now what?
- Thread starter cwazy
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rhino43grr
HERE WE GO STEELERS
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put them in a separate container and wait.
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rhino43grr said:
The pupae don't need food. When they turn into beetles, put them in a container with gutload. When you've had a bunch for a few weeks, put the beetles in another container of fresh gutload and put the "old" gutload in another container to wait for the teeny worms to get big enough to feed. It may take at least a month at first.
Aliza
ElapidSVT
lolwut?
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i'm getting about 30 pupae a day. should have a monster mealworm colony in a couple months!
gl!
alright... so ive waited and waited and all of the sudden *POOF* ive got 2 beetles and 1 more pupae... so i have 2 lil beetles... what should i gutload em with??? also how big of a container should they be in and how long befor i take em out and put em in a new one.... and what happens if i have 2 of the same gender... and what do i do to make the mealies turn in to pupae again??? thanks for all of the help thus far
I think you'll need more than 2-3 beetles just for the sake of genetic diversity (someone else can probably give you a good number) - If you let a few more of your feeder worms go and become pupae you'll probably be OK though.
For the beetles, feed them like they're bigger, blacker, uglier worms (grain, fruits/veg, whatever calcium/protein gutload you like). Eventually what will happen is you'll pick out the beetles and move them into a new home while little baby mealworms will hatch and start munching on whatever food their parents didn't eat.
To keep things going (get more pupae to make more beetles to lay more eggs...) all you really need to do is keep the worms well fed. Mealworms don't need any encouragement to pupate like the superworms - If you feed them well they'll pupate after 2-3 months usually (its been a while since I raised my own, there's a little fudge factor for temperature (warmer=faster) but 2-3 months is about what I remember).
I keep telling myself I should start raising my own meailes again, but while I don't so much mind the worms beetles just creep me out...
For the beetles, feed them like they're bigger, blacker, uglier worms (grain, fruits/veg, whatever calcium/protein gutload you like). Eventually what will happen is you'll pick out the beetles and move them into a new home while little baby mealworms will hatch and start munching on whatever food their parents didn't eat.
To keep things going (get more pupae to make more beetles to lay more eggs...) all you really need to do is keep the worms well fed. Mealworms don't need any encouragement to pupate like the superworms - If you feed them well they'll pupate after 2-3 months usually (its been a while since I raised my own, there's a little fudge factor for temperature (warmer=faster) but 2-3 months is about what I remember).
I keep telling myself I should start raising my own meailes again, but while I don't so much mind the worms beetles just creep me out...
leolover23
New Member
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Ok, to get um to pupate, do you have to leave um outta the fridge?
This might be a stupid question, but I'm new to geckos!
Thanks!
This might be a stupid question, but I'm new to geckos!
Thanks!
H
Homerx
Guest
leolover23 said:
Absolutly, they will not pupate in the fridge. Also as mentioned the warmer thier kept the quicker they will pupate.:main_thumbsup:
J
jbodkin
Guest
Is it worth all the work to breed them ... Or just buy a 1000 at a time and keep them in the fridge ... Seems like you have to do a lot of work picking them out and moving them around so they don't eat each other ... Also do you have to keep each stage in a container of grain substrate? ... and with all that grain laying around ... how easy is it to get grain mites? .. then you have a mess on your hands
very good questions ^^^^^ .... also what size containers??? i only ask so much cuz we have concidered tryin this at some point cuz 5 bucks a week on mealies seems crazy... and they keep raising in price... so we were trying to figure out would it be best to bread or buy in bulk?? we now have 2 beetles and 1 pupae thats getting ready to change over i think.... and just tonight somehow i plucked out a super worm pupae out of the container!!! *a super pupae? lol* this whole process amazes me... how you go from alien to beetle in very lil time it seems.... i watched them every day to see if i could see a difference... then i checked them that morning, still all pupaes... my wife checks em maybe 2 hours later and *POOF* we have got a beetle... its just so odd... i know ill need more to seriously breed them... but it seems we just keep gettin pupae thrown at us... maybe its a sign? lol... just wanna know what we are gettin into thanks all for all the help... keep it coming please
thanks all for all the help... keep it coming please
H
Homerx
Guest
