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Galleria Mellonella log - wax worms culture


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#1 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 11 April 2010 - 03:50 PM

i would like to cut my cost of this down
so i am trying some new foods for the worms.
and a smaller start off # of worms in cultures.
i am using smaller tubs to over crowd the brood and keep the heat up.

culture #1
12 0z. wheat bran
12 0z. wheat germ
1 tbs. yeast
7 oz. honey
3 oz. glycerin

three wads of wax paper
25 wax worms

culture #2
12 0z. wheat bran
12 0z. wheat germ
1 tbs. yeast
3 oz. honey
4 oz. corn syrup (to cut cost)
3 oz. glycerin

three wads of wax paper
25-waxworms

culture #3
12 0z. dry dog food ground to a powder (to cut cost) and add vitamins
12 0z. wheat germ
1 tbs. yeast
7 oz. sugar (to cut cost)
3 oz. glycerin

three wads of wax papper
25-wax worms

culture #4
24 0z. mix of old cereal the kids did not eat (to cut cost) and add vitamins
1 tbs. yeast
2 oz. honey (to cut cost)
5 oz. corn syrup (to cut cost)
3 oz. glycerin

three wads of wax paper
25-wax worms

culture #5 ----------------bare bone mix all most free
24 0z. dry dog food
7 oz. sugar
3 oz. water
3 squares card board
25-wax worms

time will tell on the # from each mix and size of worms.

Edited by CATfishTONY, 11 April 2010 - 03:52 PM.


#2 Guest_jase_*

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Posted 12 April 2010 - 11:31 AM

Have you tried mealworms? Somewhat different nutritional profile than waxworms, but extremely simple and cheap to raise (but requires patience -- generation time is long). With a large enough number of them going, you could choose to harvest only the white freshly-molted individuals, which are very soft until their exoskeleton hardens.

#3 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 12 April 2010 - 04:06 PM

Have you tried mealworms? Somewhat different nutritional profile than waxworms, but extremely simple and cheap to raise (but requires patience -- generation time is long). With a large enough number of them going, you could choose to harvest only the white freshly-molted individuals, which are very soft until their exoskeleton hardens.

yes i have jase, i have about 2000 mealworms now its a old maybe 14 or 15 year culture. about every year or so i add new blood to help.on a side note i have found mealworms need more room to roam then wax worms.
wax worms seem the love a smaller warmer housing almost overcrowded.

Edited by CATfishTONY, 12 April 2010 - 04:13 PM.


#4 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 12 April 2010 - 04:15 PM

Have you tried mealworms? Somewhat different nutritional profile than waxworms, but extremely simple and cheap to raise (but requires patience -- generation time is long). With a large enough number of them going, you could choose to harvest only the white freshly-molted individuals, which are very soft until their exoskeleton hardens.


would you like a starter kit?
i have mealworms to spare.

#5 Guest_jase_*

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Posted 13 April 2010 - 10:36 AM

would you like a starter kit?
i have mealworms to spare.

Thanks for the offer, but I have some going now. Started with a 500 count cup from PetCo and have about 10% beetles and maybe 50% pupae right now. Wanted to have them to feed to birds this nesting season, but I think I'll be a bit late for that. I had a bunch going for a couple years, but let the culture fizzle out sometime last year.

Curious to hear how the waxworm raising works out. I've thought about it, but seems like quite a bit more hassle than mealworms.

Edited by jase, 13 April 2010 - 10:37 AM.


#6 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 15 April 2010 - 05:01 PM

with warmer weather and a hotter house my cultures have moved on the the next phase of there life pupae cycle
my notes show this taking almost a full week longer last year.

#7 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 24 April 2010 - 07:54 AM

with warmer weather and a hotter house my cultures have moved on the the next phase of there life pupae cycle
my notes show this taking almost a full week longer last year.


well it looks like my cultures has stalled and some have died.
i removed dead black ones, 2 weeks of colder weather may have been the cause.



