feeder colony suggestion?

[insectheart]

my first real post. awwwwww...

so after first getting my pink toe, and now a pair of jeweled curly tails, i have found a new love for keeping food bugs. my small cricket colony has exploded this month with hundreds of babies and while i will miss their messy antics, i'm thinking they will be getting the dump into a 20 gallon storage bin to prevent the inevitable cannibalization those numbers will produce in a tank that small. this means i will have both a 5 and a 10 gallon on hand. i have a mind to try my hands at a small roach colony in the 10 (i am keen on the blaberus roaches, particularly the true death's heads) and perhaps keep worms in the 5. any recommendations on this idea? any better suggestions? i'm all ears for ideas on cheap, renewable colonies of tasty feeders which might be rewarding to have on display, as well.

 

[Matt K]

You could try www.roachforum.com and even see photos in the "Photos" section to help you indentify a 'face' with the name.

You could also Google search "feeder roaches" or use the search function on this forum.

Roaches are the easiest things to keep....

 

[insectheart]

thanks for the link. i'll look there for info on the roaches. do you have any sugestions or links to info on keeping meal or super worms as well? i've seen a few things here but nothing too informative.

 

[Matt K]

thanks for the link. i'll look there for info on the roaches. do you have any sugestions or links to info on keeping meal or super worms as well? i've seen a few things here but nothing too informative.

Try this thread, I posted "how -to" photos and instructions:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=123055

**Make sure to scroll on down the page as it does not start with my pics but it does part way down.

 

[scottyk]

Try this thread, I posted "how -to" photos and instructions:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=123055

**Make sure to scroll on down the page as it does not start with my pics but it does part way down.

How did I miss that when you originally posted it :clap:

Looks like a cool winter project to supplement my roach and mealworm colonies. I'm assuming that the initial islolation is to keep the larvae from cannibalising the pupae, correct???

 

[Matt K]

How did I miss that when you originally posted it :clap:

Looks like a cool winter project to supplement my roach and mealworm colonies. I'm assuming that the initial islolation is to keep the larvae from cannibalising the pupae, correct???

Nope. They wont pupate if in contact with other 'worms', you have to isolate one to make it pupate (and I never bothered to put one back to see if it would get eaten so I dont know if they do or not). I only put it back in the general population once it emerged as an adult....

 

[ZergFront]

Anyone keep any other hoppers like crickets? Grasshoppers, locusts, etc? How do you breed and care for those? I've seen some very pretty green grasshoppers and locusts with bright colored wings. Also the grasshoppers are good climbers so I thought that would be excellant avic food.

Might raise flies from soldier grubs, too. They have some big flies!

 

[scottyk]

Nope. They wont pupate if in contact with other 'worms', you have to isolate one to make it pupate (and I never bothered to put one back to see if it would get eaten so I dont know if they do or not). I only put it back in the general population once it emerged as an adult....

There is no shortage of interesting things to ponder in this hobby.....

 

[insectheart]

thanks for all the info, matt. i found a few excellent youtube videos as well to compliment all of this. i'm going to be picking up some mealworms tommorow when i go in for a fresh batch of crickets (my curly tails have eaten all my adults already) as they seem the easiest to start up.