How do I fatten my mealworms?

benga

New Member
Messages
36
Location
California
Question is in the last line.
I have a basic mealworm farm.
Roaches with a mesh under them for baby worms to drop through.
I take the bin they fall into and dump it into a bigger bin.
They grow up in that bin.

Their diet consists of: Potatoes, and oatmeal(bedding), and apple

They are fairly skinny in size from what I've seen others grow.
I want to fatten them up as much as I can but don't know how to.
 

Ghostoftangerine17

ヒョウモントカゲモドキ
Messages
335
Location
Tokyo, Japan
I use banana peels and I've had fairly decent growth in mine :) Perhaps you could try alternating different vegetable/fruit waste and see what works best for you.
 

benga

New Member
Messages
36
Location
California
I use banana peels and I've had fairly decent growth in mine :) Perhaps you could try alternating different vegetable/fruit waste and see what works best for you.

Banana peels sounds good, it's high in moisture so it should work well.
Yea i'll try out a variation of fruits and vegetables.
 

DrCarrotTail

Moderator
Messages
3,589
Location
Ridgewood, NJ
Mealworms grow at a steady rate with good foods as you described above. They don't necessarily get "fat" just bigger. If you want them to grow faster you can raise the temperature a bit - I wouldn't bring it up much over 90 degrees. The higher the temperature the faster food (like apples, banana peels, potatoes, etc) will spoil and the higher the number that die will be. I'd recommend just waiting a bit for them to get bigger and using them then.

P.S. I assume your "roaches" are mealworm beetles? They'll lay eggs that that's what would fall through the mesh (although I keep mine directly on substrate - not sure if mesh would be more efficient). If you really have roaches you might not be breeding the right thing and that may be why yours don't look like others...
 

benga

New Member
Messages
36
Location
California
Mealworms grow at a steady rate with good foods as you described above. They don't necessarily get "fat" just bigger. If you want them to grow faster you can raise the temperature a bit - I wouldn't bring it up much over 90 degrees. The higher the temperature the faster food (like apples, banana peels, potatoes, etc) will spoil and the higher the number that die will be. I'd recommend just waiting a bit for them to get bigger and using them then.

P.S. I assume your "roaches" are mealworm beetles? They'll lay eggs that that's what would fall through the mesh (although I keep mine directly on substrate - not sure if mesh would be more efficient). If you really have roaches you might not be breeding the right thing and that may be why yours don't look like others...

Alright thank you.
Sorry i meant beetles. I let some of my mealworms pupate and turn into beetles to keep the colony going.
Yea the beetles are on a oatmeal substrate and under that substrate is the mesh.
 

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