#8 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 26 April 2010 - 02:52 PM

well it looks like my cultures has stalled and some have died.
i removed dead black ones, 2 weeks of colder weather may have been the cause.



culture #1 and 2 has moths today.

#9 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 30 April 2010 - 03:26 PM

culture #1 and 2 has moths today.


cultures
#1--- all moths and waxworm larvae dyed
#2--- moths ok, 3 female the rest are all male
#3--- moths ok, 5 female the rest male
#4--- no change
#5--- no change

#10 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 12 May 2010 - 06:02 AM

cultures
#1--- all moths and waxworm larvae dyed
#2--- moths ok, 3 female the rest are all male
#3--- moths ok, 5 female the rest male
#4--- no change
#5--- no change


#1--- all moths and waxworm larvae dyed
#2--- moths ok, there seems to be no egg as of yet
#3--- moths ok, there seems to be no egg as of yet
#4--- all moths and waxworm larvae dyed
#5--- all moths and waxworm larvae dyed
i have no idea why some have dyed and the other 2 cultures are ok. this food test has me puzzled.

#11 Guest_smilingfrog_*

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Posted 12 May 2010 - 12:04 PM

i have no idea why some have dyed and the other 2 cultures are ok. this food test has me puzzled.



I noticed in your original post that each culture was innoculated with 25 waxworms. Did these come from one bulk container, or were they from separate containers of 25 worms each? If the latter, some cultures may have been older, ie sitting on the shelf without food for longer, and the worms from them may have been starved too long before the experiment began. If they were all from one bulk container however, then I'm a bit puzzled too.

#12 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 12 May 2010 - 02:47 PM

I noticed in your original post that each culture was innoculated with 25 waxworms. Did these come from one bulk container, or were they from separate containers of 25 worms each? If the latter, some cultures may have been older, ie sitting on the shelf without food for longer, and the worms from them may have been starved too long before the experiment began. If they were all from one bulk container however, then I'm a bit puzzled too.


walmart tubs of worms for 2 of them and local bait shop for the others.i should have kept records of the stater worms.
next batch will be from a website and i will get younger worms then grow them out.

#13 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 18 June 2010 - 05:15 AM

walmart tubs of worms for 2 of them and local bait shop for the others.i should have kept records of the stater worms.
next batch will be from a website and i will get younger worms then grow them out.

Well some thing has gone wrong i have no hatched eggs as of yet,lots of moths but no new life mixes or moisture must be off or maybe the temp.

#14 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 18 June 2010 - 11:11 AM

Any idea of expected incubation time for eggs? This isn't out of line yet with other moths I've kept.

#15 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 21 June 2010 - 03:45 PM

Any idea of expected incubation time for eggs? This isn't out of line yet with other moths I've kept.

my trouble was the brand of glycerin i used it was toxic to the hatch.
i have now found a pure glycerin from cvs and the new batch is fine and we have 1000's of 1/4"- 1/2" long grubs now as of sunday.



The life cycle from egg to adult is about six to seven weeks at temperatures of 86°F and a relative humidity of 75 to 85 percent.i changed the temp from 75 to 85-90 24-7 .

Edited by CATfishTONY, 21 June 2010 - 03:49 PM.


#16 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 05 July 2010 - 11:50 AM

update on culture.
yesterday was harvest time i collected about 500 more 3/4 larvae and started two new cultures from hatch
i used only the largest and most robust from the hatch for this run.
my fish are so happy for there weekly new food



#17 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 07:42 PM

update on culture.
yesterday was harvest time i collected about 500 more 3/4 larvae and started two new cultures from hatch
i used only the largest and most robust from the hatch for this run.
my fish are so happy for there weekly new food


Today i noticed i have moths again
so the cycle repeats.
if a nanfa member needs wax worms just drop me a pm.
i could set you up with a starter kit.



Edited by CATfishTONY, 06 July 2010 - 07:44 PM.





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