Mealworm colony (beetle question)

[trizzypballr]

I started out with 5k mealworms starting my own colony, it was alittle bit of a slow start, but ive been pulling at least 30-50 pupa out of the mealie bins the past few days. my question comes with the care of the beetles. I use the large oat containers you find at walmart to make oatmeal with as the bedding. I desided to chop it up fine in a blender because it is a total pain to sort threw the mealie container now because you cant really sift threw them. I tested it out with 10 of the beetles, and within 3 days all 10 of them have died. How does everyone take care of their beetles? Ive been giving carrots to my mealies every 3rd day for extra nutrition and a water source, tried doing the same with the beetles, but i keep finding 75% of them flipped upside down kicking their legs in the air, what is going on with them, and why did they die in the bedding i tried a few of them in? They seem to be doing alittle better in the oat bedding that wasnt chopped up real fine, but I still contantly find a bunch of them upside down. I thought my colony was going well, but if I cant keep these beetles alive that will all come to a hault very fast.

 

[Haligren]

Maybe try organic oatmeal? I don't think they put pesticides or anything in oats, but I'm not entirely sure.

 

[robin]

wait you are grinding up the oats or oat containers?

 

[herpencounter]

I have been breeding mealies for long time. I found that the ones on oatmeal dont live as long, and produce less eggs/mealies. The oats have a very high % of moisture, and I think that was the reason. The High moisture also makes it a pain in the a** to sift through.

I use wheat bran, you can get it at a feed store for like $8 for a 25lb bag. You dont need to grind it. It is not moist like the oats. After couple weeks of the mealies eating it, it is very easy to sift.

Moral of the story =P... Throw out all your oats and start using wheat bran. Every single problem you are having is because of the oats. Even the dumb stuff... Like finding beetles upside down. The oats pack together and they cant get a hold of the substrate to flip back over.

OH! I offer carrots daily just enough so that they eat all the carrots in 24hrs if there are still carrots 24hrs latter its too much.

 

[trizzypballr]

Any tips for getting the approx 4-5k mealies out of the oats now? LoL. I spent around 2 hrs picking 1k out of a different bin the other day

Also are there different types of wheat bran, or is there only 1 kind? Wasnt sure if they make wheat bran with different things in it for different things or if wheat bran is wheat bran no matter what you are using it for. Thank you again

 

[herpencounter]

Any tips for getting the approx 4-5k mealies out of the oats now? LoL. I spent around 2 hrs picking 1k out of a different bin the other day

Also are there different types of wheat bran, or is there only 1 kind? Wasnt sure if they make wheat bran with different things in it for different things or if wheat bran is wheat bran no matter what you are using it for. Thank you again

I have NO tips for getting the mealies out lol. My only recommendation is to get a bigger bin, and place the worms in the bin (with the oats), add some wheat bran, then just start using the bran after that.

I am sure there are several brands of the wheat bran. But wheat bran is just the outer shell of the grain. The one I use... I get it from tractor supply, its in a white bag with a black horse head on it, no writing.

Josiah.

 

[trizzypballr]

Ok awesome, thank you

 

[trizzypballr]

btw, are carrots the only thing u give the beetles? I saw some people talk about water crystals but that sounds like a bad idea to me?

Btw, got the wheat bran and so far the beetles look like their really struggling in it also? Ive flipped quite a few beetles over that were on their backs and couldnt seem to flip over. Maybe theres something wrong with the beetles though, some of them seem to really struggle to get out of the pupa shell and have messed up wings. Im concerned, maybe im missing some kind of nutrition for the mealworms themselves? Like I said above they were kept in Oats and given carrots every 2-3 days, I will be switching over to the wheat bran now though

 

[Vision Geckos]

I don't know about any of you, but the oat bran I use is great. My beetles love it, my mealworms love it, and it's easy to sift through. It's cheap, too. If anything, I hate wheat bran because the particles are too big to sift through.

Oh and Brandon, I have some beetles with messed up wings too. Don't worry about it, because you'll have dozens more beetles for each messed up beetle. I get 15-25 pupa a day.

 

[got spots?]