cwazy said:very good questions ^^^^^ .... also what size containers??? i only ask so much cuz we have concidered tryin this at some point cuz 5 bucks a week on mealies seems crazy... and they keep raising in price... so we were trying to figure out would it be best to bread or buy in bulk?? we now have 2 beetles and 1 pupae thats getting ready to change over i think.... and just tonight somehow i plucked out a super worm pupae out of the container!!! *a super pupae? lol* this whole process amazes me... how you go from alien to beetle in very lil time it seems.... i watched them every day to see if i could see a difference... then i checked them that morning, still all pupaes... my wife checks em maybe 2 hours later and *POOF* we have got a beetle... its just so odd... i know ill need more to seriously breed them... but it seems we just keep gettin pupae thrown at us... maybe its a sign? lol... just wanna know what we are gettin into
http://mealwormstore.com/raising_mealworms.php
They are easy to breed. I started with a 100 mealies from pet store. My geckos at the time would not eat them so I just kept them over the summer. I gave all the beetles new food, etc never actually moved them over to new container so I probably lost alot of eggs. However I now have a 2500 Plus colony and new geckos that eat them. My colony is just pupating now for the 2nd time so it should be huge by next summer/breeding season. Tip I keep mine in shoe box size containers with a screen lid cut into the tops ( to prevent to much humidity) this keeps mites,mold and problems away. Go to the dollar store and get a flour sifter. Dump the whole container in it one every two weeks and shake out poo. Put mealies back in container, give new food/bedding etc. Rinse repeat
every two weeks until they pupate. Once they turn into beetles DO NOT sift away the poo as it contains the eggs. Just move the beetles to a new container with food etc. every 2-3 weeks. If you get to many (and you will) put them in the fridge to slow down the process. Or drop a handfull in your soup :main_laugh: GL
bitterbeauty
Animal Lover
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It really is not that much of a hassle to breed mealworms. I have found that they pretty much thrive on neglect. They breed themselves basically. All you need to do it provide oatmeal and carrots.
J
jbodkin
Guest
Homerx said:http://mealwormstore.com/raising_mealworms.php
They are easy to breed. I started with a 100 mealies from pet store. My geckos at the time would not eat them so I just kept them over the summer. I gave all the beetles new food, etc never actually moved them over to new container so I probably lost alot of eggs. However I now have a 2500 Plus colony and new geckos that eat them. My colony is just pupating now for the 2nd time so it should be huge by next summer/breeding season. Tip I keep mine in shoe box size containers with a screen lid cut into the tops ( to prevent to much humidity) this keeps mites,mold and problems away. Go to the dollar store and get a flour sifter. Dump the whole container in it one every two weeks and shake out poo. Put mealies back in container, give new food/bedding etc. Rinse repeat
What do you use Oats or Bran? Where do you get your bedding?
bitterbeauty
Animal Lover
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You can use human grade oatmeal. I buy the big bulk container from walmart and put it in the food processor. Dont get quick oats. Get regular (they kind you have to cook).
H
Homerx
Guest
jbodkin said:
For the sake of my Gekos I feed mine plain rolled oats, red bran and cat food (for protien) all at once. For moisture a 2 " peice of celery or a baby carrot once a week. I get oats and red bran from the bulk barn. Its cheap there. Gl
J
jbodkin
Guest
Homerx said:
Do you have to cut chop up the oats to get them small enough to sift out the bugs? or what do you do to shift/sort if not?
H
Homerx
Guest
jbodkin said:
Nope I put all my food in whole. They'll eat it
What food does not sift out with the poo, goes right back in the box with the worms and I top up with more food. Remeber I am not sifting out the beetles I pick them out to move to a new tray, as the substrate they were in will contain all the eggs, so you don't want to sift that away. Once you start seeing tiny worms in there add more food and wait 3 weeks before sifting out poo. This way you don't sift away any tiny worms or remaing eggs. Then the cycle starts all over again.
M
myjoyoverflows
Guest
Are the eggs at all noticeable or will it take them hatching to know whether or not your beetles even laid any? About how long will it take for them to hatch and then be big enough to feed?
H
Homerx
Guest
myjoyoverflows said:
There Tiny, like the poo. I've never looked for them actually. They hatch 2-3 weeks and another 3-4 to be ready to feed, depending on what size you need. If you keep them warmer the whole process happens on the shorter end of the time scale. I just keep mine at room temp as I don't need 1000's all the time. I try to peak the colony for breeding time, it easy to manipulate with the fridge
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