breeding of meal worms...well beetles

[pickles760]

soooo i was wondering how you tell male and female beetles, i have 2 hatched beetles and like 9 pupe and i dont have the heart to flush them, idk i just cant anymore, they are all in one container with oats and carrots, can young larva eat oats and "drink" carrots? and great idea with the 3 tiered drawers, i think my mom'll let me borrow hers...but until then is it ok for them to all be together???


and yeah i posted some of this on another thread but yeah


and haha it wont let me edit the title i ment breeding
_____

 

[Jenn]

it is perfectly fine for the beetles to be together but I would seperate the stages. there is no reason to flush the beetles, the more the beetles the more mealworm your going to get. I have about 85 beetles breeding right now. Larva (mealworm) will eat on the oats and they due need moister.

 

[moosassah]

We keep ours mealie colony in a foil pan. We do separate the beetles into a large butter bucket. We're only feeding 5 leos.

In the few years we've been breeding the mealies, I've only had to Freecycle 1 small bucket of mealies--in other words, the colony has really stayed ideal in size. The warmer the temps, the faster the cycle & growth of the mealies. In the summer, I have to move the tray into the basement to slow things down.

We keep them in Flukers cricket feed, oatmeal, bran cereal etc. They get carrot shavings & potato pieces for moisture.

 

[pickles760]

so until i get them separated is it alright, i mean it should be today, uh do you see the eggs or whatever? and do they fly? and oh male and female, i dont wanna go through all this with all one sex lol!!

 

[Lady_Kiya]

You won't see the eggs until they hatch and the worms start growing.
They are really tiny.

 

[cwazy]

it seems i remember reading that the size of the pupae had something to do with sexing... but i have no real way of telling you... pretty much if you get 9 beetles... you gotta have a match in there somewhere... the odds are in your favor

ive tried and tried to see eggs and havent been able too... but soon enough you will see a lil bit of movement... and let me tell ya... they are TINY... ill try to dig out my pic and post it for you... and sadly the pic isnt the smallest mealie i have found!

 

[cwazy]

1st pic the baby mealie is on the dime, second pic is just below the dime... they seriously are tiny! lol:main_laugh:

 

[pickles760]

omg their so small haha well alright how soon do the breed after turning to beetles and about how soon till they lay egges?

 

[cwazy]

going based on memory of what ive read here before... they mature 3-4 days, mature beetles will be dark brown - black... they will then lay eggs after that... its recomended you change your bedding every 4 weeks or so, and with a lil patience you will start to see new life

 

[pickles760]

does incest mean anything with them? i mean idk my meal beetles come out black or brown already outta the pupa shell

 

[cwazy]

i got nuttin on the incest deal... never thought of it lol...

if you are seeing brown and black beetles, they are not fresh out of the pupae stage... they are probally a day or so old... when they first come out they are kind of like an ivory white

 

[Jenn]

going based on memory of what ive read here before... they mature 3-4 days, mature beetles will be dark brown - black... they will then lay eggs after that... its recomended you change your bedding every 4 weeks or so, and with a lil patience you will start to see new life

you can change the bedding but I would not throw out the old bedding there could be lots of eggs and tiny meanl worms in there. I would put the old bedding in a container and gve it another month or 2 to see if anymore mealies hatch.

 

[pickles760]

coolio thanks any other ideas or comments?

 

[cwazy]

by change i mean put your beetles in different bedding... a lil common sence tells you not to toss the other stuff out.. but i saposed you never know... so yes... keep the old stuff...