I have been thinking for some time of Making a Designated heated room for live food.And today purchased some 100mm thick freezer panel from the local recycle centre for a very good price,Not enough for a small room, but I have some leads on some more.I have seen one live food room made from this years ago In Upper ferntree gully (Those who have been there will know the one I have seen),And am wondering about how to design one and how to heat it.I would like to if they are compatible to have together in a room,due to requirements.Flies ,mealworms,crickets and possibly rats not to sure about the stench with the rats though,They may need to go in the shed.The Flies and most mealworms would initially be for the birds and crickets and rats for other animals.What size room would i need to build and are mealworms and crickets worth breeding or buying wholsale.
Atm i only breed maggots and buy in mealworms and crickets wholesale from Pisces.And run Two 60w and Two 40w globes on the fly boxes.
Any thoughts ?Is it viable to do?
Live food heated room
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Danny
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Live food production is time consuming. Peter Karsten simplified it at the convention - for each 2 hours you spend feeding and cleaning your birds, allow 1 hour for managing livefood.
I have had several friends set up insect rooms and the main problems they ran into were - excessive condensation (you need to heat without increasing humidity), inadequate ventilation (this links with the first point - it becomes a compromise between heat loss and having adequate air flow), allergies (if you suffer from slight hayfever you are heading down a dangerous path to more severe and permanent allergies - if not - wear a mask at all times to prevent it)
Most initially used oil heaters and fans to distribute heat but some have switched over to reverse cycle aircons which has help dramatically with the condensation issue.
Have a look at bying your mealworms and crickets from Amphibian Research Centre - I buy a lot each week and they have worked out 40% cheaper than Pisces/Personal pets/Livefoods Unlimited if you have a set weekly order (as they subsidise the freight costs to fixed customers that buy a bit - but you did not hear that from me) and a hell of a lot better to deal with than Pisces if there is an issue at any point (which happens rarely).
I would keep the rats out - at the set temp for insects (28 C), rats aren't comfortable and will be highly prone to respiratory disorders.
I have had several friends set up insect rooms and the main problems they ran into were - excessive condensation (you need to heat without increasing humidity), inadequate ventilation (this links with the first point - it becomes a compromise between heat loss and having adequate air flow), allergies (if you suffer from slight hayfever you are heading down a dangerous path to more severe and permanent allergies - if not - wear a mask at all times to prevent it)
Most initially used oil heaters and fans to distribute heat but some have switched over to reverse cycle aircons which has help dramatically with the condensation issue.
Have a look at bying your mealworms and crickets from Amphibian Research Centre - I buy a lot each week and they have worked out 40% cheaper than Pisces/Personal pets/Livefoods Unlimited if you have a set weekly order (as they subsidise the freight costs to fixed customers that buy a bit - but you did not hear that from me) and a hell of a lot better to deal with than Pisces if there is an issue at any point (which happens rarely).
I would keep the rats out - at the set temp for insects (28 C), rats aren't comfortable and will be highly prone to respiratory disorders.
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MadHatter
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- Posts: 478
- Joined: 14 Sep 2010, 13:45
- Location: Ferntree Gully, VIC
I agree 100% with what Danny said. From my experience I can tell you the following: If you are worried about the smell from a few rats, then you may want to re-consider as the smell of ammonia in a small, hot, poorly ventilated room full of fly/maggot/mealworm/cricket boxes can be chokingly strong at times. 
Oh and be prepared to breed plenty of undesiribles as well. Cockroaches in particular proliferate in live food rooms and are very difficult to control.
Oh and be prepared to breed plenty of undesiribles as well. Cockroaches in particular proliferate in live food rooms and are very difficult to control.
Last edited by MadHatter on 03 Jul 2011, 06:22, edited 1 time in total.
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Mickp
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- Joined: 09 Nov 2008, 19:03
- Location: Yenda NSW
- Location: Yenda NSW
I've found it cheaper to breed meal worm rather than buying them.
all I did was purchase 6 plastic 20l boxes from cheap as chips.
cut a 200mm square out of the lid, this was then covered with fly screen (held in place with silastic)
2/3 fill the boxes with a mix of bran & pollard.
have that by putting in 500g of mealworm's I get enough to supply birds requirements for a 4 week period.
after setting up the initial box I wait for 4 weeks and do the same with the second.
4 of the boxes are used to breed worms for feeding the other 2 boxes are used to supply the worms each time a box needs to be re-started.
I dont use any additional heating at all. the boxes are kept in a cupboard in the dark.
No added moisture, just a carrot a week
all I did was purchase 6 plastic 20l boxes from cheap as chips.
cut a 200mm square out of the lid, this was then covered with fly screen (held in place with silastic)
2/3 fill the boxes with a mix of bran & pollard.
have that by putting in 500g of mealworm's I get enough to supply birds requirements for a 4 week period.
after setting up the initial box I wait for 4 weeks and do the same with the second.
4 of the boxes are used to breed worms for feeding the other 2 boxes are used to supply the worms each time a box needs to be re-started.
I dont use any additional heating at all. the boxes are kept in a cupboard in the dark.
No added moisture, just a carrot a week
Mick.
Finch addict and rodent hater.
Finch addict and rodent hater.
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Gerry Marantelli
The guys have given you good advice - a few more issues to consider:
Like birds each insect has its requirements - and they are far more diverse than birds! (flog me if you will but its true)
trying to keep all of them together will create problems and that is why good commercial growers have dedicated rooms for each species as you can provide peak conditions for each organism. The issues are temperature, humidity, air flow, light to name the obvious ones and some of these are connected - each species has its own requirements eg flies need light mealworms dark, crickets need good air flow and humidity mealworms need dry and don't mind low air flow. I usually find those who have diverse needs like Danny are better off buying bulk insects. If you focus on one type and maybe swap with friends etc it can be ok but take account of your time spent and its value (perhaps you are better off spending an extra hour at work and buying food so you get more time with the birds if that is what you really want!)
If you need insects Danny has already mentioned our site in this thread.
Like birds each insect has its requirements - and they are far more diverse than birds! (flog me if you will but its true)
trying to keep all of them together will create problems and that is why good commercial growers have dedicated rooms for each species as you can provide peak conditions for each organism. The issues are temperature, humidity, air flow, light to name the obvious ones and some of these are connected - each species has its own requirements eg flies need light mealworms dark, crickets need good air flow and humidity mealworms need dry and don't mind low air flow. I usually find those who have diverse needs like Danny are better off buying bulk insects. If you focus on one type and maybe swap with friends etc it can be ok but take account of your time spent and its value (perhaps you are better off spending an extra hour at work and buying food so you get more time with the birds if that is what you really want!)
If you need insects Danny has already mentioned our site in this thread.