What Comes in a SquirmStack Kit?

🌱 What You’ll Need to Get Started

• Superworms (order online or from a pet store)
• Dry bedding such as wheat bran or oats
• Hydration: thin vegetable slices (carrot or potato) or water crystals/gels
• A warm, dry space (room temperature works great)

How It Works: Step-by-Step

Congratulations on your new Squirmy Snacks Superworm SquirmStack! Your breeding system is designed to make raising healthy superworms simple while helping you maintain a continuous colony of feeder insects for your reptiles, birds, chickens, or other insect-eating pets.

With proper care, your colony can produce thousands of superworms over time.

3-Tier Superworm SquirmStack

This breeding system includes three specialized stackable levels that work together to complete the superworm life cycle.

🪲 Top Tier – Beetle Breeding Chamber

• Perforated breeding floor
• Ventilated lid
• Designed for adult darkling beetles to mate and lay eggs

🐛 Middle Tier – Nursery Tray

• Worm growing tray
• Clear acrylic nursery insert
• Safely collects newly hatched baby worms

🌱 Bottom Tier – Grow-Out Tray

• Large worm growing tray
• Removable frass-sifting insert
• Used to raise worms to harvest size

Step 1: Prepare the Beetle Chamber

The top chamber is where your adult beetles live, breed, and lay eggs.

Add Bedding

Fill the chamber with 1–2 inches of wheat bran or rolled oats.

The bran serves as:

• Bedding
• Food source
• Egg-laying substrate

Add Moisture

Instead of water, offer moisture-rich vegetables such as:

• Carrot slices
• Potato slices

Replace vegetables every few days before they dry out or mold.

Never add standing water. Superworms receive all the moisture they need from fresh vegetables.

Improve Egg Production

Your beetles appreciate extra hiding places.

Add items like:

• Cardboard pieces
• Toilet paper rolls
• Paper egg cartons

These create additional surface area for breeding.

Many beetles prefer laying eggs inside the cardboard. If you notice eggs on these pieces, gently move them into the acrylic nursery tray to increase hatch rates.

Step 2: Let the Nursery Do the Work

Tiny baby worms hatch from the eggs and naturally fall through the perforated breeding floor into the clear acrylic nursery tray below.

This keeps the babies safely separated from hungry adult beetles.

Don't Be Alarmed

At first you may not see any worms.

They are extremely small.

After a couple of weeks, you may notice:

• tiny movements in the bran
• very small worms
• slight trails through the substrate

A helpful trick is to remove the nursery tray and hold it just above eye level while looking across the bottom. The tiny worms become much easier to spot.

Do not add additional bran to the nursery tray.

Enough substrate naturally falls through from the breeding chamber above.

Step 3: Move Growing Worms

Once the worms have grown for several weeks and are easily visible, gently empty the contents of the acrylic nursery tray into the lower grow-out tray.

Here they'll continue growing until they reach feeder size.

Feed them with:

• Wheat bran or oats

• Small pieces of carrot or potato

Scatter food throughout the tray and replenish as needed.

Again, never add water.

Using the Frass Sifting Tray

The bottom tray includes a removable sifting insert.

As worms grow, their waste (called frass) falls through the slots while the worms remain above.

This helps keep the colony cleaner and makes maintenance much easier.

Dispose of Frass or You Use it as Fertilizer, But Before Using Frass

Fresh frass often contains tiny baby worms, either freeze it or store collected frass for several weeks, then sift it one more time before using it as fertilizer in your garden or houseplants.

Keep the Life Cycle Going

When harvesting feeder worms, always save some of your largest superworms.

These should be separated and allowed to pupate into beetles.

Those beetles become the next generation of breeders, keeping your colony producing continuously.

Healthy adult beetles typically live 6–9 months and lay eggs throughout most of their lives.

Superworms generally reach feeder size in 6–10 weeks, depending on temperature and feeding.

Weekly Maintenance

Once each week:

• Remove dead beetles or worms
• Sift excess frass from grow-out trays
• Replace dried vegetables
• Add fresh bran if needed

Every Two Weeks

Inspect the colony for mold.

Mold is usually caused by adding too many vegetables at once.

If mold appears:

• Remove the affected material immediately
• Replace it with fresh bran
• Feed smaller vegetable portions that are consumed within 1–2 days

As Needed

Occasionally bran may clog the perforated breeding floor.

Use a toothpick or similar tool to clear any blocked holes so baby worms can continue falling into the nursery tray.

Helpful Tips

✔ Keep your colony between 70–80°F (21–27°C) for best breeding results.

✔ Store the farm in a warm, dry location away from direct sunlight.

✔ Avoid high humidity.

✔ Wipe or rinse trays clean when needed. Do not soak or submerge them.

✔ The more consistently you harvest beetles, clean frass, and rotate growing worms, the more productive your colony will become.

Need Help?

We're always happy to help you succeed with your Superworm SquirmStack.

If you have questions about breeding, feeding, or troubleshooting your colony, contact us anytime.

Stay Squirmy!

The Squirmy Snacks Team