CRITTER HUSBANDRY

After receiving the bugs
If the weather is cold, please let the package sit at room-temperature for at least one hour prior to opening. Take out the containers, but do not shake them or turn them upside down. That would hurt the critters. If the bugs are dormant, about 3-4 hours at room temperature should make them lively again. In the summer time, there are not that many problems, except the critters might be thirsty.

Care sheets
The care sheets have been grouped by feeder size for your convenience. However please note that some of the large feeders can be used for a wide range of animals, as they often start out very small. When ye olde critterkeeper finds some spare time he will add photos of the various cultures and procedures. Click on the critter that interests you and you will be transferred to the relevant section of the homepage.



Aquatic feeders
Food for aquarium fish, tadpoles, salamander larvae and other aquatic animals.

Green algae, Chlorella (Chlorella vulgaris)
A ball-shaped green algae floating around in freshwater relished by daphnia, copepods and filter feeding tadpoles and fish larvae. Kept in 1-liter clear containers filled with freshwater. Stir at least 1-2 times a day or better when ever you pass the containers. Standing in the window sill it takes about a week for a new culture to turn deep green. Once a week each jar should receive 1-2 drops of liquid fertilizer to speed things up. When starting new cultures you just divide an old one in to 3-4 portions add water and then stir. When using the algae for food for daphnia or filter feeders just add the green “soup” to the tank.

Paramecium, lady slippers (Paramecium sp.)
Paramecium are unicellular ciliate protozoa living off bacteria, we breed a very large species, so big that it can be seen with the naked eye, an excellent food for small fish fry, copepods and filter feeding tadpoles. They are kept in 1-liter clear containers filled with freshwater. In each container is a piece of banana peel 2x5cm, that has first been cleansed and then dried, this will promote bacterial growth, once in a while add a few drops of milk to the culture as food for both paramecium and bacteria, in the beginning every other day, later maybe once a week. Kept at room temperature, not in direct sunlight. Cultures can be split about once a week. Some cultures will run for ever, other will burn out after a month. By replenishing water you will ensure that your culture will thrive. When you want to use paramecium for food you can sift the water through filter paper.

Vinegar eels (Turbatrix aceti)
Miniature wriggly worms, continually swimming around in their medium, excellent food fro fish fry and predatory tadpoles as they will just keep swimming when they are thrown in the tank. We also keep these in 1 -liter jars at room temperature and out of direct light. Thanks to our friend Othman Amin, Danish fish and beetle breeder, we are now rearing these little fellas on a mixture of 5 dcl apple cider vinegar, 4 dcl ordinary vinegar, 2 dcl water, 1 tea spoon sugar and just a tad bit of yeast, in each container we drop a slice of apple complete with peel and all. This results in a continuous and very prolific production of vinegar eels, and cultures that smell nicely reminiscent of balsamico. Once in a while we replenish the vinegar mixture or divide the cultures into new cultures but most of the time the cultures take care of themselves. Collect the worms by sifting the culture through filter paper and carefully rinse of any medium.

Microworms (Panagrellus redivivus), banana worms and Walter worms
Three more miniature worms, also for the consumption by fish fry and other small aquatic animals. After having bred micro worms for several years we recently got banana worms and Walter worms from another friend Angie Bland in England, and these little beasts are slightly different than the original micro worms. Walter worms were originally discovered by Helmut Walter from Germany in a grindal worm culture. They are smaller but fatter than micro worms and also tend to swim in the water for a longer period than micro worms. According to legend banana worms were isolated from the ground in a banana plantation, and could be Radopholus similis or Pratylenchus goodeyi, they are even smaller than Walter worms. They are all easily grown in the square boxes they are supplied in. A culture will last for 1-2 months before it turns bad, but in the beginning keep an eye on the every other day, some times they just do not behave like they are supposed to. We grow them on a slush consisting of oatmeal mixed with milk and a little yeast and sugar, Just a thin layer on the bottom will suffice. For the banana worms we add a little bit of mashed ripe banana to the medium. Let it ferment for 24 hours and add a teaspoon of worms and medium from an old culture, and soon the culture will be ready to harvest from. Keep the worms in a dark place, and harvest by scraping them of the sides of the container. You can also leave a piece of moist kitchen towel on top of the medium, from there you will be able to scrape of a teaspoon of clean worms almost every day. Where the vinegar eels smell like balsamico these guys smell more like fermented socks, so keep the lid on.

