So me and my boyfriend got a tub of wax worms/moths/pupae so I could feed the gongy and also get a more varied diet for the other girls. Everything went fine at first, they were transferred as soon as we got home and he put them in a faunarium/pet box with ground oats/honey and some egg cartons. Soon moths started emerging and things were looking good. However, we noticed that a lot of the moths come out "unfinished". They get stuck in their cocoons, have trouble moving around and don't reproduce. I'm at a loss here and since they're at his place I can't keep an eye on them all the time but I trust him with them since he has experience keeping things alive while I have killed a cactus. Do you guys have any tips or resources for keeping wax moths/worms (I'm more interested in the moth stage for feeding)?
Wax moths keep dying off
- Thread starter Bathory
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Aristalochia
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I've just started breeding them and I've noticed quite a few of them dieing off, but I hear thats pretty normal for these guys. A single female can lay a thousand eggs though, so you shouldn't need all of them to make it. They grow much slower if they aren't kept warm though 85 seems ideal whereas they can be kept as low as 50 to keep all of them from maturing as fast, if you want to stagger them so you have them pupating/emerging at different times instead of once every 2 mos.
They seem to be fragile little creatures! I'm not sure what temp they're at but I'm guessing it's in the 80-85 range.
@Bathory For details of raising generations of wax moths see my post...
I raised mine in room temps of 70-75F without incident for 3 generations, then I ran out of use for them and let them die off. I found it took about 2 to 2 1/2 months from moths to the next generation of moths at room temperature. They generate their own heat (from their bodies digesting food, and sheer numbers), and depending on airflow can build up condensation in a container as well rather quickly leading to their death.
My initial start-up of 50 waxworms turned into thousands by the 2nd generation, and by the 3rd was out of room and stunted their population.
Ideally the waxworms would have a slatted surface to cocoon on, and they do require wax for mating at least - the moths will lay eggs on crumpled-up wax paper. Speaking of wax as they grow/breed in bee hives, it is recommended for the food medium to have wax mixed in as well for them (I shaved pure beeswax) among other things. My recipe and other details are explained and shown in the post.
I raised mine in room temps of 70-75F without incident for 3 generations, then I ran out of use for them and let them die off. I found it took about 2 to 2 1/2 months from moths to the next generation of moths at room temperature. They generate their own heat (from their bodies digesting food, and sheer numbers), and depending on airflow can build up condensation in a container as well rather quickly leading to their death.
My initial start-up of 50 waxworms turned into thousands by the 2nd generation, and by the 3rd was out of room and stunted their population.
Ideally the waxworms would have a slatted surface to cocoon on, and they do require wax for mating at least - the moths will lay eggs on crumpled-up wax paper. Speaking of wax as they grow/breed in bee hives, it is recommended for the food medium to have wax mixed in as well for them (I shaved pure beeswax) among other things. My recipe and other details are explained and shown in the post.
