Superworms (Zophobas morio) make an excellent and easy-t-find staple feeder for most reptiles. Starting your own colony not only saves money, but ensures that you are able to track exactly what your feeders are eating and set them up to be the best nutrition for your reptiles.
HOUSING
Housing for Zophobas morio is extremely simple, and can be achieved several ways: some may opt to use glass aquariums for their colonies while others opt for plastic bins.
The nutritional worm bedding from The Peculiar Dragon is a wonderful option as far as substrate goes. Avoid using oats on their own, as they can become dusty and suffocate your beetles. This does not appear to be an issue at all when oats have companion ingredients.
Use at least 2-3 inches of substrate at the bottom of the enclosure you've chosen. The beetles and worms both like to dig, so they need space to do so.
We recommend offering several pieces of cardboard egg crate to allow for climbing, hiding, and breeding activity.
Zophobas can be kept at room temperature, but are not tolerant to colder temperatures and do best when kept a bit warmer. If the temperature inside their enclosure dips below 75f, we recommend use of heat tape set to 91f.
DIET & FEEDING
As with all things, superworms do best when fed a varied diet of veg and proteins. We opt for a variety of carrot, apple, and rich leafy greens; avoiding spinach, as it can lead to gout in reptiles. We also offer The Peculiar Dragon's Buggy Noms gutload both for moisture and nutrition. The Antioxidant Berry Blend has been a crowd favorite amongst the feeder colonies here. Hydration is absolutely vital to all lifestages of zophobas morio - without constant access to moisture, this species will quickly begin to cannibalize.
BREEDING
Superworms are a species that is easy to breed, though it can prove to be a bit of a tedious task.
While the species can be housed together from egg to adulthood, they will not pupate on their own. Large worms will simply continue to grow, unchanged, if they come into contact with others.
In order to get your superworms to pupate, separate them into individual containers; either a bead organizing box or small condiment cups with lids. Provide no food or bedding, and make sure to provide small pin pricks in the pupation containers to allow oxygen to enter.
Place your selected container somewhere dark and warm, and within 2-3 weeks, your worms will begin to pupate. Pupae can be kept either in their container or placed back into your colony to hatch.
Beetles will immediately begin to eat and breed, and you should notice small worms hatching out within a few weeks. These are extremely small - think the tip of a needle. You will find them near food more often than not.
Happy breeding!
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