Morio worm care

[Ghkenn]

I’ve recently come across a bunch of morio worms and need to breed then for a few reptiles I have. Any tips and tricks on their care?

 

[WildSpider]

I’ve recently come across a bunch of morio worms and need to breed then for a few reptiles I have. Any tips and tricks on their care?

Morio worms/superworms are pretty hardy as long as it's not too cold. If it's too cold they'll die so storing in the refrigerator is a big no-no. (Petstores sometimes sell very large mealworms as superworms. One way you can test that they are truly morio worms/superworms is to put one in the fridge for a couple days. A mario worm will die in the fridge and the mealworm will be okay. Another way to tell besides the refrigerator test is to look at the container they came in and see what temps they should be stored at.) Best temps are around 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit as they are tropical. You can feed them lettuce, carrots, dog/cat food, and I've heard hard boiled eggs. Other fruits, veggies, and greens can be used too. These guys will get their water from the veggies and fruits given them. Many people use wheat bran as bedding.

If you plan to breed them, the larvae will need to be separated from each other in order to pupate. They should be ready to pupate by around 5 months old. Cups for separating them should be on the smaller side. Supposedly jello cups are good for separating them. I've heard one guy claim that if the worms are curled they are more likely to survive and pupate in the cups than if they are straight because it's too much room. Store them in a dark place. If left in the light, it can take longer for them to pupate. No food or water should be given to them during this time as it can prolong the process of pupating. Once they turn into beetles, feeding will be even more important because the beetles eat the eggs if hungry enough. Leave the food in the bin when the beetles are in there because the beetles can lay their eggs on the food.

You can transfer the beetles to another bin every 2-3 weeks to maximize your numbers but if you leave them in and feed them enough, that should be fine too. There will still be plenty. A beetle can produce up to 500 eggs during its lifetime.

The stages:

• Eggs are about 4-19 days.
• Larva are about 10 weeks and can be seen in 7-10 days.
• The time preparing to pupate before pupating should be within 14 days.
• Pupae are about 6-18 days.
• Beetles are about 3-15 years.

Good luck with your morio worms .

 

[WildSpider]

BTW, just read something interesting. Supposedly morio worms also do well in peat moss (some even say better). You can supposedly have the substrate at one end of the enclosure and food at the other end. In the wild, they have also been found to live in and eat bat guano so they aren't afraid of moisture. I'm guessing you could let the substrate soak before putting the worms in it and then to maintain the moisture, pour water into the substrate like we do with our Ts.

I also read something else that was interesting. It sounds like if you provide the worms with enough substrate, they won't need to be separated into containers. They just need space between each other.

I'm kind of thinking of trying a bin/container with quite a bit of peat moss in it and giving them a food dish or just putting the food on the substrate above them just to see how it goes. I'm really curious to see if separating them into containers can be avoided.

Again, good luck with your worms .