# Waxworm parasites?



## LouiseK (Mar 17, 2007)

Ok, i am trying my hand at breeding waxworms in a coffee jar... i had some moths already so just stuck them in and i can see loads of eggs which are about 1 week old.

The thing is that i can see loads of teeny tiny like 2 mm bugs crawling through the medium and up the glass. They are pale and long like the waxworms but are almost microscopic and i thought its a little early for them to have hatched. Also, the eggs still look intact and there are hundreds of them... i only had like 6 moths.

I'm getting itchy just typing about them :lol2:

Are they baby waxworms or is there some kind of parasite maybe that is thriving off the heat and medium? They're getting everywhere...


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## LouiseK (Mar 17, 2007)

No one else breeds waxworms?


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## SnakeBreeder (Mar 11, 2007)

Sounds like baby wax worms to me.
They look like tiny fats moving maggots and can walk up the glass sides.
Keep them dark and warm and they will grow quickly.
Watch they do not escape as they can get out tiny gaps.
Stephen.


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## LouiseK (Mar 17, 2007)

Ok thanks  They were just much smaller than i thought and hatched so quicky 

I put vasaline on the top now.


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## darkdan99 (Dec 28, 2006)

they can sometimes get through a vasaline layer...

What, out of interest is your setup? i use crix tubs and flapjacks!


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## LouiseK (Mar 17, 2007)

I got an empty glass coffee jar and then put about an inch of medium in the bottom with two strips of cardboard stuck in it and some net tied across the opening with a hair elastic lol I leave it on an old heat mat that gives a temp of ~90F with a black sheet covering it.

I stripped the cardboard on one side so that it is ridged, that is where most of the eggs get laid, in the ridges.

For the medium i ground up some Special K (i didn't have any wheatabix in lol ) until it resembled coarse sand and then mixed in some vit and calcium powder and some pollen grains i bought from a health shop ages back. Then i mixed in honey until i could clump it together but it still crumbled very easily.

I had some moths, which is what give me the idea to try to breed, and within 3 days i had eggs and within a week they had hatched. I can see all the babies and they are concentrated around the pollen grains! Cool huh 

Ohhh, i'm gonna get a pic for you! Might as well use my photobucket account lol


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## LouiseK (Mar 17, 2007)

Unfortunately it seems i have had several hundred suicides... drowned in vaseline 

Their death was not in vein, i have thinned the vaseline...

Good thing i have several hundred more :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## darkdan99 (Dec 28, 2006)

Yeah lol Why not just put a lid on the pot lol

Open once a day for air flow, and be ready with a paint brush!!!

Might have to get me some pollen though. 

Thanks 
Dan


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## LouiseK (Mar 17, 2007)

darkdan99 said:


> Yeah lol Why not just put a lid on the pot lol


I was just following advise :lol2:

Now that i'm giving it some thought maybe it would over-heat?

I like using the pollen, just from that high street vitemin shop... can't remember the name, just a few quid for a huge jar. Apparently its full of a massive range of vits so good for humans to eat but don't, it tastes like crap lol


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## gizmogecko (Jun 3, 2007)

*Well done!!*

Just one thing though, the reason why you have the drowned ones may be...... the corrugated cardboard is so that it catches the eggs as opposed to them slipping down it, but well done anyway!!!


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## LouiseK (Mar 17, 2007)

I thought the corrugated effect was to simulate laying sites like tunnel walls in a hive  Figured it was essential although same have layed right into the medium.

The little things gets everywhere, they can climb up glass np unfortunatley until they hit the vaseline. Short of installing an eletric fance theres not much else i can do  I'm just hoping i have some left over lol


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## gizmogecko (Jun 3, 2007)

*Ha!!*

What I am using is voile for the top - you know like net curtain instead of net - too small for them to get through but allows ventilation.

If you don't have any, pm me your address and I'll post you an off-cut.


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## LouiseK (Mar 17, 2007)

Thanks for the offer 

Would old tights do it?


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## gizmogecko (Jun 3, 2007)

*Yes*

Yes, of course! forgot about them, I am doing them on a large scale, so not for me, but yes - for you with a coffee jar - smashing!!


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## LouiseK (Mar 17, 2007)

Will give it a shot, should have thought of it earlier  i just had the red material to hand and that was what i was gong to use! :lol2:

Thanks!


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