Think its feasable to raise superworms for a good profit?

[Smertrios]

I have been starting 240 every week for 2 weeks now. I am not sure how many are actually going to change to beetles they were kinda small even after 2 weeks of feeding them =<. Hopefully each batch of 240 will be supplying me with 2000 new larva every week. Any buyers on the 10's of 1000's of larvae I will have for sale every week in the upcoming months? j/k =)

I am thinking about mixing up and selling a gutload mixture similar to what is recommended at http://www.drgecko.com/insectdiet.htm to sell with the superworms. Put them in that for a day so they can load their guts then feed for a superb meal! Raises the cost of each superworm a bit but its worth every penny. I have watched my warmouth panfish go from almost sickly looking with hole in the head disease to a good healthy condition with bigger size after 1-1/2 weeks by feeding it gutloaded feeder insects.

This is kinda off topic to me trying to pimp my not-yet-existant superworms but the bedding in one of my first test containers was a bit damp for 3 days... OMG the ammonia smell today when I took the lid off was STRONG!!! It was a test to see how well they do in *very* high humidity and I will never do that again even tho they were growing great. The stench of ammonia from 1 small container was horrid the stench from a few hundred containers with about 1.9 square foot each even with proper humidity would be enough to kill a man!


Good ventilation/air filtration will be a must this is something I did not count on in the beginning. Should not be a big expense tho...

 

[Tongue33]

They are scavengers and definitely will munch some meat, as most insects will.

Has anybody had a superworm pupate? I haven't seen that...

My wife was creeped out when we accidentally forgot about a worm my kids were experimenting with We opened the container in the white pupate? stager. And toughed the the forming beetle!! And it moves(Folds) Really fast!!!

 

[Tongue33]

I worked at a pet store that sold a lot of crickets...probably over a 100,000 per week. We sold maybe 20 superworms per week...so...bad investment.

I buy ten times more superworms than crickets. But our LFS do an exceptional job of putting them where you can see them

 

[Smertrios]

The first breeding container is setup with superworms started almost 4 weeks ago. Looks like this container will end up with a minimum of 200 beetles out of the original 240 larva. There was a crazy variance in how long it took them to pupate even considering some of them were small... for some it was a week others took 3 weeks and some didn't even pupate. I expect the survivors to emerge in the next week and a half.

 

[Smertrios]

Any idea where I can have superworm nutritional value tested? I have 3 different bedding mediums I am testing and need to know the differences. They have been growing in the medium(s) since they were laid as eggs (the parents were all raised on wheat bran).

 

[Smertrios]

I have a listing on eBay for some of my first superworms!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140261498399&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=004

 

[packer43064]

Hey Smertrios. How's the superworm business going. I've breed them before. Bought a single tub of them maybe 30 count or something. And about 25 were alive put them in some oats which cost maybe 2.50 tops. And cut a potato in half which was .89 cents. They all pupated and turned into beetles then they slowly started to die off. About 2-3 weeks later I took some oats out and digged down to the bottom to find literally thousands of of little baby superworms. It was sweet, lol. Easily made my money back and much more.

You could easily make some profit on it. The water source I would think would cost the most. I mean with thousands of mealworms and beetles a potato might last a week. Try carrots or apples(not sure about that though, apples aren't cheap anymore) or them cricket gels. I'm sure you can just buy the gel in bulk or something. Just some cheap kind that is like clear and does the same thing. But great idea though, great potential if you can sell them.

 

[rainbowfishpc]

Superworms are gross! Breed some kind of fish if you want money. Or if your really desperate you could get a job!

 

[Smertrios]

@packer43064 - I have at least 50,000 superworms ranging in size from newly hatched to large adults. It is going good but I have a question for you... You were raising mealworms not superworms right? Reason I ask is because you said they were put into a container and changed to beetles problem with that is superworms will stay in the larval form and die of old age before they will pupate around other superworms (I have tested this).

As of 2 weeks ago I started putting together all the ingredients needed for a superb gutloading/dusting powder to sell along with the superworms. Has some *very* nutritious ingredients that will bring out the colors and growth in our favorite geckos/fish (I am a fish person myself but like geckos and spiders).

 

[Smertrios]

Superworms are gross! Breed some kind of fish if you want money. Or if your really desperate you could get a job!

I am not looking to superworms as a way to earn a primary income although I think insects could be used for that even when done on a fairly small scale. I earn a decent amount of money right now and will be using superworms to supplement that income since I have plenty of "freetime". I am not grossed out by them =>