Calci worms

[Mushuandcricket]

Does anyone have a good method of getting all the worm bedding off the worms. My beardies LOVE them, but I am afraid about them eating the dirt stuff they come in. Also, washing them off with water isn't working because once they get wet they can climb and go everywhere

Mushu just started eating them. I ran out of roaches so I am sure that encouraged him to give those wiggly thing a try. I use a scooper with a sreen mesh like this. http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Repto...&qid=1426003477&sr=1-1&keywords=reptile+scoop . I place them in the scooper (strainer)and rinse them with warm water. The water and dirt rinse through the strainer. I also keep them in a cool area that is 50-60 degrees to slow them down from maturing. The warm water gets them active too. Since the dirt rinses off with the strainer I don't pat them dry I figure it will get some extra moisture into him eating wet worms.

 

[lazer]

I place them in the scooper (strainer)and rinse them with warm water.
The water and dirt rinse through the strainer.

I used to do that until I became so frustrated trying to get the dirt out of the mesh I went back to my way I described above.
If I give Lady mealworms, I don't mind adding some water for hydration but these P.W.'s are so full of water, I just feel there is no need to worry about the water and keep them dry so they won't have any footing to crawl out of the bowl.

But then again, the spaces in the mesh you are using are probably larger than mine. I never thought of going to a larger size mesh. That's lazy thinking on my part!

Good luck everyone and I just love talking about all things Bearded Dragons with you guys.

And thanks for being so nice to me!

P.S. I don't know how to show that I am taking a quote from someone like the first line above!

 

[lazer]

I forgot to mention that the reason I pat the worms dry, is that if there is ANY moisture on them, they will be able to crawl out of the dish.

I am sorry. I can't seem to cancel the two redundant posts above : (

 

[Mushuandcricket]

@lazer thanks for the tip .I will try that today. I never thought about the water helping their escape. Those little things are fast. I am going to try to have him eat them all up and I think I won't purchase them again unless I am out of other options. Its a shame because they are so high in calcium that they are so good for the dragons but I just don't like dealing with them. Do yours turn brown? I am not sure if the are getting darker as they grow or are staining from the dirt they are kept in. I have a kitchen strainer that is fine mesh and would never work. I might have to purchase a clean one for straining gravy the reptile scoop ones do have a nice size mesh.I enjoy being here with you and other dragon owners. I look forward to it every day. Thanks again for the tip I will give it a try.

 

[PatsyB]

I forgot to mention that the reason I pat the worms dry, is that if there is ANY moisture on them, they will be able to crawl out of the dish.

I am sorry. I can't seem to cancel the two redundant posts above : (

I deleted them for you

 

[PatsyB]

@lazer thanks for the tip .I will try that today. I never thought about the water helping their escape. Those little things are fast. I am going to try to have him eat them all up and I think I won't purchase them again unless I am out of other options. Its a shame because they are so high in calcium that they are so good for the dragons but I just don't like dealing with them. Do yours turn brown? I am not sure if the are getting darker as they grow or are staining from the dirt they are kept in. I have a kitchen strainer that is fine mesh and would never work. I might have to purchase a clean one for straining gravy the reptile scoop ones do have a nice size mesh.I enjoy being here with you and other dragon owners. I look forward to it every day. Thanks again for the tip I will give it a try.

I have a story......so I read that you can make phoenix worms a bit bigger and healthier if you feed them. Sounds like a great idea! So the photos show keeping them in a little cricket keeper with either some soft stone fruit or a piece of whole grain bread with baby food on it. Well, I went with the stone fruit. I had some apricot on hand and used that. I rinsed the worms and put them in the small cricket keeper and went to get the fruit. The article forgot to mention that the can CLIMB the plastic and they are FAST! I was scrambling to catch them all before they all got away. I had a hornworm container so I put them in there but it was so messy and the fruit turned into a soupy mess right away and got moldy fast. I never got to feed them to my dragons.

I was like you Mushuandcricket...I wasn't sure if the turning dark was something good or if they were about to turn into flies.

