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Everyone on this forum has been so nice and helpful this past year 1/2 or so with my first bearded dragon since I'm still learning so to show my appreciation I would like to share a little trick I discovered for preserving insects and the like! 
For the record I've only tested this with crickets and superworms but the skies the limit and I'm sure it would work on almost anything though I'm a bit skeptical about trying this on "water rich and fatty" things like earthworms or waxworms plus It would probably be a complete nightmare if you tried this on hornworms. Anyway if you think about it this might be a good trick to use if you have insects in a large bulk or want to save some money on food in the long run. It is so much simpler than other DIY insect drying instructions I've read online that involve putting them in the oven at the right temp for the right amount of time and I'm sure not many of us want to do that.
First things first you want to humanely "euthanize" them before you start. I don't know if they can feel pain or not but I personally insist on making sure they're dead because you never know. You will want to grab as many of said insect as you want to preserve and put them in either a seal top plastic bag or a tupperware container with a lid or something very similar and try to let out as much air as you can to cut off oxygen. Once you've done this put them in the freezer for about an hour at least (in my experience maybe 2 hours for superworms.) Already oxygen starved they should slow down and go into a deep sleep before freezing.
Now once the right amount of time passes take them out and make sure they are stiff and there's no movement. All that's left for you to do is the easy part! Just spread them out and put them under your bearded dragon's or other animal's heat lamp. It works especially well if you have a powerful bulb like a mercury vapor. They will dry out quick! It usually takes about 10-20 minutes but be sure to check on them every 5 minutes or so at most or they will burn and all the effort will be for nothing when you have black, smoking insects making the room smell awful (that happened to me once.) Move them around a little away from the bulb if they are getting a little overdone. You will know they are done when they are dried out and stiff with no softness. It's okay if they turned slightly darker so long as there's no charring. Now they'll keep forever!
It's not just bearded dragons either! I think just about any terrarium animal will get a kick out of them, especially young ones you might have worries about giving live food or for extra protein for breeding and even weaning some juvenile species off of live food and onto plant matter. It's also a great protein snack for small rodents like hamsters, gerbils, rats and mice (especially if breeding). I doubt ferrets would turn them down and some birds might like them. If you happen to raise chickens or other poultry they'll probably be thrilled by them
Also be sure you have a nice air freshener in the room because even though they aren't burnt the room will still smell a little like overcooked popcorn.......extremely disturbing popcorn.
For the record I've only tested this with crickets and superworms but the skies the limit and I'm sure it would work on almost anything though I'm a bit skeptical about trying this on "water rich and fatty" things like earthworms or waxworms plus It would probably be a complete nightmare if you tried this on hornworms. Anyway if you think about it this might be a good trick to use if you have insects in a large bulk or want to save some money on food in the long run. It is so much simpler than other DIY insect drying instructions I've read online that involve putting them in the oven at the right temp for the right amount of time and I'm sure not many of us want to do that.
First things first you want to humanely "euthanize" them before you start. I don't know if they can feel pain or not but I personally insist on making sure they're dead because you never know. You will want to grab as many of said insect as you want to preserve and put them in either a seal top plastic bag or a tupperware container with a lid or something very similar and try to let out as much air as you can to cut off oxygen. Once you've done this put them in the freezer for about an hour at least (in my experience maybe 2 hours for superworms.) Already oxygen starved they should slow down and go into a deep sleep before freezing.
Now once the right amount of time passes take them out and make sure they are stiff and there's no movement. All that's left for you to do is the easy part! Just spread them out and put them under your bearded dragon's or other animal's heat lamp. It works especially well if you have a powerful bulb like a mercury vapor. They will dry out quick! It usually takes about 10-20 minutes but be sure to check on them every 5 minutes or so at most or they will burn and all the effort will be for nothing when you have black, smoking insects making the room smell awful (that happened to me once.) Move them around a little away from the bulb if they are getting a little overdone. You will know they are done when they are dried out and stiff with no softness. It's okay if they turned slightly darker so long as there's no charring. Now they'll keep forever!
It's not just bearded dragons either! I think just about any terrarium animal will get a kick out of them, especially young ones you might have worries about giving live food or for extra protein for breeding and even weaning some juvenile species off of live food and onto plant matter. It's also a great protein snack for small rodents like hamsters, gerbils, rats and mice (especially if breeding). I doubt ferrets would turn them down and some birds might like them. If you happen to raise chickens or other poultry they'll probably be thrilled by them
Also be sure you have a nice air freshener in the room because even though they aren't burnt the room will still smell a little like overcooked popcorn.......extremely disturbing popcorn.
