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

[ImNotYogi]

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

A minimum of a thousand is normally suggested.

 

[ApplestoApples]

Alright I'll probably do 1500 or 2000.

 

[SkinnyPete]

This thread totally got me going on my colony. I am so excited!
I am doing the 3 tier drawer system, but other then that I did just as described here. I got my 1000 mealies last week and already have a dozen pupae.
Love this thread! THANK YOU!!!!

 

[ImNotYogi]

This thread totally got me going on my colony. I am so excited!
I am doing the 3 tier drawer system, but other then that I did just as described here. I got my 1000 mealies last week and already have a dozen pupae.
Love this thread! THANK YOU!!!!

This thread convinced me to breed mealies, too, lol. I only bought 250 or so and stopped feeding them out around the halfway mark. Now I'm down to 3 dormant worms, 2 dozen or so pupae, and no idea how many beetles. I'll be ordering 2 thousand tomorrow night to really jump start it. I was thinking about breeding dubias first but these are a lot easier. And a lot less...creepy.

 

[SkinnyPete]

Exactly! I lived in a house when I was younger that was INFESTED with Brown Roaches, the idea of purposely bringing Roaches into my home is something I just can't deal with. I know they are not the same thing, but it's just s mental blockage.
Mealies are mellow, smell like fresh cut grain and don't get out and crawl around!
I hope your colony goes gangbusters!

This thread convinced me to breed mealies, too, lol. I only bought 250 or so and stopped feeding them out around the halfway mark. Now I'm down to 3 dormant worms, 2 dozen or so pupae, and no idea how many beetles. I'll be ordering 2 thousand tomorrow night to really jump start it. I was thinking about breeding dubias first but these are a lot easier. And a lot less...creepy.

 

[Taesolieroy]

Hey again! I'm well off on my colony being started with over 2 dozen adult beetles and as many pupae germinating in a bin. I want to make something of note about the beetles that can be possibly useful.

The mealie beetles won't immediately eat until about a day or two after turning completely black (which can take a couple days in itself), so the pupaes can be stored several per dixie cup if you prefer to keep them separate for easy monitoring and removal of the beetles like I do. I just pluck out the beetles I find and put in a new pupae from the mealworm bin in where the beetle was.

 

[SkinnyPete]

Problem!
My worms are pupating, but the pupae are dying. I am keeping them seperate in a cup so they arent being eaten. But they are turning black dying. Any ideas on how to keep them going?

 

[bubblez825]

I had that problem for a while, and from what I found(coincidence or fact, I don't know) I moved the pupae to a warmer spot in my room. It decreased the amount dying, but I do not know if that was the reason or not. Some pupae are always going to die, there's never going to be 100% survivors. They could have also gotten chewed on or something before you removed them from the bin *shrugs* sometimes it just happens. I had a month where nearly all my pupae were dying, without any cause. If anyone could shed some light on why this happens, that would be great because I'm curious too

 

[SkinnyPete]

^ That's what I was thinking, so I moved them over to sit on top of my Leopard cage. I am also wondering if it is a lack of or excess humidity? I am thinking of putting a thin layer of my food mix into the bottom of the container. It strikes me as if they were meant to live their lives in the food, the pupae would be happier with some of it in with them.
We will see! I would love to hear what other do to improve their pupae survival rate.

 

[ImNotYogi]

I do nothing special for pupae. I used to put them in a deli container then as I got more I started putting them in the empty top drawer of the mealworm tier thing. The only black pupa I found was in the mealworm drawer and the other pupae deaths were caused by beetles. I tried Googling about this but most of the results seemed to be from people who didn't separate the stages. I assumed sudden die offs would be temperature related?

 

[bubblez825]

I do nothing special for pupae. I used to put them in a deli container then as I got more I started putting them in the empty top drawer of the mealworm tier thing. The only black pupa I found was in the mealworm drawer and the other pupae deaths were caused by beetles. I tried Googling about this but most of the results seemed to be from people who didn't separate the stages. I assumed sudden die offs would be temperature related?