I use oats. It seems as if darkilings(the beetles) are clumsy. They dont seem to be able to flip themselves back if fall in my experince. I just got some babies from my colony that is own oats. I admit though its not a lot of babies but they are so small still its hard to see.

 

[herpencounter]

What temp is the room? Humidity (if you know)? How deep is the substrate?

Yes, I only use carrots for moisture.

Don't worry about flipping them over. I get beetles with messed up wings and stuff too.

I don't know about any of you, but the oat bran I use is great. My beetles love it, my mealworms love it, and it's easy to sift through. It's cheap, too. If anything, I hate wheat bran because the particles are too big to sift through.

Oh and Brandon, I have some beetles with messed up wings too. Don't worry about it, because you'll have dozens more beetles for each messed up beetle. I get 15-25 pupa a day.

Oat bran and wheat bran are basically the same thing. Bran is the outer shell of the grain.

The brand you get might be ground up.

 

[Vision Geckos]

I see a huge difference between the two. Wheat bran is much more flakey and spread out (which is why it doesn't sift in my experience), while oat bran is a little smaller and more compact.

 

[herpencounter]

I see a huge difference between the two. Wheat bran is much more flakey and spread out (which is why it doesn't sift in my experience), while oat bran is a little smaller and more compact.

By the time I need to sift meal worms its all poop. lol

Is the oat bran you buy made for human consumption?

J.

 

[trizzypballr]

By the time I need to sift meal worms its all poop. lol

Is the oat bran you buy made for human consumption?

J.

Yes it is, quaker makes it. Its not the packets though, its the large containers you can buy. I got the original oats kind.

As far as the wheat bran that I picked up today, its in a big brown bag with wheat bran written on it, couldnt find any other kinds.

for the mealworms im using a 15qt container just like i use for the leos, its filled 1/4th-1/3rd of the way full. Room temp is 70, not sure the humidity. For the beetles I put around 2 inches of bedding in another 15qt for them.

 

[Vision Geckos]

Yes, I actually get organic oat bran from wegmans. It's like 2$ per pound. Pretty good.

 

[herpencounter]

Yes it is, quaker makes it. Its not the packets though, its the large containers you can buy. I got the original oats kind.

As far as the wheat bran that I picked up today, its in a big brown bag with wheat bran written on it, couldnt find any other kinds.

for the mealworms im using a 15qt container just like i use for the leos, its filled 1/4th-1/3rd of the way full. Room temp is 70, not sure the humidity. For the beetles I put around 2 inches of bedding in another 15qt for them.

The post you quoted me on was directed at vision.

As for the rest.......

It all seems fine. Ha.


I want to make a care sheet type thing for this... too lazy =s


J.

 

[herpencounter]

Yes, I actually get organic oat bran from wegmans. It's like 2$ per pound. Pretty good.

That's probably why its smaller.

 

[janjgeckos]

Just wanted to ask is 68-70 deg ok or should it be warmer I put a thermometer right in the bran and thats the temps im working with

 

[Magic Merlin]

-beetles and worms need to be at 80'-85'
-put pieces of egg carton on top of wheat bran for the beetle grab at when they are upside down
-potato slices and carrots along with a 2oz portion cup filled with water crystals sunken into wheat bran to a level the beetles can reach.
-mealworm collection.....pull out all water sourced for a day or so and then add 1 or 2 slices of potatos on top of your oats and it will be solid worms within 10 minutes.....gently pick up potato slice and shake off in alternate container.
-mealworm collection # 2........again take away all water sources for a couple of days and then gently fill a collander 1/2 full of oat substrate containing the worms and set in a collection tub. Put several pieces of potato slices in the collection tub and the mealworms in the collander will crawl out the holes in the collander to get to the water source leaving the oats retained in the collander.
-for substrate use wheat bran and then once a week grind up cat/dog/fish for variety and added protein.....celery, lettuce, or dark leafy vegetable is very beneficial also just remember to RINSE EVERYTHING FIRST.....everything we eat has had pesticides sprayed on it at one time or another.
-just as a frame of referrence, my beetles live and lay eggs for at least 4 months before dieing.

 

[Northstar Herp]

I use chicken mash for bedding. I think it was $9 for 50 lbs. Can't beat that with a stick...