How do you guys breed woodies?

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I have my colony set up pretty much the same way as everyone else. Oranges and greens for food, heatmat wrapped around on side. My friend is a chicken farmer so an unlimited supply of those egg crates. I set them up in the dark cupboard in the same room as my beardie, so every time I open the cupboard to get something he goes ballistic. :facepalm:
 
Were they not thriving before the change? I've had mine for around 4 months (I think) and the first spawn of babies are now going through final sheds.

Rick

They just didn't seem to ever take off. Maybe the guinea pig pellets weren't all that good. Or maybe it's a total coincidence.Whatever the reason, I now open my woodie tubs and can't see the floor because it's buried in such a thick layer of insects.
 
They just didn't seem to ever take off. Maybe the guinea pig pellets weren't all that good. Or maybe it's a total coincidence.Whatever the reason, I now open my woodie tubs and can't see the floor because it's buried in such a thick layer of insects.

No worries. I was going to feed them biomare or dog biscuits but the pellets are already there for the rabbits. Im sure both of those are probably better then the rabbit/guinea pig pellets.


Rick
 
When I had mine I had them in a storage container from Bunnings and fed them whatever was going to be thrown out or what was getting close to the end of it's shelf life, only veges and fruit of course.

Don't you guys find that the egg cartons deteriorate after a while? And how do you go about cleaning your tubs out?

I saw a guy on here who had his setup in a glass aquarium, there was soil in the bottom and he put mealies in there and woodies as well, the bacteria in the soil broke down any rotting things, and the mealies processed everything else, he reckoned he didn't have to clean it as it did it itself! I want to try that.
 
I have a colony on a 60litre tub. I have about 2" of dirt from the garden in the bottom. Mine get fed vege scraps and skins etc from food prep, leaves from the garden, grass etc.
I also have a stack of meal worms in there.
I went with soil and meal worms to try to.keep the stink down, it was getting stinky. I used to clean it fairly regularly, but haven't touched it in 12months and Now it doesn't smell at all. I keep mine on top of the hot water heater outside so it gets a bit of warmth. But not much. Mine breed so fast, there is no way I can use them all. I used to feed them to my dad's chooks,.they'd each eat hundreds at a time, and I'd still have thousands of them!
 
Thanks for so much response some realy helpful ideas. Just wondering where do you buy fulon from?
 
breeding woodies

I am thinking of rearing insects on a larger scale. Anyone have problems sourcing the following on a regular basis ? Bulk mealworms, bulk woodies, locusts, grasshoppers. I would love to find out what insects are being fed to reptiles and what products find difficult to source. Also has anyone considered entering the cricket breeding industry or breeding woodies on a commercial basis.

Thanks
Katee
 
I would be interested in buying locusts if anyone is breeding them. I used to buy the large African Migratory Locusts that were bred by several people up until a few years ago. Fully grown adults are too big for most lizards, but great for frilled dragons, bearded and water dragons. My frilled dragons loved them. My sources for these have stopped breeding them now for over 2 years.

They are difficult to look after evidently and appear to have a natural die off trigger when conditions are not optimum. I am told they do not suffer neglect at all like woodies and need a lot of attention to keep going. I would love to have them available as a dietary item for my larger dragons but just don't have the time to try and raise a colony myself. I am sure there would be others who would buy locusts regularly, that might make this sort of breeding enterprise work.
 
Re locusts

I would be interested in buying locusts if anyone is breeding them. I used to buy the large African Migratory Locusts that were bred by several people up until a few years ago. Fully grown adults are too big for most lizards, but great for frilled dragons, bearded and water dragons. My frilled dragons loved them. My sources for these have stopped breeding them now for over 2 years.

They are difficult to look after evidently and appear to have a natural die off trigger when conditions are not optimum. I am told they do not suffer neglect at all like woodies and need a lot of attention to keep going. I would love to have them available as a dietary item for my larger dragons but just don't have the time to try and raise a colony myself. I am sure there would be others who would buy locusts regularly, that might make this sort of breeding enterprise work.

Thanks for the posting. That information on locusts is very helpful. Am currently looking into several different species that could be cultured and am keen to start a bit of research on locusts. So hope to get something up and running....will keep you posted on my progress.

A shame your suppliers don,t breed any longer and i agree that they are a great food resource. I have a bit of experience with rearing the migratory locust when i done my insect science studies and you are right. They need lots of attention and are harder to rear. Hopefully a few more people out there will post about locusts and their success/failures with feeding and rearing.
 
I would be interested in moths of a suitable size for frogs and geckos, my guys go crazy for them but as far as im aware there is no one that breeds them as feeders.


Rick
 
Hi thanks for your interest in my posting. Yes moths make excellent food source and do you have a certain species in mind ? Bogong moths used sparingly are a good food source. I also don,t know of anyone who breeds moths as feeders but i know they feed bogongs to pygmy possums at zoos. Yes .....ill have to look further into moths as well...
 
Hi thanks for your interest in my posting. Yes moths make excellent food source and do you have a certain species in mind ? Bogong moths used sparingly are a good food source. I also don,t know of anyone who breeds moths as feeders but i know they feed bogongs to pygmy possums at zoos. Yes .....ill have to look further into moths as well...

Not sure on species but something with a decent sized body for geckos/frogs (maybe 3-4cm long 1cm wide, body size not wings).

I think i read about moths used on bee farms? Not sure what they were but apparently some bee keepers used them for something.


Rick
 
They would be wax worms you are referring to. I see lots of them for sale on overseas reptile stores.
I think they are illegal in Australia as the wax moth lays its eggs in the hive and worm destroys wax and honey. Maybe someone will confirm that they really are illegal as i couldn,t find much information it.
 
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