 

[Mushuandcricket]

I have a story......so I read that you can make phoenix worms a bit bigger and healthier if you feed them. Sounds like a great idea! So the photos show keeping them in a little cricket keeper with either some soft stone fruit or a piece of whole grain bread with baby food on it. Well, I went with the stone fruit. I had some apricot on hand and used that. I rinsed the worms and put them in the small cricket keeper and went to get the fruit. The article forgot to mention that the can CLIMB the plastic and they are FAST! I was scrambling to catch them all before they all got away. I had a hornworm container so I put them in there but it was so messy and the fruit turned into a soupy mess right away and got moldy fast. I never got to feed them to my dragons.

I was like you Mushuandcricket...I wasn't sure if the turning dark was something good or if they were about to turn into flies.

lol that is funny. That is how I feel about these little buggers on a daily bases. The last thing I want is flies. They are maggots and the cute name phoenix worms doesn't change my mind on that fact . Roaches & maggots my family thinks I have gone nuts. I think Mushu gets a kick out of me panicking catching the escapes from his bowl when he decides he is done. He tilts his head and watches them escape while I panic to gather them. Oh the things we do for our dragons.

 

[lazer]

First of all PatsyB. Thanks so much for curing me of my redundancy ha, ha.

Mushuandcricket , PatsyB and everyone else here. I have a couple of neat things to say.

I too am thoroughly disgusted by fly larvae but these are not the same. What eventually happens is that the closer they come to becoming a fly, their colors change. And with each color comes a more nutritious worm. Brown is excellent but black is the best.

What bothers me is that If I put them in for Lady to eat (roughly 45) she gulps them down and I will find them 2 weeks later in her feces, completely undigested. Well, being a Podiatrist, I have many gauges of needles for injection purposes. It kills me to do this, but I put a small hole in them and when I do, they start to squirm. But what's odd, sometimes bluish exudate will come out. How do these black worms know where to go, how to hide, if they are filled with mush?

The coolest part is this. Do you know that the Black Soldier Fly is a good fly and keeps House Fly's at bay? I figured if they made it to this stage, I shouldn't kill them.

It also strikes me odd that they are extremely slow flyers. So how in the world to they keep the house fly population down? I think the source is Wikipedia but I'm not sure. Sorry

And (almost finished) I would rather a Black Soldier Fly landing on my food that a fly infested with all kinds of nasty things.

Ok, lectures over. No homework tomorrow. YAY .

Oh, and Mushuandcricket. If my cancer or my chronic severe depression lets up, I love coming here to talk with all of the nice people here. Please don't misunderstand me. I abhor Pity. I am just letting everyone aware of what I have to go through in order to post something. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings and many times, due to the reasons above, I won't answer a question or I should say, even know of it's existence since I am laying in bed the whole day. I hope all of you can understand.

And if I deserve a tongue lashing, you have my permission. Sometimes I need it!

P.S. I have the severest form of Sleep Apnea so I take a medication called Nuvigil. Side effects are many including talkativeness. Do you think ? I also have a bad habit of putting everything I write in bold. It's a hard habit to break. I've just always felt it would be easier on the eyes of the reader.

 

[PatsyB]

First of all PatsyB. Thanks so much for curing me of my redundancy ha, ha.

Mushuandcricket , PatsyB and everyone else here. I have a couple of neat things to say.

I too am thoroughly disgusted by fly larvae but these are not the same. What eventually happens is that the closer they come to becoming a fly, their colors change. And with each color comes a more nutritious worm. Brown is excellent but black is the best.

What bothers me is that If I put them in for Lady to eat (roughly 45) she gulps them down and I will find them 2 weeks later in her feces, completely undigested. Well, being a Podiatrist, I have many gauges of needles for injection purposes. It kills me to do this, but I put a small hole in them and when I do, they start to squirm. But what's odd, sometimes bluish exudate will come out. How do these black worms know where to go, how to hide, if they are filled with mush?

The coolest part is this. Do you know that the Black Soldier Fly is a good fly and keeps House Fly's at bay? I figured if they made it to this stage, I shouldn't kill them.

It also strikes me odd that they are extremely slow flyers. So how in the world to they keep the house fly population down? I think the source is Wikipedia but I'm not sure. Sorry

And (almost finished) I would rather a Black Soldier Fly landing on my food that a fly infested with all kinds of nasty things.

Ok, lectures over. No homework tomorrow. YAY .

Oh, and Mushuandcricket. If my cancer or my chronic severe depression lets up, I love coming here to talk with all of the nice people here. Please don't misunderstand me. I abhor Pity. I am just letting everyone aware of what I have to go through in order to post something. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings and many times, due to the reasons above, I won't answer a question or I should say, even know of it's existence since I am laying in bed the whole day. I hope all of you can understand.