Dafphnia (Moina macrocopa and Daphnia magna)
Daphnia are miniature crustaceans swimming around in water, thus being a very nice addition to the menu of freshwater fish, tadpoles, salamander larvae and other water dwelling predators. We bred to species the small Moina and the large Daphnia, they are bred in 8 liter or 15 liter plastic containers filled with water at room temperature. Four 8-liters or three 15 liter containers fit under a 30-Watt fluorescent light. We primarily feed with with bakers yeast in water or green algae. The yeast/water mix is added so that a nice cloud is formed, this should be gone in a day or two. We feed twice a week. Cultures seem to work better when they are inoculated with a tea spoon of good garden earth, and also a lung snail like the great pond snail (Lymnaea stagnalis) will help keep the water quality up by eating yeast residue, dead daphnia and providing a nice bacterial culture for the daphnia to eat. We do not use filter systems or aerators with our daphnia, in stead we change the water every other month by catching the daphnia, cleaning the containers, adding water fresh from the tap (may not be advisable where you live) and throw the daphnia back in. Cleaning is rotated so that half the cultures are cleaned one month, the rest the following month.

Freshwater amphipods (Hyalella azteca)
Charming Middleamerican freshwater shrimp, about 8 mm long when fully grown. Can be used as aquarium animals and as feeders for larger aquatic predators. They prefer water with a relatively high calcium content (25 DGH) as they need calcium for their exoskeleton. We usually add a bit of sepia shell or calciumcarbonate to the water once in a while. We do not use any bottom materials, but a few dead leaves or pieces of bark will be appreciated, as containers we use 15 liter plastic containers with an aerator with a 30-Watt shop light over three of these just with daphnia. Plants will be eaten, java moss is especially popular and will be eaten almost immediately and result in a small explosion of new shrimp. We mostly feed with cucumber slices, rabbit chow and dandelion leaves. For info on laboratory rearing please visit this link.

Grindal worms (Enchytraeus buchholzi) and White worms (Enchytraeus albidus)
Grindal worms and white worms, basically miniature versions of earth worms, are an excellent food for aquarium fish and other aquatic predators. Grindal worms can be grown in the containers they come in, but we usually have our mother cultures in larger containers. As a medium we use moist coco peat, as food we use our oat meal soaked in milk. Put a few worms on the medium. Cover the food with a small piece of glass. Feed 2-3 times a week, and after a month or two you should be ready to harvest, by collecting worms from under the glass. . Keep them at just below room temperature. White worms are grown basically like grindal worms, white worms do however like a bit more living space and also colder temperatures of only 15-18 degrees Celsius.

Marbled crayfish, Marmorkrebs (Procamberus sp.)
A beautiful, easily reared crayfish. Can be used as a feeder for larger aquatic predators, for bait and of course they can be used to make jambalaya and other good stuff. Marmorkrebs were originally discovered in a German aquarium store among a batch of crayfish said to be from the US. Marmorkrebs are parthenogenetic, they are all clones of the same female and will procreate without males. They will thrive in freshwater between 18 and 28° C. Is the water hard and alkaline, they tend to be bluish, in acidic water they tend to be brown. Marmorkrebs are very prolific, at 27° C each female will produce around 200 young every 8 weeks, in 4 months these will in turn start producing their own offspring. Adult specimens are usually around 12 cm, however monsters of 20 cm have been reported. Marmorkrebs are quite peaceful and can be kept with most aquarium fish, dead, sick or slow fish will of course be eaten. The crayfish need hiding places, such as clay or pvc pipes, stone or wood caves. Fro bottom materials gravel can be used, for filtration a Hamburg mat filter is excellent. Crayfish will basically eat anything: leftovers of trespassers and tardy mailmen you have shot, plants, fish food, dead fish, cucumber slices, rabbit pellets etc. For an excellent in depth page on these fascinating creatures go here! We do not currently produce Marmorkrebs.



