Breeding and Feeding Wax Worms

Wax Worms make a fantastic bait for many types of fish and are also an excellent reptile food for fattening reptiles, amphibians and small mammals.

Ken from Wormman.com will walk you through the steps.  You can buy premade bedding at any of the links listed in this article.

Supplies needed:

1.  Wheat Bran available at a farm store like Agway or at Wormman.com, Waxwormfarm.com, or Waxwormkits.com

((SHOW BRAN))

2.  A deep Rubbermaid container or a ten or twenty gallon fish tank.  Worm Man prefers the fish tank because you can see what you are doing from outside the container.  You will also need a tight fitting screened lid.  They sell these for tanks. Try to get one with a door in the lid so that you don't have to remove the entire lid when working. You see why later.

3.  Honey.  You can get honey at any grocery store.

4. Glycerin.  You can get glycerin from any pharmacy or from Wormman.com. Just ask you pharmacist to order it or hop over to Wormman.com and order a bottle.

((SHOW GLYCERIN

5. Small containers. You can even use the container the waxworms came in.

6.  Optional items are pollen or pollen substitute, bees wax and high fructose corn syrup.  These items will help if you don't have glycerin.  Worm Man uses all of the items in his bedding/food mixure so he is sure to grow big fat wax worms.

Step 1:  Obtain worms.  You can get live wax worms from Wormman.com at great low prices.  Remove the worms from the pine bedding they came in.

Step2:  Heat the bran in an oven for about an hour at 200 degrees. This will kill anything that's in the bran like bugs, bacteria or whatever.

Step 2: Mix bran at a ratio of 1 gallon bag of bran to 1 cup of honey while the bran is still warm but not hot.

Step 3.  Add 7 tablespoons of Glycerin. 

Step 4.  Mix until all of the bran is coated.  If it is not fully coated add a bit more glycerin.

((Show Coated))

Step 5. Place a small amount of the mixture in a small container. Just about an inch.

((SHOW CONTAINER))

Step 6.  Worms will pupate.  They will not spin a cocoon before they pupate.

((Picture Pupae))

Step 7.Place paper towel over container with rubberband and keep at room temp or warmer.

Step 8.  Worms will turn to moths.

((Show male and female moth))

Step 9. Place moths in tank screened in.

Step 10. Provide folded pieces of wax paper folded like an accordian.

Step 11.  Moths will lay eggs.

Step 12. Remove eggs and replace paper ever two to three days.

Step 13. Place eggs and wax paper in jar with cloth lid.

Step 14.  Watch for hatch. Keep warm and dry.

Step 15. Small worms will be visible in a few days.  Feed lightly as they use up the food. They will try to escape if not fed. You will know when they are hungry because they will start to look for food.

Step 16.  When worms get to be about 1/4 inches long. Place in a bigger container and let them grow out.  Make sure lid is screened in. 

Step 17.  Worms will climb up when they are fat and plump to pupate. When the begin to spin cocoons transfer the worms to the fish tank. Don't worry if they come out of the coccon. They will spin another coccoon.  Give them food and wait.  Moths will emerge and lay eggs in the wax paper and the cycle starts again.