Mealworm Colony is Starting!

[ReptilesForTheWin]

I am working on breeding some meal worms. I currently have 16 worms in it. Although I could add more I want to see if I can get some beetles to form before I add more.

I can see that I have 2 that are about to become beetles. They are in the "alien" stage. They are soft and just twitch their tails when they are touched.

I did not dump them all out so I do not know if there are any more in that same stage but there are not any beetles yet.

I removed a lot of molted skin out of the container tonight. So I do know that they are growing and I am making progress.

Wish me luck.

I will add some pictures and updates later on. If you have any tips or you want to share your colony pictures with me just post them! I am sure people would love to see how some of you guys and gals are having so much success! :main_thumbsup:

 

[ketz]

The only thing I and probably many others will recommend is starting with a lot more beetles because it takes a very long time (2-3 months) before the baby worms are ready to feed. It will take a while to get up and running, but afterwards it will be worth it.

The other thing I'd recommend is make sure you stick with the upkeep, I always get the colonies started and then it becomes a pain in the butt to keep up with cleaning and feeding and separating.

 

[ariana]

The other thing I'd recommend is make sure you stick with the upkeep, I always get the colonies started and then it becomes a pain in the butt to keep up with cleaning and feeding and separating.

agreed!

 

[bman123]

I just buy mine from the store lol, I don't have any mouths to feed right now but I would breed mealies in a heartbeat if I had a couple leos. Good luck with your project..

 

[adam&nikki]

ive started my colony with 1k mealworms and about 2 weeks ago i added another 2k my bettles have passed on but they did leave me a few 100 babies i think a colony of 16 worms will take a very long time to start thats why i went with alot more

but good luck to you

 

[jfreels]

I actually started my colony with exactly 16 beetles. Only one has died and I already have hundreds of little baby mealworms. Just hope you get lucky and have a good female/male ratio.