Small feeders
Food for dartfrogs, young mantids and other small invertebrates as well as small lizards like Lygodactylus and Rippeleon.

Springtails (Collembola)
We are currently breeding 4 species of springtails for sale, furthermore we are working on stabilizing two more species: a small silvery species and a large black species (5 mm). The common white and the tropical blue springtail thrive at room temperature, whereas the white and pink tropical springtail prefer temperatures up to 28 degrees Celsius, but all species will thrive I most terrarium rooms. The springtails are reared in the containers they are shipped in, feed sparingly 2-3 times per week with fish flakes, dried yeast or for optimum results our springtail chow. A culture that is taken well care of will provide you with a teaspoon of springtails 1-3 times a week for up to 6 months.
Depending on your needs you can start new cultures once a week or once a month. Put peat in an empty container about 2 cm up wet it with water, and compress the peat/water mixture while pouring out excess water. This will create a hard plate of peat on the bottom of the container. Add a little springtail chow and some springtails. Take good care of the culture and in about 2 months it will be ready to harvest from.
When harvesting springtails grip the container firmly and GENTLY shake out springtails into a cup, put a little springtail chow in the cup and cover it. Alternatively you can buy or make an insect suction sampler. Wait for a couple of hours, letting your springtails get gutloaded, and now you are ready to feed them to your frogs or other small animals.

Aphids
Aphids are a well-known meadow plankton for small insect eaters, in the summer you can collect them from roses, beans and what not, just make sure that no poisons are used in the garden and that the plants themselves are not poisonous. If you are not inclined to running around in the sun hunting aphids you could breed them. The culture is a bit tricky and messy and needs careful timing. We have bred the oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi), a fat, deep green up to 2 mm large aphid. It is easily bred on maize, wheat or oat plants. Kept at roomtemperature with 14 hours of light, they will breed parthenogenetically and not develop wings. Aphids are very productive and you will need to start new feeder palnts at least once pr week. When the new plants are of reasonable size just place them next to the old ones and the aphids will climb over to the new juicy plants. Pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) can be bred in a similar manner using peas or fava beans as food plants. Aphid poop is sticky and sugary and is liberately sprayed all over, so some kind of containment is advised for other wise you the cultures may become very messy in deed. We do not currently produce aphids.

Fruit flies (Drosophila sp.)
We are currently producing 8 varieties of fruit flies of 4 different species. Ranging from tiny, wingless ant-like D. melanogaster for the tiniest insect eaters over D. buzzatii and D. mulleri to the large golden D. hydei for the small insect eaters. None of our fruit flies are able to fly.

