meal worm care/breeding

[snakegirl]

Mealworm care/breeding

Hey this is for anyone that would like to know how to care/breed mealworms. This May not be the right info. But this is how I breed my mealworms for my reptiles. First you need a few bins; I used the Plastic Bins you can buy that has 3 levels. So each “life cycle of mealworms” has a bin. First you have the “Meal worms”. I use Oats and wheat bran. Wheat bran I use for the smaller mealworms so I can shift them out easier. (The adults get oats since I do not use them...so no shifting them out) you can feed them raw chopped Potatoes or carrots. I replace with new food every day. After a few weeks. They will turn in to pupae. I take them out and put them in a bin. They do not need anything until they turn out to be Beetles. After they hatch they will be white (takes 24 hours to turn black) I take them out as soon as I can and put them in their own Bins. Feed them Potatoes or carrots. You will soon start to see the beetles dying off in a few weeks. And meal worms showing up. Make sure you feed them. And take out any dead beetles. To start everything all over again.​

Whole set up

About 2,000 mealworms

Pupae

Just starting to hatch out beetles. So I don’t have a real good photo but just Put them in a bin with food
I also breed wax worms and silkworms let me know if you would like a guild like this ( :

 

[LizMarie]

Great your feeders seem to be so orderly, lol..

I would like the tutorial on Silkworms!!!

Um don't want to hijack your thread but I have a Beetle Pic!

Nothing serious but it's growing.

 

[Pepper]

I think I might start doing this, looks really cool and pretty easy! Thanks for info and pictures!!

Does it matter what size bins we use?

What are you feeding your beetles LizMarie?

What are silkworms??

 

[larry26]

This is really helpful, but do you need to put holes in the bins for air?

 

[snakegirl]

Np! thanks for adding the beetle pic! doesn't really matter what size bins, but more space more meal worms!i do silkworms soon in fact i have some eggs about to hatch soon. So i can do the whole life cycle.

 

[LizMarie]

I think I might start doing this, looks really cool and pretty easy! Thanks for info and pictures!!

Does it matter what size bins we use?

What are you feeding your beetles LizMarie?

What are silkworms??

I just started. I've been seeing the beetle mating dance but NO baby worms, lol.

I think the size of the bins depends on the size of your colony. You want them to have enough space so they aren't packed on to eachother.

My beetles are being feed Oatmeaml and a Big chunk of carrot. There are better foods but that was what I could get my hands on.

Silkworms are suppose to be really good feeders. That's what they look like. http://www.mulberryfarms.com/orders.htm

 

[snakegirl]

Yes i would but if you notice there a small gap in the bins i use (come that way) and it works fine. before i had the bins i use now...i just had Basic bins and just don't use the lids.

 

[LizMarie]

I have a 27qt Sterilite bin. It's flat and fits under my bed and I actually took the lid off and took a window screen and put it on top, lol.

 

[larry26]

Where can you get wheat bran?

 

[snakegirl]

well right now i use "Wheat germ" works much better since its Small bits, so you can shift it. get it at your local grocery. near the wheat cereals. if you would like to buy wheat bran. mulberry farms (site Posted by liz) sells bran at a great price.

 

[Pepper]

Well I convinced my mom to let me start doing this haha. But I forgot I had mixed together about 500 regular meal worms and like 100 giants...so I have no clue which pupae are which haha.
Here's my stuff, I had those bins laying around so that was cool:

 

[Jenn]

those bin are what I use for my pupae and beetles. I have my mealies in a bigger tub.

 

[BethanyB]

The drawers is such a good idea! I might have to do that myself XD would save a lot of room since I'm currently using 6qt tubs for my breeding colony.

And I would love a guide for waxworm breeding! I tried once with these guys and utterly failed, but I'd love to give it another shot sometime .

 

[Lady_Kiya]

I use one of the 3 tiered bins as well... well, techincally 5. Mine has 2 shallow bins, and 3 deeps ones.

Pupae in the first, second is supplies, third is the mealies, forth is the beetles, and lastly is the supers I have.

 

[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 drawrs, i think my mom'll let me borrow hers

 

[bitterbeauty]

I second the idea of a silkworm tutorial!

I wouldn't object to a wax worm tutorial either since I only have experience with breeding mealies and supers.

 

[laurlaur12]

my mealies are in plastic containers i found in my house that i believe are left over from some chinese take out. One for worms, a small one for pupae, and a big one for beetles. They work great, especially since i am only feeding a single gecko at the moment

 

[cjam]

thats a awesome idea i want to try that. I do have a question though when you say you replace food daily did you mean the wheat germ and carrots or just the carrots? thanks

 

[LizMarie]

thats a awesome idea i want to try that. I do have a question though when you say you replace food daily did you mean the wheat germ and carrots or just the carrots? thanks

I bet she meant the carrots or what moisture source your using. They get old and moldy pretty fast the oatmeal/bran stays pretty good for awhile. Even though my OCDish habits have me cleaning out the mealworm bin once a week.

 

[cjam]

oh ok thats what I was thinking but I wanted to make sure. thanks