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hopingforbabies
Guest
I switched my beetles to a new tub today and seen some babies in there.How long does it take for them to grow?This is my first batch of baby mealworms!
bubblez825
New Member
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- Glendale, AZ
Congradulations on the mealies 
. IDK how long.......
. IDK how long.......
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zzz888
Guest
I think you don't have to breed mealworms, they're cheap. It is just not worth it.
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Leonardo
Guest
it takes FOREVER for them to get the right size. lol. not really, about 6-8 weeks to get a good size, but it seems like forever. mine are just now starting to get close to a decent size to feed my gecko. its been a little over a month.
J
jsmgecko
Guest
zzz888 said:
good luck finding them with the shortage in mealworms the only place to get them seems like its PETCO and half the mealies on those containers are dead.... I actually started breeding a few weeks ago hopefully I can get it to work.. good luck 6-8 weeks sounds about right I used to breed a long time ago but got tired of seeing mealies all over the place
Congrats on the mealworms, it does seem like forever to get started! Once you do get started, it's all good from there!...
They should have good size to them in 5-6wks. Once you get a colony going and figure out how to cycle them for your needs, you should have various tubs set with various sizes of mealworms.
We've got a 28qt tub with I would guess over 10,000+ large mealworms, then below 11qt tubs with 1000's of medium and 1000's of small mealworms. Then another 11qt tub with eggs/tiny mealworms and another tub with beetles laying eggs just hatched babies growing.
This way, we always have adult mealworms to feed as well as the right sized needed. We just set aside 1500-2000 mealworms for the sole purpose for them to pupate to keep the colony going as our current mealworms die.
Superworms are also very easy to breed! We've got another 28qt tub full of adult supers and two 11qt tubs with medium to small and another 11qt with beetles/eggs. With Supers you just need to isolate individual worms for them to pupate. We used a fishing tackle box to separate 50 Supers to start. I just separated 100 Supers to pupate.
They should have good size to them in 5-6wks. Once you get a colony going and figure out how to cycle them for your needs, you should have various tubs set with various sizes of mealworms.
We've got a 28qt tub with I would guess over 10,000+ large mealworms, then below 11qt tubs with 1000's of medium and 1000's of small mealworms. Then another 11qt tub with eggs/tiny mealworms and another tub with beetles laying eggs just hatched babies growing.
This way, we always have adult mealworms to feed as well as the right sized needed. We just set aside 1500-2000 mealworms for the sole purpose for them to pupate to keep the colony going as our current mealworms die.
Superworms are also very easy to breed! We've got another 28qt tub full of adult supers and two 11qt tubs with medium to small and another 11qt with beetles/eggs. With Supers you just need to isolate individual worms for them to pupate. We used a fishing tackle box to separate 50 Supers to start. I just separated 100 Supers to pupate.
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hopingforbabies
Guest
There doesn't seem like there is a ton of babies in the tub.I am assuming they just started to hatch and because I am adding beetles everyday,there must be different stages going on.Is it the same breeding wax worms? I bought some for my geckos as a treat.
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Emu
Guest
watch your adults don't eat too many of the eggs, they'll eat a lot of them if they get overcrowded at all. i've only just started breeding and i'm at pretty much the same stage as you, so i couldn't tell you for sure how long it takes for them to grow up, one website gives this timetable:
Egg 4-19 days (usually 4-7). Another source says 20-40 days
Larva 10 weeks. Visible after about a week
Pupa 6-18 (18-24?) days
Beetle 8-12 weeks
source: http://www.sialis.org/raisingmealworms.htm#timetable
luckily it's summer for us in the northern hemisphere so they should be growing faster for us here than they would in the winter, unless you have a heat source.
Egg 4-19 days (usually 4-7). Another source says 20-40 days
Larva 10 weeks. Visible after about a week
Pupa 6-18 (18-24?) days
Beetle 8-12 weeks
source: http://www.sialis.org/raisingmealworms.htm#timetable
luckily it's summer for us in the northern hemisphere so they should be growing faster for us here than they would in the winter, unless you have a heat source.
Kellyr
Member
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- Philadelphia
zzz888 said:
ZZZ Are you a breeder? How many geckos do you have? I don't order from websites or anything (which is cheaper) I buy from the petstore for now ($3 per tub of 50.. if there are 50).. but I have one 2 month old that will eat the entire tub if you kept giving them to him!! (Which I don't but he is such a piggy and growing fast) So I started to breed mealies too.
moosassah
New Member
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- 2,180
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- Weymouth MA
They are pretty cheap. But even with only 4 leos to feed, we breed our own. It's more reliable than pet shops & you know what they're eating.
As for breeding waxies...I wouldn't bother if you are only going to keep a few leos. That way you won't be tempted to overfeed them on waxies if you end up with too many.
As for breeding waxies...I wouldn't bother if you are only going to keep a few leos. That way you won't be tempted to overfeed them on waxies if you end up with too many.
Airilith
New Member
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- 393
Kellyr said:
$3 for 50? Ouch. When the shortage ends you might want to look into another source. I'm paying $12 for 1,000 shipped, or was before the mealie shortage.
Kellyr
Member
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- 826
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- Philadelphia
Airilith, if you don't mind me asking.. where do you order from?? Until my colony gets started I may try that site (if they have them available) PM me if you can.. thanks
Ultrakd
Gecko Geeks
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- 680
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- Lakeland/Apopka Florida
No mealworms dont smell unless there are alot of dead ones. I have a 1 6qt tub full of beetel, a 6qt full of pupa, and a few other 6qts with about 1,000 mealworms in it. Kellyr Ive been getting tubs of 500 for 6 bucks, so your store is expensive
Kellyr
Member
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- Philadelphia
500 for $6.. wow did I get ripped off!! That is why I am trying this out... I had no idea it took so long for them to turn into beetles.. and now I wait... I think I am done with petstores.. I am researching a few sites now :main_yes:
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hopingforbabies
Guest
I have another tub with beetles and there are babies in there too now.Can I mix both tubs?Or do I have to get another tub?The other one is a few weeks old.
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hopingforbabies
Guest
can anyone answer this?
rhino43grr
HERE WE GO STEELERS
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- 579
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- PA
i just have one tub and it's been working, but then again i don't even come close to depleting the supply with only one gecko to feed. some people say to keep multiple tubs and move the beetles around periodically because the eggs will get eaten (i don't know if it's by the beetles or the worms) i used to have 2 tubs going, but moisture got to them and i have enough of a surplus that i'm not worried about losing some eggs with just the one tub.
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