Droso A
wingless small

Droso B
flightless small
GOLDEN

Droso C
turkish glider

Droso D
flightles small

Droso E
D. buzzatii
 

Droso F
D. mulleri

Droso G
D. hydei

Droso H
D. hydei GOLDEN

The small fruit fly will thrive at temperatures of 23° C, the larger species like it a bit warmer 25° C. When you receive a culture the medium is usually sufficiently moist, but especially in the summer it may be necessary to add a little water or juicy fruit.
Small fruit flies typically hatch after 3-4 weeks, the larger ones after 4-5 weeks. In the summer or when kept at higher temperatures the flies will hatch after 2-3 weeks, which can make it a bit difficult to control production. Cultures will burn out after 1-2 weeks of hatching, you can make the culture longer-lived by adding half a banana to the culture when the flies start to hatch. Do not keep burned out cultures around, house mites love them.
If you want to start a home production of fruit flies we advise to make flies once or twice a week. In the beginning 2 cultures per terrarium, later you may be able to get by on less. In order to get a good start in the art of making fruit flies we suggest to use Springhalens dry medium. It easy to work with and results in a large production of nutritious flies. We usually make 12 1-liter cups at the time. For this we need 1 pack of yeast, 3-4 ripe bananas, 1 liter fly medium and about 1 liter water. Mix well and add water if necessary until the mix only flows slowly when tipped. Distribute to the 12 cups, in layers of about 2 cm, and cover the openings with paper towels held in place by rubber bands, and leave to ferment over night. This will ensure that the medium is colonized by a beneficial microorganism, yeast, which acts as an inhibitor of mold and bacteria as well as providing the fruit flies and their larvae with food. Put some kitchen towel on the medium, for the flies to climb on and add a teaspoon of flies, put the paper towel lid back on and a few weeks the next generation of flies will be jumping around.
Do not mix different strains of the same species, this will result in wild type fliers. This may also happen if you use lids with a fine mesh in stead of paper towel. We ship with lids of foam towelettes, these should be replaced with paper towels on arrival.
Remember to dust your flies with calcium/vitamin before serving them for your vertebrates.

Milkweedbugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus)
Northamerican true bug, that in the wild feeds on the seeds of the poisonous milkweed. Our animals are a laboratory strain, feeding on sunflower kernel and wheat grass. Just hatched the bugs are only 1 mm big and bright orange-red. After 5 weeks and 5 metamorphoses they are adult and 13 mm long. These bugs are incredibly beautiful, nice to work with and actually seem to work as a replacement for pinhead-crickets.
We keep them at 25-30 degrees Celsius, feed them sunflower seed kernel and add some cotton wool for egg laying. All stages can be kept together, but by collecting cotton wool with eggs at regular intervals you can make sure that you always have easy access to just the right size bug. Up to a thousand individuals can be kept together in standard 20 x 20 x 30 cm insect tanks on a 14/10 hour light/darkness cycle. Younger stages taste sweet and mealy, instar 5 and adults taste of bug ( kind of like coriander), and are only eaten by a few animals (and yes I did the bug-tasting).

Grain weevils (Sitophilus granarius)
A new feeder insect brought into the hobby by Springhalen.dk, a good food item for small amphibians, invertebrates and reptiles. Easily bred at room temperature, we use fruit fly containers with 4 cm of wheat kernel as medium, add some infested seeds, put on a well-ventilated lid and wait about a Month, suddenly the culture will be teaming. Harvest is easy, just shake the culture around a bit to agitate the beetles, take of the lid and place the container in a larger tub. The beetles will climb out of their container and can easily be collected from the tub. Females lay 2-3 eggs daily totaling 250 eggs in their life. Once a month when the new beetles hatch, sift your culture, remove the flour made by the beetles and start new cultures. The beetles do not need any water sources.

Bean weevils (Callosobruchus maculatus)
Another good food item for small amphibians, invertebrates and reptiles, slightly larger and rounder than the grain weevil. Easily bred at room temperature, we use fruit fly containers with 4 cm of black eyed peas as medium, add some infested seeds, put on a well-ventilated lid and wait about a Month, suddenly the culture will be teaming. Harvest is easy, just shake the culture around a bit to agitate the beetles, take of the lid and place the container in a larger tub. The beetles will climb out of their container and can easily be collected from the tub. Females lay 2-3 eggs daily totaling 250 eggs in their life. Once a month when the new beetles hatch, sift your culture, remove the flour made by the beetles and start new cultures. The beetles do not need any water sources. The beetles need black eyed peas or mung beans for their sustenance, ordinary beans contain a lectin, that is toxic to bean weevils. If you look closely at our picture you can see eggs and holes on mung beans and black eyed peas but not on the ordinary beans.

