How to Start a Mealworm colony: Step-by-Step

bubblez825

New Member
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2,059
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Glendale, AZ
So, I've seen many posts lately and over time asking questions about how to start your own mealworm colony, what to do, what bedding and what to use for moisture, so I thought I'd set up step by step instructions for a "How to" about breeding mealworms, and hopefully clear up most of the questions anyone has :) If anyone has any different methods on how they do their colonies, please feel free to add your own, and/or correct me on anything if needed :)

Step one: Order your mealworms!

Some local pet shops sell mealworms in 500ct cups, but if you're really looking to start a colony, I would suggest starting with around 1,000 worms. Some websites and places are pricier than others, and for some places, the shipping is the expensive part. Where you order from is really your own choice, based on experience with the company, recommendations from others, quality of worms, who has the best deals, and what you are willing to spend for "x" amount of worms combined with shipping. Here is a list of websites to order from. These aren't all, but these are the ones I know of;

-Rainbow Worms
-Fluker Farms
-Grubco
-Exotic Nutrition
-NY Worms
-Worm Man's Worm Farm
-DunCraft
-Georgia Crickets

Mealworms, when ordered in bulk, usually(from my experience) come in poxes with holes in it, and inside are tied sacks with newspaper inside, for easy packing/removal of worms, and good ventilation.


Step two: Bins/Bedding!

Personally, I use identical 16qt Sterlite bins with holes drilled in the lids. I've heard of people using those plastic drawers, but I just find this easier to store my colony in and its also easily accessible. As for pupae, I just keep them in a deli container with a lid. I punch holes in the lid so beetles have air when they hatch, and aren't suffocated to death :main_laugh:


Beetles:

Lid

Bin

Worms:

Lid

Bin

Pupae:

Deli Container

I drilled more holes in the beetles bin, because there's more activity, and WAY more heat and moisture released from beetles than the worms.

Now, for bedding, there are endless things you can use. For my own personal colony, I like to use whole oatmeal and a ground up mixture of several different grains(corn meal, more oatmeal, wheat, etc. I don't remember exactly what all was in there). People have also used dry dog food as bedding, but I prefer "all natural" stuff for my worms. Whatever bedding you use, make sure there is enough to give ample space for your worms to move around and "burrow". For beetles, I only keep a thin layer of oatmeal and grains in there, just enough to basically cover the floor with a little padding. It makes it easier when it comes to seeing baby worms, pulling out dead beetles, and switching the tubs, which I'll explain here soon.


Worm bedding

Beetle bedding

Oatmeal

Also, it doesn't really matter if its the "instant oatmeal" or "one minute" stuff or the expensive stuff, its all the same honestly. Maybe to us it tastes different, but they have no different results with worms or beetles.



Moisture:

I like to use large carrots as my moisture. I have used baby carrots in the past, but baby carrots do not last as long, and don't hold as must moisture over a long period of time. I have had bad luck with potatoes and red apples killing many of my worms and beetles, and they absolutely LOVE the carrots so it all works out in the end. I also occasionally throw in any leftover kale, collard greens, or mustard greens I have from my bearded dragons for added nutrition. Don't worry about putting the carrots underneath the bedding, the worms will find the carrots and end up making it "disappear" beneath the surface of the bedding. I usually put more carrots in there about twice a week, or sooner depending on how much of the carrots are left and still "moist".

***MAKE SURE TO WATCH OUT FOR MOLD! One way I prevent this is every few days, I mix around the bedding in both the mealworm and beetle containers. This lets air INTO the bottom of the bins, and heat and any excess moisture OUT. Also, dry the carrots off with a paper towel BEFORE putting them in the bins. This way, water will not get in the bins and cause mold to grow. I've had mold destroy a colony of worms, and its a pain in the butt and a waste of time and money!****

Carrots


Step three: Pupae!!

Depending what size the worms are that you order, it may take a few weeks for them to reach full size and pupate. But once they do, I pull out my pupae and put them in a small deli container, so they aren't eaten by the worms. Here is an example of what a freshly formed pupae(left), a "medium stage" pupae, and an about-to-hatch pupae looks like:

Example



Step four: Beetles!!

