! seems too much like hard work to me! why breed em when they are so cheap to buy? now silkworms i could understand! will be giving that a go soon! once i find a mulberry tree...

[repoman]

£3.50 a tub for about 50 but if you are into fishing you will inderstand why ,
maggots are smaller but cheap,

i used to look for dock leaves dig up the roots and you get what you call dock grubs from them which are similair to waxworms only they tend to be more brownish because of the soil,but they are fantastic fishing bait,seems great to me to breed waxworms and have a nice supply of them for not just my reps but also my friends and also for me and a friend when fishing,
hopefully it will all work out sweet,
between the 3 of us there is 1 adult and 1 juvenile water dragons,2 juv male yemens plus 1 female adult yemen,1 adult bearded dragon dunno the sex not mine,
so seems a good idea to breed waxies and if i can get a good supply going there will be plenty for fishing aswell ,
i am doing all off this in my shed which i made to be a fish-house but changed my mind and have got into reps instead so a lovely 12ishx9ish shed fully lined and kitted out with heater sky tv,old sofa,
also got cuttings of the fiscus in there aswell,i like being outside and and keeping,myself busy

[SilverSteno]

Originally Posted by BELIAL

don't really understand the whole breeding waxworms thing! seems too much like hard work to me! why breed em when they are so cheap to buy? now silkworms i could understand! will be giving that a go soon! once i find a mulberry tree...

Try buying ones small enough for my geckos! I'm going to try because WHEN they are small enough for my geckos (especially my mourning geckos) it gives them a real boost especially after egg laying (and they love them Skye recognises the yellow tub the waxies come in )

Unless there is someone out there that can promise me tiny waxies for my mourning geckos

[Ned]

How many eggs do the moths lay per cycle? (roughly)

[partisan]

read this might help... Breeding Waxworms
i did the same way and it works.. and you get a lot ,some times i have to kill of some they get to big for my beardies ...
my lay round 300 to 600 in 1 cycle .30moth starting

[repoman]

if you buy them in the longer you keep them the smaller they get because they are living off there own fat reserves,i have bought them in the past that have been tiny,
keep em abit cooler and it will slow the process of change down and the smaller they cant become b4 they cacoon themselves,although i aint even seen a adult geko so wouldnt have a clue what size you gotta have em at.

[geckokeeper]

what a good idea! ive just put a few in a jar to have ago myself. gota be better than shop ones big fat home grown lol. breedin crix looks messy thow dunno if id do that unless i had a big shed incase of excape!

[samroyal2]

Originally Posted by geckokeeper

what a good idea! ive just put a few in a jar to have ago myself. gota be better than shop ones big fat home grown lol. breedin crix looks messy thow dunno if id do that unless i had a big shed incase of excape!

read the info on breeding waxworms got ten already in the cucoon stage going out and getting the stuff to give it ago