Female Ornata

[Yvonne G]

Back when I was still doing turtle rescue (this past summer) I took in a 'found' young female ornate box turtle. I set her up outside. I never saw her eat. So eventually I set her up indoors where I could keep a better watch on her. She wasn't interested at all in veggies or fruit or cat food or eggs - I tried everything in my bag of tricks to tempt her. As a last resort I sent away for some live wax worms. Holy cow! This little turtle came alive! She practically eats my hand as she goes for the worm I'm holding. I had to resort to offering the worms on the end of a long tweezers. She ate them so well I started offering them in a mixed up plate of chopped veggies and fruit, which she also now eats with gusto! But my problem is the new batch of worms I bought. I thought to mix it up a bit and I ordered black soldier fly larvae. Now I'm worried. What if she doesn't find all of them and they morph into flies. I don't want a house full of flies. Should I discard the rest of these maggots or will they not morph in a turtle habitat?

 

[Markw84]

At room temp the larvae normally take about 2 weeks to pupate. So you will see the pupae and then have about 2 more weeks before flies emerge. However - Soldier flies are probably one of the most benign flies. they are not attracted to humans and live about 5-8 days in which they live to breed before dying.

They are probably the best food for any reptile as far as their very high calcium content. An excellent food for any of your insect eating turtles.

So if you are getting at the end of the larva stage and have many left - feed them out to an of the other insect eaters or the aquatics if they are still warm enough to be eating.

 

[Yvonne G]

Thank you. I forgot about the pupae thing. I will probably see that and be able to pick them out before they emerge. Since it is now too late in the year to put her back outside, I'll be having to contend with live food all winter.

 

[ColleenT]

i thought wax worms produced moths, not flies.

 

[Ray--Opo]

I used wax worms when I was a kid for ice fishing in Michigan. Since my mom didn't like me keeping them in the refrigerator. I kept them behind the curtains on my window sill in my bedroom. I forgot about a small container of them and when I found them they were all flies. ( dead of course)

 

[Yvonne G]

i thought wax worms produced moths, not flies.

No, my question was about the black soldier fly larvae

 

[ColleenT]

No, my question was about the black soldier fly larvae

oh, yes, i see now.