Confused flour beetle (Triboleum confusum)
Sweet little things or hated pests, if they stay in their containers they are the first but if they infest your firebrats they are not! Buffalo worms are some times called mini mealworms, these fellas could be called micro meal worms. The larvae are only ax 5 mm long, and the beetles 3-4 mm. We breed them in tighly closed but wel-ventilated cricket boxes with a cm of meal worm mix as substrate, add some beetles and collect larvae by sifting the media about 3 weeks later. Once in a while we give them a piece of carrot or apple butthis is not strictly necessary. Like other darkling beetles the adults produce a noxious gas that might irritate the airways of asthmatics, so use a mask when working with darkling beetles.

Dust lice (Liposcelis bostrychophila)
Not related to lice at all! Most species of this group prefer damp and cool conditions, Liposcelis on the other hand prefer dry (70% RH) and warm (up to 30° C). They will once in a while pop up in flour and grain in the kitchens all over the world. Walter Seil from Germany found a strain in Koi food, that we used to breed. They seem to work best on tadpole food from ENT, just find a container, add some tadpole food, let it “gas” off for a couple of days and then add your book lice. This strain is parthenogenetic, so the animals are basically all clones. Eggs are laid in little clumps and the newly-hatched bugs are almost invisible. At 20° C it takes 56 days from egg to adult, at 30° C it only takes 3 weeks. ENT's tadpolefood works great but is bit expensive so experiment wit fish flake food, dry milk etc. A culture kept at 30° C will be ready for harvest in 2 months time. The easiest way to harvest is either to use a suction device or add a piece of eggcrate for the book lice to congregate on, from this they can easily be shaken into a cup. We do not currently produce dust lice.



Medium feeders
Food for medium sized amphibians and reptiles, small insect eating colubrids, invertebrates, birds and mammals.

Isopods (Trichorhina tomentosa, Porcellio scaber Orange etc.)
Very undemanding little creatures, mainly used as garbage men in moist terraria, and an occasional calcium-rich snack for anything from dartfrogs to large reptiles depending on isopod-species. They are kept on moist coco peat or peat, a humidity gradient from somewhat wet to rather dry is always a good thing. On top of the medium you can put pieces of bark or paper, under which the isopods will hide, allowing for easy collection. You can breed them in the containers we supply them in, but for larger scale production you should find a larger container. Basic food is fish flakes or springtail chow, vegetable-leftovers, even a dead cricket or locusts will all go down the hatch. Isopods are basically natures garbage removers. Feed sparingly but often for best results. We are currently breeding and seling 4 species of isopods: the small white tropical one, used in rain forest terrariums as garbageman and snack for dartfrogs. The brown and striped isopods have the same function but are more out in the open than the white ones. Finally the large orange isopod is best suited for robust moist tanks, as they become rather larger. The tropical white isopods and brown isopods like it a little warmer than the other, they prefer temperatures around 28° C. We are currently stabilizing a miniature thai isopod. Our founding stock consisted of three (3) thai isopods brought home by our friends Kenneth and Pernille in a small bag of Thai rain forest dirt .

Firebrats (Thermobius domestica)
Firebrats are a great food item, but are slow breeders and not very productive, but it is definitely worth your while. If you want to breed your own firebrats you should transfer the starter culture to a larger tight container. Put half an inch of wheat bran in the container as a substrate, fill the container with egg crate and add some lumps of cotton wool for egg laying. Feed the firebrats a couple of times per week with fish flakes, or springtail chow. It is important to keep the humidity low. Firebrats need it warm and dry. They do not drink but need a small cup with just a little water in the bottom, cover the cup with a tight mesh, other wise the firebrats will commit mass suicide in there.
Firebrats need dry heat around 35-40 degrees Celsius, a boiler room is the perfect place to have them in. One generation takes 3-6 months depending on temperature and food quality. It is a long wait, but when you have a couple of cultures going you can feed with them at least once a week. If you need newborns take out the egg-filled cotton wool and put it in a separate container. Firebrats are a treat for larger frogs, predatory invertebrates, salamanders and small lizards.

