Breeding Mealies Tank

[clemsonguy1125]

Well Ive accumulated about 8 of these over the years in all different sizes. I just got my gecko a few weeks ago and shes now eating mealies I bought from the chain stores quite regularly so I decided to breed. Are these tanks big enough from a few hundred at most mealies just enough not to have to buy any for 1 female gecko eating about 6 every other night. I know it will take a while so I think i am gonna try an start next week. Also my temps
are at around 75 is this ok.
http://www.houstonherp.com/KritterKeepers.htm

 

[T-ReXx]

Should be fine. You can keep up to 1000 mealworms in a 6 quart shoebox, those critter keepers are comparable in size. You will need at least two, one for worms and one for beetles. 75 is fine for mealworms, though if you could get it a little warmer, say 79-80, they would breed better and grow faster.

 

[5HiddenLizards]

Those work ok, but I have one of those medium sized storage bins. I have at least 50 beetles & all my baby worms are growing right now. When i first tried breeding mealies all I had was one of those critter cages like above & it worked out fine. I had used coco fiber as a substrate & would mist once every few days. My temps stayed around 85 in the room during the day & probably dropped to 70 at night. They seemed to be fine, as long as you feed them & provide some moisture.
Currently my bin has some coco fiber, plain white paper towel, and a trimmed plastic lid for food in it. I use a ac filter for the lid. They are around 85 most of the day & drop down to 75 at night.

 

[clemsonguy1125]

Ok I have one of those mini heater things that is a couple years old. It was on a tank for a few days but was too small. Is it ok to use even though I took it off. Should work to bring up the tank a little. So should I have another smaller tank for the second stage when the go into the cacoon thing. I have a small one, is it okay for that. For feeding them I was planning on using blended oat bran and tossing in apple slices and potatos.

 

[T-ReXx]

This how I did mealies(I no longer need them so I no longer breed them).

A) take a container. Doesn't need a lid. Fill with 2-3 inches of wheat bran, ground oatmeal, chick mash, gut load, etc. Pour in 1000 large mealworms. Put in 2-3 2in carrot sections. Put some place warm (78-80F). Replace carrot every other day or so.
B) After 1-2 weeks there will be pupa. Remove pupa, place in a cup or something. In 10 days or so they will emerge as beetles. Setup a second container, same setup as mealworms, add beetles. Same care.
C) Every 2-4 weeks remove beetles from container, pour bedding into third container, put a few small slivers of carrot in the new container, replace bedding, replace beetles. Third container will have eggs/small mealworms. Care is the same. Within a few months they will be large enough to feed off. Be sure to save some to pupate to keep the cycle going.

That's it. Pretty simple.