leaving town

We're leaving in a week for four nights and I need some advice on the morphs and the larvae as I don't think I can ask anyone in the family to do the water changes for all of the tanks, deal w/ the worms, AND take care of all of my other animals - quite a few. We will leave Friday evening, so I can do almost complete water changes then and put in a lot of food. I have live blackworms, white worms, FFs and springtails. I suppose the best plan is to load up the morphs with the FFs and springs? Can the larvae survive on a heavy dose of blackworms as I don't want to foul the water w/ anything else? I'll be back Tuesday late, so it's just Sat, Sun, and Mon. that are the trouble spots. My parents will do what I ask, but I'm trying to simplify things as much as possible. How dangerous is going three days w/o a water change for the larvae? They're in 10 and 5.5 gallon tanks and they vary in numbers from only a couple to about 20 young ones.

Thanks for any advice,
Dana

I think if you just give them a bunch of food they should be ok.

There is no danger in loading up the morphs' tanks with FF and springtails (within reason - not so much that the live food could be an irritant). And terrestrial animals will generally be fine for a couple of weeks without food.

Will your family be rinsing the blackworms? Keeping the worms healthy is important, as you will need them when you return.

The larvae will be fine w/o water changes. Don't overload the tanks with blackworms, as this could turn into a nasty mess. If possible, ask the family to add a modest amount of blackworms every 2-3 days. You'll have to show them how much to use in some specific manner (an eyedropper with a measure on it is what I use for this - I tell the caretaker how many eyedropper "squirts" per tank).

Jennewt said:

There is no danger in loading up the morphs' tanks with FF and springtails (within reason - not so much that the live food could be an irritant). And terrestrial animals will generally be fine for a couple of weeks without food.

Will your family be rinsing the blackworms? Keeping the worms healthy is important, as you will need them when you return.

The larvae will be fine w/o water changes. Don't overload the tanks with blackworms, as this could turn into a nasty mess. If possible, ask the family to add a modest amount of blackworms every 2-3 days. You'll have to show them how much to use in some specific manner (an eyedropper with a measure on it is what I use for this - I tell the caretaker how many eyedropper "squirts" per tank).

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Yes, I will have them rinse the worms - something I forgot to do a few times and noticed the gunk that formed! I'm leaning towards making some daily cups to go into the larvae cups, "Sat - this dish, Sun - this dish, etc." and tell them to siphon out any uneaten food on Sunday and adding a little more to replace it, figuring Sat. and Monday can go w/o the maintenance and I'll do it upon returning on Tues. night.

Frankly, I'm still not convinced the four morphs have eaten at all, but I'm hopeful. They seem to be energetic at night and I hope they're hunting for FFs on the tank's walls.

Thanks for the advice,
Dana

Waxworms and earthworms...that´s the key for C.orientalis juveniles in my opinion.
4 days shouldn´t be much of a problem provided they are ok, i wouldn´t worry terribly...

Still no luck here w/ chopped waxworms, or anything, that I can tell. I am hopeful that they are taking in some springs and FFs, however. They seem energetic at night, though I'm not certain that's a great sign...

I've yet to try earthworms and I worry about leaving anything "chopped" in the enclosure for a few days as it could really foul things up, perhaps?

Dana

Should be easy to tell if they are eating fruit flies. If the same amount is still walking around 24 hrs a day they are not eating them. If you have a couple or none walking around then they are eating them. Seriously though just because they aren't eating when you are watching doesn't mean they are not eating. I have only seen my popei eat something three times since I got them 4-5 months ago...Of course the one and only time I let my three yr old feed the fruit flies he got to see one chomp on like 3 flies..... Of all th ebuzzards luck. And of course now my three yr old just wants to shake the flies to dust them and not be bothered having to feed them. Apparently he is the rock star of fruit fly feeding....

Also do your poor parents a favor and change the blackworm water before you go. I change my blackworm water every three days and have not had a problem with them crashing. I have had this colony since March and they are going strong. Not sure if you are feeding your worms heavily or not and maybe thats why you need more frequent water changes? I add a pinch of yeast a week, and use cold dirty fish tank water to rinse and refill. There is a real potential for your parents or another caretaker to have a creepy experience with the worms....Just ask my seven yr old...When we moved she was carrying the worms into the house and tripped a little and had about 25% of the colony out on her hands and arms. I have never heard such a blood curdling scream before. Luckily she still like earthworms....

Rick,

I have NOT been feeding my blackworms as I remember the place where I got them saying they live off of their own body fat or something, but I will put in some yeast today. Funny in that my boys yesterday asked how the worms survived w/o food...

I've been rinsing, almost daily, with aged cold water, but never thought to use dirty aquarium water. I suppose the waste and leftover food could give them their nutrients?

I put the blackworms down in our cooler (like a walk-in frig) when they first arrived then rethought that thinking my husband would surely trip over them/kick them over. In my haste, it was me who kicked the container and had 1/2 the colony on my foot and all over the cooler's floor. Oh well, if my dinner guests only knew what lurked beside the produce they might not return! Mealworms for the hedgie, waxworms, blackworms, and just outside the cooler's door the white worm, springs, and FFs...oh yeah, do you use yeast in your FFs? I forgot yesterday when I started another culture but I guess I could add it now. I added too soon last time (during the mix) but I saw no ill effects though the heat may have killed off the yeast so there was no benefit, either.

Dana

I do not add yeast to my fruit flies. I have more than enough flies right now. I make one to two cultures a week of melas, and hydei. Though since I got the hydei I am only making one culture of each. This is more than sufficient to feed 10 caudates, and 5 dendros. Though in the next 2-3 months I will really ramp up and maybe optimize and use the yeast. Add the yeast after the microwaving and the cooling down period, anything over 120 will def kill it.

My dirty aquarium water is feeding my blackworms, and only yeast if I remember or already have it out. Changing the water every day is overkill in my opinion. In my practice evry 2-3 days is more than enough. I usually key up a change when I can start to smell the worms...

Anyways good luck and have a great vacation!