Maturing waxworms into moths

[Aimee]

Has anyone ever done this? What does the process involve? (housing, feeding, time duration, etc)

Thanks.
Aimee

[Kurt]

I have done it, usually by accident. Just don't refrigerate or feed them to the frogs, and they will mature. Feeding them to the frogs can be a little problematic as they can fly, but treefrogs love them.

[Tom Highum]

Yup especially whites.
Just make sure that they cannot escape and end up dyeing in your house.

[SirIvy]

Have any of you ever tried to breed the moths?

[Kurt]

Never tried, have no clue how to.

[Aimee]

what should be fed to the waxworms/moths?

Would a staple of crickets/moths with an occasional waxworm or 2 be a sufficient diet for a tree frog, provided the insects are gutloaded and dusted?

Oh, and also, does anyone have any tips/tricks on handling the moths in the process of feeding them to the frogs?

Thanks for the great replies, everyone

[Kurt]

Crickets make a good staple, providing they are gut loaded and dusted. I don't think you will be to get enough moths to make them a staple. As far as handling moths, I just grab them, throw them in quickly, and close the cage before they can escape.

[John]

Raising/Culturing Waxworms/waxmoths: AJCs Virtual Frogroom: Waxmoth Larvae

[Aimee]

Helpful link. Thanks, John.

Cheers

[Kurt]

Thats was awesome! I am going to have to try culturing them.

[SirIvy]

Thanks for the link. Going to have to give this a try.

[scribbles]

Once I forgot about a container of waxworms. A while later I opened it and it was full of moths.

[Tom Highum]

I might try that too. Thanks John.

[Mike]

I've also used this recipe to culture waxworms, it's a bit simpler and works well too: Breeding Waxworms

One thing you want to keep in mind is that waxworms can eat through plastic when they run out of food/medium, so if you're going to culture them in jars you should use glass jars with metal screen lids. Also make sure the screen is very fine or the tiny larvae will escape (it's happened to me a few times when the mesh wasn't fine enough).

One methods for feeding out the moths is to put the culture in the fridge for a bit until they slow down, then once they're in your vivarium they'll warm up again and become active. I've stopped culturing waxworms since I never found a good method to harvest the larvae from the medium (any suggestions?).

[deengo1975]

I have successfully breed these waxworms but I never get more than 10 out of the 250 I put in there to start the culture. Then they die off soon after I've discovered them. So I've stopped trying to breed waxworms.

[John]

What temperature are you keeping them at, what kind of ventilation are you giving them and how moist is it in there? These are the important factors.

[deengo1975]

They were kept at 80 degrees F. I drilled many 1/4 holes in the top and put an old T-shirt over it so the babies would not escape. I think it was pretty moist in there though.

[John]

Waxworms naturally live in Bee Hives where humidity is very carefully controlled by the bees. I would bet it was too humid.

[Bearnandos]

I've breed waxmoths accidentally - only problem was my frogs refused to eat them...in fact my frogs even refuse to eat my silkworms I think it is due to the steady temps I kept them at.
One thing we must all remember is that in a few countries - releasing wax moths on purpose or accidentally is illegal as they can wipe out bee colonies very quickly.