Superworm Raising & Breeding
Superworms raising and breeding
Superworms are one of the easiest feeder to take care of, all you really need is some wheat bran and a couple carrots. One of the most important factors of your success is the temperature that you keep the worms at. I recommend keeping them at 80-85 F, superworms will also create some of their own heat, be cautious about that! To help you insure that you will get everything you need to know to make sure you are able to do exactly what you want to achieve with superworms, I will go through raising, cleaning, and breeding superworms.
Raising superworms
as with every other instruction guide I have made, you will need to get a plastic bin. I find it is better to use a longer bin versus a tall bin so there is more surface area for feeding. Whenever you don’t see carrots in the container that means it’s time to feed them again! Superworms can eat lots of carrots! You won’t believe how many carrots those little guys can munch through! Raising superworms is as easy as that!
Cleaning the superworm container
Superworm frass (droppings) are small round pellets. When you notice there is about %90 frass, you should go ahead and clean it out. The easiest way to clean it out is to get a screen and sift the worms out of the substrate. Once they are all out of the old substrate, fill the container with wheat bran, be sure to have enough so they can dig around and aren’t over crowded. below is a picture of superworm frass and our high quality wheat bran, they look very similar don't they? it may sound gross, but get your hands in the bin and feel it! its the best way to be sure!
for the average person, breeding superworms will definitely be your most time consuming part of raising them. unlike mealworms you have to separate them into their own individual spaces for them to change into beetles, no beetles means no baby supers! I used to go b 5,000 2 oz cups from cash and carry, I would take a soldering iron and poke a single hole in the top of each lid. after I did this with all of them, and I had superworms that were ready to pupate, I started the daunting task at hand... I would have a cup filled of superworms, and my 2 oz cups lined up on my work space, one by one I started filling the cups and placing the lids on them. it takes a long time to do, especially when you are doing 5,000 of them, I know! but for the average person this is going to be your best option that I have found, so far at least.
What do superworms eat?Superworms live in their food: a couple inches of wheat bran works as both substrate and meal. For moisture, carrots are king (you already know my feelings on carrots), but potato slices, apple, and leafy greens work too. One extra tip if you're raising them as feeders: gut load them for a day or two before feeding them off - whatever goes into the worm goes into your reptile.
What do superworms turn into?Superworms are the larvae of a darkling beetle (Zophobas). Here's the strange part: a superworm will NOT pupate as long as it's surrounded by other worms - that's exactly why the breeding method above uses individual cups. Once isolated, the worm curls into a C shape, pupates over a couple of weeks, and emerges as a black beetle. The beetles can't fly, live for about a year, and lay the eggs that become your next generation of baby supers.
Superworms vs mealwormsPeople ask this a lot. Superworms are around five times the size of mealworms, with more moisture and a softer shell-to-meat ratio, which makes them a much more substantial meal for bearded dragons and larger reptiles. But the biggest practical difference: mealworms can be stored in the fridge to slow them down - never refrigerate superworms, the cold kills them. Keep supers at room temperature or warmer and they'll stay in the larval stage for months as long as they're kept together.
Questions, Comments, Concerns? Please email me at sheller@oregonsilkworms.com I want every single person that reads this to get exactly where they want to be with raising superworms!