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It was back in the early 80s, but if I remember right the pet store sold meal worms $1 for two dozen. And the lizards - geckos and green anoles - my friend had were only a few dollars, so it was mostly just kids stuff. I am curious what kind of production a person could get out those beetles and worms and how much space that might require.

Yes, I love the idea of producing more than one needs to have more to trade or share with others. I'm with you on wanting that level of production.

Apparently you can get pretty big. This guy farms a huge amount all in the back of a big ventilated van:

That's a lot of money even at the 1980s prices you mentioned.