And if I deserve a tongue lashing, you have my permission. Sometimes I need it!

P.S. I have the severest form of Sleep Apnea so I take a medication called Nuvigil. Side effects are many including talkativeness. Do you think ? I also have a bad habit of putting everything I write in bold. It's a hard habit to break. I've just always felt it would be easier on the eyes of the reader.

You talk to much? Never It's okay I like reading your stories. I never knew that about black soldier fly larva. I always thought the dark ones were bad and I would throw them away. Now I know to save them and when they turn I can feed them to my frogs. One time I fed my horn worm greens and when the beardies ate them they shot out this black goo all over the tank, it was real disgusting coming from these cute little green worms.

I've worked for doctors my whole short life. When I was 17 I became an Oral Surgery Assistant. Yeah, back in the day you were trained on the job, pretty scary if you think about it. Here's a 17 year pushing drugs into someones arm and keeping their airway open. I was was cross trained and I worked the front desk and assisted when needed. I was there 11 years when my doctor retired and I moved on to a general dentist, where I've been at the front desk for 12 years now.

Sometimes I talk a bit much too

 

[lazer]

No PatsyB. I too enjoy reading everyone's stories. One, is because they are just plain interesting and two, they are inevitably much more interesting than my stories .

Is my self deprecation coming on too strong yet? I'm very tired so I am going to sign off. Wishing everyone a peaceful and pleasant night and a safe and enjoyable tomorrow.

 

[Dawn McNair]

Well, I am enjoying everyone's stories! Can't wait to add some of my own. Though I must say, I'm pretty much of a hermit, staying at home and playing with fire (I make glass beads), and talking to myself and my animals until my kids get home from school, my life is pretty boring. And I usually talk too much too...it's because I'm a hermit and don't get to talk to anyone all day long.

 

[PatsyB]

@Dawn McNair you make glass beads??? I think that is pretty cool!

 

[Dawn McNair]

I do, though my studio is in shambles at the moment due to moving it, and I can't play with my fire right now.

 

[Mushuandcricket]

First of all PatsyB. Thanks so much for curing me of my redundancy ha, ha.

Mushuandcricket , PatsyB and everyone else here. I have a couple of neat things to say.

I too am thoroughly disgusted by fly larvae but these are not the same. What eventually happens is that the closer they come to becoming a fly, their colors change. And with each color comes a more nutritious worm. Brown is excellent but black is the best.

What bothers me is that If I put them in for Lady to eat (roughly 45) she gulps them down and I will find them 2 weeks later in her feces, completely undigested. Well, being a Podiatrist, I have many gauges of needles for injection purposes. It kills me to do this, but I put a small hole in them and when I do, they start to squirm. But what's odd, sometimes bluish exudate will come out. How do these black worms know where to go, how to hide, if they are filled with mush?

The coolest part is this. Do you know that the Black Soldier Fly is a good fly and keeps House Fly's at bay? I figured if they made it to this stage, I shouldn't kill them.

It also strikes me odd that they are extremely slow flyers. So how in the world to they keep the house fly population down? I think the source is Wikipedia but I'm not sure. Sorry

And (almost finished) I would rather a Black Soldier Fly landing on my food that a fly infested with all kinds of nasty things.

Ok, lectures over. No homework tomorrow. YAY .

Oh, and Mushuandcricket. If my cancer or my chronic severe depression lets up, I love coming here to talk with all of the nice people here. Please don't misunderstand me. I abhor Pity. I am just letting everyone aware of what I have to go through in order to post something. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings and many times, due to the reasons above, I won't answer a question or I should say, even know of it's existence since I am laying in bed the whole day. I hope all of you can understand.

And if I deserve a tongue lashing, you have my permission. Sometimes I need it!

P.S. I have the severest form of Sleep Apnea so I take a medication called Nuvigil. Side effects are many including talkativeness. Do you think ? I also have a bad habit of putting everything I write in bold. It's a hard habit to break. I've just always felt it would be easier on the eyes of the reader.

I am so sorry you are going through cancer and depression. Save your energy for healing and in the meantime I will look forward to reading your next posts. Thanks for the info. on the phoenix worm/ soldier fly. And if your Nuvigil ever gets you in a talkative mood we are all ears.