well i ended up feeding them only a day or two after getting them in there. they finished the food in about 7-8 days i guess. it's been about a month now and i've probably fed them 4 times now. what i don't get is how this 1st tray i'm working on is going to end up being mostly castings(?) i look in there and it still appears to be a full of coco coir (and newspaper). just can't see it yet. but i guess it should be 3 mons before i'm suppose to add in a 2nd tray, so i'm told.