House flies, Terfly (Musca domestica)
Both maggots and adult flies are excellent food items for middle sized predators. Pupae will hatch within a week at room temperature, you can keep the pupae and flies in the fridge for up to 6 weeks, at the cost of slightly poorer hatching rates. House flies should be gutloaded with any kind of sweet and nutritious blend you can think up, i.e. sugar, multivitamin juice, vitaminerals, powdered milk, fish flakes, dog food etc, basically check what you have in the kitchen and mix it all up. When their bellies are filled you can put them in the fridge so they will calm down before you feed them to your animals. A mixture of milk, sugar, vitaminerals and wheat bran will make an excellent larval diet, albeit a bit on the smelly side.
We have developed a low-smell ready to use mix. The medium is mixed with the same amount of water, filled in a 1-liter cup so it is half-filled. Add a little sugar to the surface + a bit of powdered milk and in 2 weeks time you should have your own fly pupae!. If you use milk in stead of water and a bit of yeast the production will skyrocket, but will smell slightly worse, but not as bad as the old fashioned recipes out there.

Green banana cockroaches (Panchlora nivea)
Used as a terrarium insect and as a feeder, but only when adult and shining green. Another Middle American species. Females are fully grown around 20 mm, males only 15 mm. As these beauties need a humidity of at least 80% they are not able to survive in standard European houses. Highly temperature dependent. At 24° C it takes about 6 months for a newly hatched nymph to reach adulthood. At a constant temperature of 28-30° C it only takes 2,5-3 months. At 24° C females are ready to mate after 6 days, and after 2 months the first litter of nymphs will hatch. Females will produce 2-3 litters of 28-60 nymphs (mean 46). If left to themselves 15-20 animals will become 350 animals in a year. The roaches need a layer of ground, for instance old beetle earth or coco peat, on top of this you can place plastic egg crate or rotting wood for hiding. Adults are beautiful light green creatures, that are incredibly fast, will scale glass and can fly, the nymphs however are standard brown roach nymphs who live in the ground. When working with adults it may be necessary to cool then in the refrigerator before handling. Green banan cockroaches are fed fish flakes, chicken pellets, springtail chow, carrots, fruit. and once a week a little bit honey. Maintaining a culture at the rght humidity and temperature can be difficult as besides cockroaches also mites love these conditions. Buffalo worms may be a solution, but can easily overrun the culture.

Buffalo-worms (Alphitobius diaperinus)
Technically these should be called lesser mealworms, and as the name implies they are cousins to the mealworm and Zophobas. The grubs are about 12 mm long and 2 mm in diameter. They are a very fine snack for larger frogs, smaller lizards and salamanders. Unlike the mealworms from your pet store they are relatively soft shelled and are easily digested, however if you grow your own mealworms you will find tat they can be picked at just the right moment of softness very easily. The beetles are about 6 mm long, darkbrown and not used as feeders.
You can keep them in shoeboxes, as medium use either Springhalens mealworm medium or your own blend. As usual use wheat bran as the basis but then add stuff to make the mixture more protein rich than for ordinary mealworms. Especially the beetles like it a bit moist, besides fruit and vegetables, the animals will appreciate a little extra animal protein, such as a bit of mist cat or dog food. For egglaying moist tissue is always a hit, but apple core etc will also be used. Cover the surface with egg crates or paper for the critters to crawl around on. Keep them at about 30 degrees Celsius, make sure that moist food doesn't go bad.
Alphitobius are excellent mite predators in cock roach cultures, in cricket cultures they may become a pest eating eggs and juveniles. We do not currently produce buffalo worms, we do however keep them with our cockroaches as scavengers.

