Raising Feeders

[Lady_Kiya]

Hey there everyone!

Well, as I am sure a lot of you know (More so those of you with quite a collection of geckos and other herps) it can take a lot of funding to feed your animals. So, I have decided myself to start to breed my own mealies and hopefully superworms. Partially to save money, and partially so it's easier once I start breeding my geckos. :main_yes:

I have some questions I am hoping some of you that are experienced can answer, so here I go (sorry if there are a lot)

1. Do either mealworms or super worms need any form of lighting to help them survive or breed? Or is regular house temperature okay? I know they say nothing under 62 degrees or over 89 degrees F (I believe those are the right temps)
2. What type of containers or set up do you think I should use? (If you have pictures of your own and you are finding it successful I would very much like to see, please!)
3. Which mixtures or materials (anything from substrate to what they lay the eggs) that you find works really well? [I know about using grain/oatmeal already, with fresh carrots]
4. Which veggies or fruits (if people use them) do you find work the best for moisture and food for them?
5. Do you leave your bettles in with your mealies? Or is it better to keep them seperated?

Any other tips you might have feel free to add. If I think of any other questions I will add them.

 

[rawson5084]

I would also like to know the answers to these questions

 

[Lady_Kiya]

Bump!

 

[Geck-O]

Here's what i do:

1.No need for special lighting or anything. Don't put our mealies in or the beetles in the sun for even little while. They die fast. (I learned that the hard way) I keep them at room temp here in Malaysia which is about 75-80 degrees in my house. It goes to 90 and over outside though.

2. I keep my mealies and beetles in plastic containers. (Any plastic container will do I think as long as it is at least 1.5" deep.

3.I use crushed oatmeal for the beatles and normal oatmeal for the mealies. I use the crushed oatmeal for the beetles because when they lay eggs and the eggs hatch, the little mealies should be able to chew on the oatmeal.

4. I use both carrots and potatoes but I prefer potatoes because they don't go bad so fast and therefore you won't need to change it that often. For veg I don't really know what I'm using as I just take the veg that are in the fridge but I think most veg should be ok for the mealies. BTW, I don't think the beetles eat veg so I don't put any in their container.

5. Well, I keep my mealies and beetles seperated because I was afraid the mealies might eat the eggs. The mealies also eat the pupae much more often than the beeltes. Whenever I find a pupae, I put it into the container with the beetles. The beetles do eat the pupae sometimes but not as often as the mealies. Some people put the pupae into a container seperate from both the beetles and the mealies and check to see if any pupae became beetles then put them into the same container as the beetles but I'm too lazy to do that.

Hope all this helps.

 

[LeapinLizards]

1. Do either mealworms or super worms need any form of lighting to help them survive or breed? Or is regular house temperature okay? I know they say nothing under 62 degrees or over 89 degrees F (I believe those are the right temps)
Neither need any form of lighting at all. Superworms however ARE a tropical worm, and do not do well with no heat. I have them in the same rack system as my geckos for the time being. Regular mealies though are fine at room temps (as long as your house is not freezing!)

2. What type of containers or set up do you think I should use? (If you have pictures of your own and you are finding it successful I would very much like to see, please!)
I used the same tubs that I have my geckos in to hold my breeding colony of supers. I put about 2" of rolled oats in the bottom, slide the back end over the heat, and put carrots on top of the front section (if the carrots are in the back, over the heat, mold tends to take off much more quickly!)

3. Which mixtures or materials (anything from substrate to what they lay the eggs) that you find works really well? [I know about using grain/oatmeal already, with fresh carrots]
Just that! I personally JUST started breeding supers, but the person I spoke to about it has no issues at all.

4. Which veggies or fruits (if people use them) do you find work the best for moisture and food for them?
I personally like carrots for a few reasons. First one being it's nutritional value...much greater than say lettuce for example. Another is that the "skin" on the outside of the carrots tend to prevent mold from growing longer than other fruits and veggies. I have heard of potatoes, orange peels, etc. It's all about preference!

5. Do you leave your bettles in with your mealies? Or is it better to keep them seperated?
No. Once the mealworms or supers pupate I separate them into individual deli cups. At this point, they do not need food or moisture. Once they turn into a beetle, I then place them in a fresh DIFFERENT tub, and let them do their business The adults will die off in a few weeks or so, and within a month or a little over you should see little worms (that is of course if they bred!!!)

 

[Lady_Kiya]

Thanks Guys, It is interesting to see how everyone does it. Can`t wait to see how other people breed their feeders as well.

 

[LizMarie]

I'm trying to breed these things so I'll tell you from a beginners point of view..

1. They don't need anything special lighting or heating that I know of...

2. At the moment I have mine in a large tupperware container BUT i have so few beetles I don't think it matters but once I really get into it and get more mealworms after the holidays I'll most likely move them into a plastic Sterlite container (24x16x6, i think it is).

3. For food/bedding I use Oatmeal for now but later I want to make a gutload mix that I found online so I can use it as beetles and worms food/bedding. It consist of Oats, Baby Rice Cereal, Bran, Flax Seeds, Wheat Germ, Alfalfa Flakes, Spirulina, Dry Milk Poweder.

4. Moisture I use Carrots. For me it seems to take the longest to go bad. I've used potatoes and apples but I had to change them out every single day, with the carrots I can miss a day.

5. From what I've been told and what I've experienced it's best to have 3 containers one for breeding beetles, Pupae and Mealworms. I suggest you check on your Pupae a few times a day because I had found a beetle that had just turned munching on a Pupae, eww..

 

[Lady_Kiya]

Okay, so I was supposed to order my stuff today. But got home too late for them to deliver them. So instead, I set up their set up. I bought some oatmeal, or just oats rather. I grinded up through the blender so that they are really fine and powdery and placed them into the container.

I bought one of those 5 stacked container things, that should be okay to store them in right? Bettles won't escape from it?

 

[Lady_Kiya]

I also bought carrots for moisture. ^^

 

[Snowy & Petra de Gecko]

Raising

Most of what has been said is correct.

The types of containers or the number of containers is up to you.

I read one caresheet where the person used the Plastic Take Out Dinner Containers and she kept 12 of them. Beetles, Pupae and then the babies separated by age from the youngest to the oldest.

LizMarie mentioned a gutload and I too have seen that site and have taken alot of the information to make my own Mealie Gutload.

Super Mealworms will eat the same stuff as a Mealie. But, their life cycle is different.

Moisture is provided to Beetles and Mealies ... Carrots, Potatoes or a slice of apple.

Check out the other Mealie posts. There is one where I detailed out some other information on Raising Mealies.

Good Luck.