I would assume temperature would be a major factor in deaths, but as SkinnyPete said, I assume it could be humidity related too. Too much moisture can seriously kill a colony, with mold and whatnot, so why not for pupae too?

 

[Taesolieroy]

Unusual indeed, in my case the few pupae that die on me turn this kind of 'transparent' dark sheen like they're coated in glaze with a dark core, and don't move at all when I poke them, hard. I keep them about 3 a dixie cup in a dark bin that I used to keep the mealies and crickets (the latter before the former) in and it seems to help with the pupating process. Every day I check I see a new moulted beetle in the cups.

There have been a couple cases where the pupae have black heads, but when I poke their little butts flail about XP

I'm glad to say now I'm spotting the babies in the first adult bin, so I moved them into a new bin to grow the babies some more. Once I hear back from a co-worker whom I gave a 'sample' batch of redworm-sized larvae on whether his frogs take to it or not, I'll start selling a portion of my clutches to him to help regulate the colony population. I'm barely two months into this and I've already got a potential client to help regulate the food supply - wohoo!

Bubblez - at this point would you suggest supplementing the colony's 'bloodlines' with new small batches of mealies from suppliers dedicated to help keep any imperfections occurring as breeding goes on?

 

[bubblez825]

Congratulations on your first set of baby mealies!
What do you mean by " regulate " any imperfections? If you mean restock the colony to keep fresh blood in it, I really don't think it matters. If you have a colony up and running, you will not have to order more mealworms for a very long time if even at all, your colony will supply itself I only have a small colony now, so I end up having to order two or three about once or twice a year since I'm feeding three bearded dragons, a blue tongued skink, and four leopard geckos. In the cooler months web reproduction slows, I usually feed more than I'm producing and not leaving enough worms to grow and pupate. But no, a colony should be able to sustain itself if you have a decent sized colony

 

[Taesolieroy]

Yeah I plan to keep my colony smallish as well since I only have three leopard geckos and they're starting to feed less with the cooler days coming up.

 

[bubblez825]

Yeah I plan to keep my colony smallish as well since I only have three leopard geckos and they're starting to feed less with the cooler days coming up.

same here. But you also have to account for the occasional ones that die as well as how much you are feeding your geckos vs how many you need to sustain a colony

 

[SkinnyPete]

Started keeping my pupae cup in the drawer with the beetles. Loss rate on pupae dropped immediately. Started getting beetles the next day!
I just moved the oats out of the way so the cup will sit in there. The beetles can't get up the sides to bug the pupae.
Good to go.

 

[Cesar_Da_KIng]

Question, I had a bunch ( 20) pupai in a deli cup due to turn to beetles and they all died. Any ideas?

 

[bubblez825]

Could be a couple reasons; too cold temperature, no air in the deli container (is there a lid on it?, too much light?

 

[Gilraen]

I've been wondering about this for a while now. For people like me with just one gecko who can eat mealworms, how big of a colony do I want to keep? I know if I get one that is too big I can always sell the extras, but then again, I don't want to go too crazy. Is there a guide of any sort on how many eggs an adult beetle will lay, or how many adults I should try to keep in my adult bin at any one time, considering that after the colony gets to where it is producing well I'll be able to feed out of the "worm" bin?

 

[ImNotYogi]

I've been wondering about this for a while now. For people like me with just one gecko who can eat mealworms, how big of a colony do I want to keep? I know if I get one that is too big I can always sell the extras, but then again, I don't want to go too crazy. Is there a guide of any sort on how many eggs an adult beetle will lay, or how many adults I should try to keep in my adult bin at any one time, considering that after the colony gets to where it is producing well I'll be able to feed out of the "worm" bin?

I only have one gecko as well but plan to get another one (or two) after my colony is up and running, lol. Or maybe a beardie.