Waxworms and indian meal moth (Galleria mellonella and Plodia interpunctella)
Excellent and very nutritious feeders, waxworms may be up to 3 cm long, whereas the larvae of the indian meal moth are only up to 11 mm long, meaning that the needs of both small to rather large predators can be covered with these guys. As they are very rich, they are not recommended for daily use, but a must for animals that need a bit of fattening up, for instance prior to and during breeding season. They are both grown own Springhalens waxworm chow, a modified Haydak medium in plastic containers with tight fitting lids. It is imperative that there is very good ventilation, but note that the mesh need to be very fine and made of metal as the larvae may gnaw through otherwise. In a standard 1-liter cup put 4 cm of medium a bit of paper towel and add around 30-50 larvae, pupae or moths, leave them alone at 25 degrees, check regularly and refill food as needed and after about 1-2 moths the culture will be teaming with nice juicy larvae. We have previously grown the lesser waxworm, but it is not as productive as the other two species and tends to hide in the medium. Be aware that the indian meal moth may enter your kitchen and establish a culture in your flour bags if you allow moths to fly away.



Large feeders
Food for large amphibians and reptiles, insect eating colubrids, large invertebrates, birds and mammals.

Mealworms (Tenebrio molitor)
Much hated but still the stable food of many unhappy pet store animals. But actually homegrown mealworms are quite good food items, that can easily be gutloaded with calcium and other nutrients, by not storing them in refrigerators, you will discover that when they have just shed their skin they are white a soft, furthermore when growing your own mealworms you will have a size range available from a few mm to fully grown mealworms around 3 cm. Mealworms are grown in plastic shoe boxes or larger containers, depending on your need, we breed them on Springhalens mealworm medium which is rich in nutrients including calcium, you can of course use your own blend. Keep them at a temperature range up till 30° C a bit on the dry side, but always with frutit, potatoes or carrots to nibble on. For easy of culturing you can keep the adult beetle in separate containers with mesh bottom that fit on top of your larvae containers. Cover with a little egg crate and suddenly you will never have to buy mealworms anymore.

Giant mealworms (Zophobas atratus)
The giant mealworms or king mealworms have become immensely popular, maybe because they are easily bred in industrial settings but require a lot of work when you try to do it on a small scale. They also have a very nice size range becoming even larger than their cousin the common mealworm. For medium we use moist spaghnum or coco peat and feed with chicken pelelts, oatmeal, springtail chow and fruit and vegetables. Temperature around 30° C. In ordr to persuade the larvae to pupate yu either have to isolate fully grown wandering larvae in small cups or provide them with a piece of rotting wood in which the will dig in and pupate. The first option is most rational in large scale production and option two works fine in small scale production. Beetles are rather large and produce an annoying toxic gas and need a piece of wood with lots of nooks and crannies for egg laying. When you eventually get the hang of it they are reasonably easy to produce, but it may take some time, money and effort to get there. Almost forgot, giant mealworm cultures easily get infested with mits, the larvae do not care but your other feeders will when they get infested. For homegrowers we suggest focusing on ordinary mealworms and buying giant mealworms in bulk from a reputable company, as they will not readily pupate they can be kept for quite a long time in moist peat and can be easily gutloaded with whatever good stuff you feed them.