Now, in my experience, it takes around two weeks for a pupae to turn into a beetle. Once they hatch, I always throw them into my beetle tub as soon as I see them, so no pupae get eaten. Beetles looking for moisture can view the pupae as a tasty treat.

Right after beetles hatch, they are a real creamy white color that will eventually fade to a reddish brown, then finally to black. I don't have a picture of a newly hatched beetle, but I will try to get one soon if possible.

Example

Just leave the beetles alone for a while, and let them do their thing. Don't forget to give them carrots! :)


Step five: Babies!!


Mealworm beetles usually lay eggs about every two weeks, but I'm not sure how long it takes the eggs to hatch. What I DO know is, though, that I look for baby mealworms about once a month, and I can usually see tiny little itty bitty worms crawling on the bottom of the tub. They are VERY small, so make sure to look under good light, preferably natural light. The babies seem to almost be transparent sometimes.

When I see plenty of tiny worms, I switch my beetle and mealworm tubs. This is where the identical Sterlite containers come in handy :main_yes:.

First, I pick the beetles out of their tub(ONLY THE BEETLES, NOT THE BEDDING), and put them all in a container just for a few minutes while I switch the tubs.

Second, I take the mealworm tub and dump its contents into the former beetle tub with all the baby mealworms. This is so the baby worms can eat and feed off of the bedding and carrots and any eggs that have yet to hatch will be able to hatch, and I will have a clean tub for beetles and not have to worry about switching tubs again till the next set of worms hatch :)

Third, I put down a new thin layer of bedding in the now-empty mealworm container, and dump all the beetles in.

Fourth, I match the lids up to which tub they go on(mealworm lid with less holes, beetle lid with more holes), toss a few carrots in each tub, and we're done!!

Step six: You've got WOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRMMMMSSS!

Now that we have officially switched your baby worms over, it should take around a month for them to get to feeder size. All you have to do is wait :p As they get older, mealworms shed just like reptiles, so expect to find little reddish brown shed pieces floating around. Just like beetles, worms also are really pale after they shed, and turn to their normal reddish-brown color shortly after. When they're full grown, they should look something like this:

Worms



If you follow these guidelines, you should be well on your way to a very healthy colony of worms, and great feeders that your lizards will love! This is also a very neat science project, so if there's any younger kids out there interested in doing this who want to impress their teachers, here's a project for you!! :main_thumbsup:

My colony!


Good luck to you guys and your colonies! :D


~Emily
 
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Taesolieroy

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Atlanta, Georgia
Thanks for putting this all together! I can provide a newly shed beetle if you want since I've got a few pupae soon to hatch over the course of tonight and tomorrow.

One question though since you dump the worm bin into the beetle bin when the babies hatch - I don't know if it was covered here or not - considering that oatmeal would need to be changed out especially for people in naturally humid environments, how do you go about changing the bedding out without loosing any worms in that thick pile?

Oh! I've had no problems ordering from Georgia Crickets either - they have a standard rate for shipping which is VERY affordable for the amount one would order from them.
 

bubblez825

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2,059
Location
Glendale, AZ
Thanks for putting this all together! I can provide a newly shed beetle if you want since I've got a few pupae soon to hatch over the course of tonight and tomorrow.

Welcome! Sure, post a pic! That would be awesome :)

One question though since you dump the worm bin into the beetle bin when the babies hatch - I don't know if it was covered here or not - considering that oatmeal would need to be changed out especially for people in naturally humid environments, how do you go about changing the bedding out without loosing any worms in that thick pile?

That one, I cant answer. I live in arizona, there is like ZERO humidity here. I would assume if the room the worms are in is kept cool enough, it shouldnt be a problem. If it is, you can always grind up all the oatmeal and grains so you can sift the worms out with a sifter :)

Oh! I've had no problems ordering from Georgia Crickets either - they have a standard rate for shipping which is VERY affordable for the amount one would order from them.

