Shelf life of a wax worm?

[JewellOutdoors]

Curious how long waxies are good for after you buy them at the store. How long have you kept them around for? What are you paying at the bait shop these days?

[Deitz Dittrich]

I can keep them alive for a long time.. It seems I run out before they all die.. keep them in a cool place, but not in the fridge..

[RebelSS]

I'm usually able to keep them for 2-3 weeks. Main thing is keep them dry; moisture will ruin them. Pick out any dead ones right away. Do not let them get warmer than 65 degrees..I usually keep mine in my garage at 55 degrees, or you can keep them on the DOOR of your 'fridge in the closed "butter" compartment. I usually swing by a lumberyard about now and pick up a can of sawdust, which I change often when I have the waxies. Keeps the moisture out.

[OnAFly]

Good ones I can keep for a month or so. As long as they are healthy before I buy them, they last a while. As said before, keep them cool, don't let them freeze and definitely don't leave them in your jacket pocket over the summer

Did that once with spikes, turned into a cup full of flies which then got out.

[blackdog1101]

My garage gets down to freezing in the winter, so I have to keep them in the refrigerator then. I can usually get a few weeks out of them.

How about Eurolarva? How long can you guys store them? They don't seem to last as long for me.

[JewellOutdoors]

What do you have to pay for waxies these days at the store?

[JewellOutdoors]

I just heard from another guy that if you put food coloring in your sawdust, and let it dry, then add your waxies back in, they will take on the color ...kinda like euro larvae. Anyone tried that?

[blackdog1101]

If I recall correctly I last paid $5.99 for 100 waxies.

[OnAFly]

It seemed to vary by quite a bit. One place would be $10 for 250, another would be $8 for 250, gas stations would be $4 for a couple dozen and generally weren't all that healthy.

[bobbymalone]

I haven't had much of a problem with them dying off before I used them. Also, I haven't had much of problem coaxing gills and crappie to eat half dead mushy ones.

I pay about 6 bucks for a hundred.

On a related note, when I was cleaning out the flip over in late summer I found a little container of euro larvae. Some of them had metamorphed into little hard case buggers and the rest had fully transformed into flies. One of the flies was still alive but he was pretty sluggish. I thought it was pretty cool, but the wife was not happy when I reported the news to her as she was not aware that those "euro larvae" are actually maggots.

[JewellOutdoors]

Oops! Guess the wife was probably a bit surprised by that one!

[Fishnblood]

Good ones I can keep for a month or so. As long as they are healthy before I buy them, they last a while. As said before, keep them cool, don't let them freeze and definitely don't leave them in your jacket pocket over the summer

Did that once with spikes, turned into a cup full of flies which then got out.

I second this. I thought [PoorWordUsage] when I seen the flies.

[stifler51]

i keep mine in the door of the mini beer fridge in the basement. They seem to last forever but i dont know exact time

[gunmunky]

I have bought wax worms at that "Pet smart" store. If I remember right they were cheaper than at the bait stores. They sell them for reptile food.

[stymie]

I keep mine on our bedroom - coldest room in the house lately....

[Ed Carlson]

I have bought wax worms at that "Pet smart" store. If I remember right they were cheaper than at the bait stores. They sell them for reptile food.

Were they "Wax Worms", Magots, or Meal Worms? Meal Worms are common reptile chow...but they may have Waxies too? Just curious?

[zamboni]

By using StrikeMasters "bait puck" my waxies last weeks longer than they do in the plastic cup they give you at the bait shop.

[crothmeier]

i also use the bait pucks, they work great. dont smush in your pocket.

[OnAFly]

Yeah, I switched to the pucks after having couple of the little tubs freeze on me during a couple of particularly cold outings.

[Fred_Bear]

Gotta love first open water when you try using waxies from last ice and when the lid comes off, POOOF out flies a bunch of moths.

[gunmunky]

The tubs I picked up were wax worms.