Crickets (Gryllus assimilis)
In Europe we currently have four species of crickets as feeders in the hobby, for homegrowing we think that the jamaican field cricket (Gryllus assimilis) is the bees knees. Crickets are excellent feeders that are relished by most predators, the newly hatched crickets are small enough to be eaten by small dart frogs where as fully grown crickets are loved by larger insect eaters. However crickets not immediately eaten will often thrive in the terrarium and within a few weeks will turn into nasty adult crickets that may eat your frogs, lizard eggs and precious plants. So you need to have some insight into where your feeder crickets go, I have even had a few crickets survive for weeks in terrariums with assasin bugs and thats pretty amazing considering how fast and greedy these bugs are. Also crickets make noises, some more than others. The jamaican field cricket is by far the most noise-less, still a single male escapee may make more noise than 500 males in a cricket container. The jamaican field cricket needs somewhat warmer conditions than the other crickets, they are not happy campers and breeders until we reach a temperature of around 30° C, meaning that they should not become a pest in your home as the house cricket may. When they die they tend to dry quickly with out that nasty smell the large black crickets emit. And finally they are very productive, surpassed only by the short-winged crickets, and of a calm demure, not jumpy at all. As all crickets they do need regular care. A well-ventilated container, for each life-stage as they are cannibals, warmth and regular cleaning and food. Adults are kept inone box with a container with for instance moist coco peat as egg laying medium (for increased yield cower it with a mesh so that the crickets cannot dig in. Container should be furnished with for instance egg crate. As bottom layer you can use chicken feed, remember a drinking automaton and fresh fruit ang veggies a few times a week, replace the egg laying container once a week and that's it. The egg container is placed in another container, put a lid on tho keep it from drying out, after a few day tiny baby crickets will start hatching. Feed and provide for these as the adults. In a few months you will have a continuous system, providing you with a constant supply of juicy morsels to your animals. But you have to be over the cultures every week, almost every day, otherwise they will die out for you.

Orange spotted cockroaches (Blaptica dubia)
The answer to almost any homegrowers needs: Nice size-range from 5 mm to 4 cm, loved by most animals. Easy to culture and forgiving if you forget them for a while. But they are COCKROACHES... However no worries, they move slowly, cannot climb smooth surfaces and cannot reproduce in a standard home. Another common feeder roach Shelfordella tartara however is a pest species and should not be allowed in the house, it took us and our cats three years to get rid of ours withoyt killing all our other invertebrates. Yet another South American species, likes it warm and dry, at 30° C a nymph will become adult in 2 months, a female will produce about 150 nymphs a year. This means that it takes a while to get the culture going, but when it is up and running you will always have food available in the right size. We use chicken feed as bottom layer and food, decorate with egg crate, mosisture is given as veggies and fruit, and a couple of times a week they get a treat: springtail chow. If you keep them dry mites are no problem, to make sure they will not become it you can add some buffalo worms, besides doing the cleaning they are also an excellent food. Cockroaches need to sit shoulder by shoulder in order to get a good production going, so don´t start with a too big container, it is better to start small and then expand.

Sunbeetle larvae, dolas (Pachnoda marginata peregrina)
The larve of an African flowerbeetle, nice, big , white and juicy morsel for large insect eaters. They are easily bred and for their sustenance only need the top 10-15 cm of forest floor complete with dead leaves and rotting wood. The adults are beautiful brown and yellow beetles who will thrive on beetle jelly, bananas and other fruit. Fruit not eaten by the beetles will be eaten by the larvae. A generation takes about 3-4 months time when kept at around 25° C and 14h of light. Many a beetle fancier has started by buying a portion or two of these little jewels.

Giant katydids (Stilpnochlora couloniana)
One of ye olde critterkeepers many quests is to find a large green grasshopper, that is as productive and easy to rear as locusts. So far he has failed, but the giant katydid from Florida is a pretty close call. When the culture is up and running after a year or so you will be able to feed your spoiled animals green katidids about once a week, at the same time enjoying a beautiful terrarium insect. The giant katydid is a peaceful herbivore, all stages can be kept together in a large well-aerated but moist terrarium at 28- 30° C with 14 h of daylight. Food is mainly bramble leaves as well as leaves from other plants in the rose family. Flowers are relished, especially by the adults. Newly hatched nymphs are about 5 mm long, whereas adult animals are 10 cm long leaf-like things. Adults will start laying eggs after 2-3 months, eggs are layed in rows of up to a hundred eggs on the stem of the feeder plants, after a couple of months the eggs will hatch and in 3-4 months time the juveniles will become adult.


Maya, Kirsten og Flemming