Added to the list ;) Thanks! :)
 

Taesolieroy

Freelance Artist
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103
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
Awesome! I'm about to go scoop mealies for feeding my trio so I'll check for new beetles in my bin - I've got them in individual dixie cups in the old holding container so they don't eat other pupae/escape. It's also dark so they can hatch soon - I'm still finding it odd they're reaching adult form within the week of pupating, but that may be my imagination XP.

I don't have a particularly humid environment myself, but I'd think semi-frequent changings of the bedding would reduce the risk of mold developing as well.
 

bubblez825

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Glendale, AZ
Sounds awesome :)

Hmmm i dunno to be honest. I don't ever change my bedding, I've been doing it this way for 5 or 6 years now and hardly ever have any dead worms, but its honestly whatever you prefer and everyone's own preference :)
 

Taesolieroy

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Location
Atlanta, Georgia
True enough!

As luck would have it though, I was checking on my pupae and stumbled on one that looked like it was about to molt, snapped a photo as I noticed it twitching, and found my camera didn't have enough battery power. I went and changed batteries and came back to realize it WAS molting, so I put the batteries in quickly and set the camera to record!
I'll be getting the video uploading while I feed my geckos so folks can see what a mealworm beetle looks like moulting and I have to say, the buggers have NO sense of vertical balance! Kept flipping onto it's back and tipping onto its side before I moved it into the beetle bin!

Here we are.. Not the best around, but hopefully it helps!
 
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ReptileWorld

New Member
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208
Location
Hoboken
Thank you for this info. All of the info is accurate and i agree because that is how I do it all. I dont seperate alients from the worms through. with proper moisture given they wont eat each other. For bedding I use a mix of wheat bran that i purchase whole sale its 100% organic with whole oats that are chopped in the magic bullet. this is a good mixture for me.

as for food i use carrots and potatos

only thing i havnt perfected is sifting the bins to clean them since i dont make the bedding very fine so its not very siftable. this thread gets :main_thumbsup::main_thumbsup::main_thumbsup:
 

bubblez825

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2,059
Location
Glendale, AZ
Thank you! :) I only separate the "aliens" from the worms because I've noticed, even though I keep PLENTY of carrots in there, most of my pupae die after a few days if left in the mealworm bin. Its just whatever works best for each persons colony :)

Just curious, have you ever had any problems with a "death spell"from feeding potatoes? I don't know if I said it up there, but I've had half of a colony die from using potatoes as food...

Sifting is a pain in the butt and in my experience it takes a lot longer than grabbing a handful of stuff and throwing out the dead things :p I use non ground oatmeal, and let the worms break it down naturally, so I'm right there too :main_laugh:
 

Taesolieroy

Freelance Artist
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103
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
Haha not a problem! I spent almost the entire time filming that bugger on my elbows and knees, hence the slight shakiness now and then.

I think that beetle was going, "WTF IS GOING ON?!" every time I fussed with it >_>
 

ImNotYogi

New Member
Messages
166
Location
Saint Louis, MO
I was considering breeding dubias but these seem a lot more simple. I only got my first leo a few months ago and didn't think about breeding mealies when ordering his food. I have bins set up for the beetles and worms now but only have a dozen pupa. So I guess I'll be doing more ordering soon :p
 

panthergecko

Member
Messages
312
Location
Brooklyn
No I was wondering about the concept, but thanks I have begun the superworm process with starting 42 but have had 8 die offs so far.
 

bubblez825

New Member
Messages
2,059
Location
Glendale, AZ
I do believe super worms are close to the same storage wise, but you need more space per worm or they'll eat each other even with ample moisture supply. And thy also need to be isolated to pupate like stated above. I haven't personally bred supers, but I've kept them, and to keep them alive that's my experience about needing more space per worm. :)
 

bubblez825

New Member
Messages
2,059
Location
Glendale, AZ
You're welcome, and thank YOU :)

Oh really, I'll have to try those. I've never hear of them, do you know where I might be able to find some?
 

ApplestoApples

New Member
Messages
39
First off, this should be stickied. Now, I will be getting one gecko and possibly building up to 3 in the next couple of months, how many mealworms should I start out with?
Thanks, Luke
 

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