# WaxWorms: Pics and Videos



## gretchenellie (Aug 7, 2007)

hopefully someone will find this somewhat useful when they think about setting up a waxworm culture.

I dont use them too often, but they make a good additional feeder. 

The mixture that I use consists of:

Quick Oats ( walmart brand oat meal )
Gerber Rice Baby Cereal 
Karo Syrup (in place of Glycerol, since I had a hard time locating any)
Honey
Natural Bees Wax Pellets 
Wax Paper 

I mix all above dry ingredients in equal parts into a medium sized rubbermaid container. I then add the liquid ingredients in small amounts until I have a media that has a slightly flakey texture. I keep it relatively dry to avoid mold.









my ingredients.

I add my wax worms or wax worm eggs, keep in a dark, warm place and wait a bit.. If I start with eggs, It takes about 2 weeks for me to start seeing the worms moving around the container.

picture below of a culture that is currently setup:










video of the same culture taken tonight:

YouTube - wax worm culture

Video of another culture taken this evening ( I have 3 cultures in production right now ):

YouTube - young wax worm culture

and a few vid's of my Leuc trio enjoying an unhealthy little snack:

YouTube - leucomela dart frog enjoying wax worm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn6hKK8CBWoL]

Sorry for the shakey-ness of the videos.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Thanks for sharing.

Nice vid of the leucs too... never knew leucs can eat waxies


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## M_A_B (May 2, 2008)

I dont really know anything about wax worms so sorry if my question seems dumb but once the worms hatch do you have to refrigerate them to prevent them from become bugs? thats what you do with meal worms so i was just wondering


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## gretchenellie (Aug 7, 2007)

Not a dumb question.

the eggs will hatch into small, almost microscopic wax worms..then after a few months chowing down on the media, they cocoon and turn into moths. 

There is not beetle stage for these guys. 

Most people will put them into the fridge to slow their growth down and keep them from turning into moths.


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## OH23 (Sep 19, 2008)

Thank you for shering, i find it very useful.
and LOVED THE leucs vid


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

Glycerol is found at the pharmacy or the pharmacy section of most supermarkets.


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## yumpster (May 22, 2009)

That one leuc was being a little greedy! 


I always thought waxworms looked a little too big for darts, but apparently not.


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

I use a very simple and cheap method that works great for greater wax worms. I use large mason jars with screen lids to rear them. For medium, I buy fresh honeycomb honey which is mixed with wheatabix. Thats it. Works great and doesnt dry out. Costs about 10 bucks to make 3-4 decent cultures.


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## rollei (Jun 4, 2009)

So do the months themselves hang out in the jar and lay eggs?


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## gretchenellie (Aug 7, 2007)

I put the cocoons in a plastic jar with a mesh lid. 

I also put some pieces of cardboard in the jar as well as some crumpled wax paper. They lay the eggs on the cardboard and the wax paper.

I make a few cultures using the ingredients above and place a few pieces of either the wax paper or cardboard on top of the media in the container, close the lid and wait a few weeks. 

After I use the moths, I give them to my Reed Frogs as a snack. They love to hunt them down.


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## gretchenellie (Aug 7, 2007)

joshsfrogs said:


> Glycerol is found at the pharmacy or the pharmacy section of most supermarkets.


---------------------------------

apparently not around here. I finally found some in a Michael's craft store in the bakery section though.

I am sure that a pharmacy could have ordered it if I asked, but I am a little too impatient, and wanted to start right away.


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## Anoleo2 (Feb 1, 2006)

Interesting, I will have to try this some time. Thanks!


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## pl259 (Feb 27, 2006)

Well I've been meaning to post some stuff about Lesser Waxworms... and this seems like the perfect place to do it.

Lesser waxworms and moths are a smaller cousin to the Greater. Both are pests in honey bee hives. The Lesser can be cultured at about the same temps as FFs, but do better around 85F. Lessers are not Indian Meal moths or pantry moths. They have a very low chance of getting into your food stuffs. 

