Breeding mealies

[thegeckoguy]

So today i gto 2000 mealies in the mail. I took between 200 and 300 and put them in a bin with oatmeal. They got some potato for food. Now i got a few Q's

1.How long should it take for the worms to turn into the "alien" things?

2.After the "Alien" stage how long till a beetle?

3.After the beetles breed, how long before you start seeing worms?

4.The room they are in is at about...75-78 degrees. Is that warm enough? Do i need it warmer?

5.From that few hundred worms how many worms a month should i start getting? If i end up with more worms then i need ill sell em.

6.I think ive got enough room...should i add more worms to the colony?
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This isnt really about breeding but....with the other worms i got i just got em in an ice cream bucket with no oatmeal or substrate...can i put them in the fridge like that or is it better to have a substrate for them...?

Thanks,

Justan

 

[tsavage]

1-2.It will take about 10-20 days for them to turns into pupae then an other 5-10 days to turn into beetles
3.It should take 7-14 days
4.That a good temp. as long as they don't go above 99 or below 45 they will be fine.The temp just makes them go threw stages faster. ( my farm we have them all at 80)
5.Well from a breeding pair(2 beetles) you can get up to 500 mealworms, but just so you know,it is slightly hard to sell mealworms without having problems.

I have most the info. at my site.....

http://www.freewebs.com/mealworms/information.htm

 

[thegeckoguy]

ok thanks! What do you mean its hard to sell mealworms without having problems??

 

[MagicalGecko]

Geckoguy, I've found if you give them indirect sunlight it really makes them pupate faster. I open the window shades every morning for them.

 

[hoppslover]

I started working on my mealie colony back in probably March. I am just now getting to the point where I am harvesting them to feel to my geckos. I would guess that I have around 300 to 400 beetles. It looks to me that I have thousands of mealworms in two different containers. I seperate my beetles from the bedding about once a month or so. This way they wont eat the baby worms. Do not put any bedding in with the mealworms that you are putting in the fridge. They do say that you should get time out every week or so to feed them. Here is a link to the site that I used to start my colony. Good luck. http://www.sialis.org/raisingmealworms.htm

 

[nats]

Question for you guys that raise mealies:

Do you pick the adult beetles out and put them in a seperate bin with
bedding? When they are beetles, do they still need moisture (like apples and
stuff)?
And, how long do you keep the beetles in there after they have layed eggs?

I would like to try raising them :main_yes:

 

[MagicalGecko]

nats, I normally just pick them out with my hand or a spoon. This is only done once a month, although it is time consuming.

Yeah, they still require moisture. I use strictly carrots for my colonies, but you can use apples or potatoes.

 

[tsavage]

ok thanks! What do you mean its hard to sell mealworms without having problems??

what i mean by that is you'll have problems with selling them, you either have to find at place to sale them to close to you, or on the web,which means you'll have to compete with these giant companies that can sale them in greater #'s and for a better price which you can do just don't expect much profit from it, i have done it for a few years know but it is a pain in the butt,so good luck to you with the selling of your mealworms if you decide to do that-if you need any help you can send an email to a [email protected] they 'll be able to answer any of your questions, maybe even make some kind of deal with you to buy mealworms from you.

 

[acpart]

I have had no trouble selling mealworms on craigslist. This was a few thousnd mealworms; I wasn't going into the mealworm business. The nice thing was that it's local and you don't have to get into shipping. You also meet some really interesting people.

Aliza