I use a similar media mix. Basically grains, honey, glycerin, and vitamins. I don't bother with wax paper/pellets and have had good results. For grains I use the fortified Gerber baby oat cereal, quick oats, Wheatabix. I 've heard of people using Cheerios, shredded wheat. I imagine most any bulk, unsweetened cereal will do. Honey I get bulk from Sam's and the vegetable glycerin, bulk from a soap makers supply store. The vitamins come with the Gerber cereal and I also add some brewers yeast as well. 

The proportions are somewhat flexible, and adjusted by feel to end up with a mix on the dryer side. If after mixing, it looks shiney or sticky, it's not dry enough. Ratios by volume are about 3:1 for grains to honey, and about 4:1 of honey to glycerin. Brewers yeast is on the order of a couple big tablespoons per big batch of media

Warming up the glycerin with the honey will help it mix in. BTW, don't leave out the glycerin. It prevents the media from drying out and becoming rock hard and crashing the CX.

Here's what I do. Best to do it outside as you'll get some moth escapes. It's not perfect but works for me...

From left to right, new CX jars, big funnel, ceramic serving plate, icing knife, old CXs. I use a CX set up of wide mouth, quart mason jars with SS screens in the rings. Same thing for bean beetles, BTW. Metal screen tops are a must as the larve will chew through most every other vent material. And they must have some air circulation. I also add folded up 5"x7" index cards. TP rolls work too. When the media in the older CX in just about used up, I make the new batch. I propagate moths, eggs, and larve to each new culture.










I start by dropping the moths in the new culture using the funnel. By inverting the jar and tapping, most moths will climb up into the jar. I can then unscrew the top and start tapping the jar against the funnel. Moths and some larve will drop into the new culture.










If you want to feed out the moths, you can drop them into an empty mason jar instead, remove the funnel, quickly close the top, and then open the jar in the tank and leave it. The frogs will freak! Lessers have a crazy erratic movement that makes frogs go nutty trying to catch them. 

After the moths are out, I tap the inverted jar over the big plate. Many larve will fall out. 










I then run the long thin icing knife around the inside edge of the mason jar to loosen the cocoon mass so I can take it out easily in one big piece or in chunks.










This is where the index cards help. They give you a nice thing to grab a hold of to pull out the used media and larve. The bottom of the mass should be a combination of newer media, eggs, and a ton of larve. I breakoff some of the newer stuff and push it down into the funnel with the moths, in the new CX.










At this point, I remove the funnel and close up the new culture. I put the funnel into an empty jar to collect the larve. Now it's about gently manipulating and shaking the mass so the larve fall out onto the dish, without the media. I don't work too hard or long at this. Once a good amount or larve are on the plate, I dump the mass, leftover larve and all into the trash. I then tilt and tap the plate to roll the larve into a little ball, then dump them into the funnel. 

Collect









Tilt, tap, roll









Dump









That's it. I hope people try culturing these and build upon these ideas. Even without frogs eating them, the larve usually don't last more than a day in a humid tank. On occasion, one will cocoon and a stray moth will morph out in the tank. The life cycle time for the lesser is many weeks, five or so, depending on temps. Feeding out the larve at this interval is good as they are higher in fat then other feeders.

Have fun!


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

great method, i remember when i used to culture these guys all i used was oats and honey and it worked pretty well, they are fast producers and very easy to sulture.


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

They also make frogs super fat.... great for those that are getting ready to breed or have just finished a breeding cycle. I tend to use to larger worms to feed the terribs and bicolors and then work my way down the scale feeding the auratus the smaller ones and my mantellas the smallest. They really are a fantastic supplemental feeder, esp. when trying to increase fat and protein content.


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

Very informational I liked learning about these alot, now I should be able to try it


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## pamelina525 (Aug 19, 2010)

hello i decided to do this but using different ingredients
i used wheat germ glycerin and honey.
my wax worms stay under the stuff and make tunnles and stuff and they
rarely come out. is that normal?

thanks


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## pl259 (Feb 27, 2006)

Sounds normal. When they get larger its normal to start seeing moths.


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## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

great post, ill have to try this myself


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