Jeff876533
Jeffrayy
- Messages
- 132
hey guys, i thought it was about time for one of these. I always see the topics come up, and i decided i'd try to make a sticky. Everything i know so far is going into this, and if you want me to add anything important or just little things that may help, just post
****NOTE***** This is intended for non-breeding pet owners wanting to breed mealworms. IF you do breed, then just multiply this. It does take a lot of work and time, and it may not sound like it, but lots of work is needed. You also may need a lot more tubs, because in order to move the beetles from one container to another, and let the baby mealworms grow, you need a lot of tubs, and even more depending on the amount of beetles you currently have.
Supplies needed:
2 or 3 Tubs or small tanks (tubs recommended they're cheaper)
Bedding (fine gutload or fine-grounded oats should work well, a mix of both is even better)
Moisture source (potato's work excellent)
*optional*1 smaller bucket (for the worms you're going to turn to pupae)
*optional* 2 small butter buckets (1 to store the pupae and seperate them from the worms, one for the near beetle pupae)
*optional* A wire sifter
1st Step: Getting the mealworms into pupae
An obviously important part of mealworm breeding is before the morph from a mealworm to a pupae. Some people like to take all the food and moisture sources away from the mealworms so they can pupate faster. It's true that they do turn into pupae if they're stressed, but the only bad thing with that is the pupae might die of starvation, or malnutrition. My suggestion is to feed them all very well, and they'll turn into bigger, healthier beetles instead of malnourished non-healthy beetles. Mainly oats or any type of gutload (www.progecko.com makes great gutload from what ive heard and have been using, and i'm not dissapointed one bit) work for the bedding. A tip to save some gutload because it can be expensive: Grind some oats in a blender until it turns to fine powder (some chunks are totally fine) and mix 1 part oats and 1 part gutload and lay it down in the tub. Once you have beetles, they'll eat this, and the baby mealworms will also if all goes well.
2nd Step: Pupating process
Once a mealworm has turned into a pupae, i suggest seperating it from the mealworms into another small container (a butter bucket would work great). Its better to be safe to seperate, though i've never heard mealworms eating pupae, but who knows? They will not eat in this state, so that's why its so important to let them eat well before they pupate. They'll stay in this state for 1-2 weeks.
3rd Step: Seperating Near-beetle pupae
As you can see in the pic below (coming soon), the pupae is starting to get the brownish color on it. This means the pupae will be turning into a beetle very soon (usually about half a week to a week). This is usually when i seperate them so when they do turn into beetles, the beetles don't eat the pupae, which has been known to happen and has happened to me before.
4th Step: Putting Pupated Beetle Into Tub, And Basic Care For Beetles
Once the pupae turns into a beetle, i usually take a plastic spoon, and move them from the container to the tub with the bedding. After pupating, the beetle will be very hungry and thirsty, so put a couple slices of a vegtable (potato works very well) in the container. The slices should be thin, because they'll only eat so much before the potato dries up. I usually replace the potato's after a week or so, when they become dried out.
5th Step: Breeding and Mealworms
I haven't gotten any worms yet from the beetles, but here's the information i have come to know after a while of researching breeding mealworms. After a month - a month and a half, you'll have to move all the beetles into a different container. This is so the mealworms can grow in the bedding, and so the beetles don't eat the mealworms. Once moved out of the current container, you should see mini-mealworms after a month or two. Keep a couple of those worms, and continue this process all over again.
Tips:
For a more sucsessful breeding colony, put the beetle container in a closet, or a dark place somewhere. They are a lot more active in the dark, thus making them breed more often, thus more mealworms will be born.
Keep them warm, they'll stay more active this way.
Once you see mini mealworms, you can sift them out with a wire sifter, which should be easy because your bedding should be very fine, and all the mealworms will be in the sifter after all the bedding is sifted.
Warm temperature promotes pupation, while cold temperature prohibits the morphing.
PICS
A Pic of my recently pupated pupae bucket
A Pic of a more recently pupated pupae on the left, and a near beetle pupae on the right
A Pic of my near-beetle pupae, waiting to hatch to beetles
MORE PICS COMING TOMORROW OF BEETLE TUB, BEETLE STAGES, ECT.
If anybody here has any tips i should add, just post
Jeff K.
****NOTE***** This is intended for non-breeding pet owners wanting to breed mealworms. IF you do breed, then just multiply this. It does take a lot of work and time, and it may not sound like it, but lots of work is needed. You also may need a lot more tubs, because in order to move the beetles from one container to another, and let the baby mealworms grow, you need a lot of tubs, and even more depending on the amount of beetles you currently have.
Supplies needed:
2 or 3 Tubs or small tanks (tubs recommended they're cheaper)
Bedding (fine gutload or fine-grounded oats should work well, a mix of both is even better)
Moisture source (potato's work excellent)
*optional*1 smaller bucket (for the worms you're going to turn to pupae)
*optional* 2 small butter buckets (1 to store the pupae and seperate them from the worms, one for the near beetle pupae)
*optional* A wire sifter
1st Step: Getting the mealworms into pupae
An obviously important part of mealworm breeding is before the morph from a mealworm to a pupae. Some people like to take all the food and moisture sources away from the mealworms so they can pupate faster. It's true that they do turn into pupae if they're stressed, but the only bad thing with that is the pupae might die of starvation, or malnutrition. My suggestion is to feed them all very well, and they'll turn into bigger, healthier beetles instead of malnourished non-healthy beetles. Mainly oats or any type of gutload (www.progecko.com makes great gutload from what ive heard and have been using, and i'm not dissapointed one bit) work for the bedding. A tip to save some gutload because it can be expensive: Grind some oats in a blender until it turns to fine powder (some chunks are totally fine) and mix 1 part oats and 1 part gutload and lay it down in the tub. Once you have beetles, they'll eat this, and the baby mealworms will also if all goes well.
2nd Step: Pupating process
Once a mealworm has turned into a pupae, i suggest seperating it from the mealworms into another small container (a butter bucket would work great). Its better to be safe to seperate, though i've never heard mealworms eating pupae, but who knows? They will not eat in this state, so that's why its so important to let them eat well before they pupate. They'll stay in this state for 1-2 weeks.
3rd Step: Seperating Near-beetle pupae
As you can see in the pic below (coming soon), the pupae is starting to get the brownish color on it. This means the pupae will be turning into a beetle very soon (usually about half a week to a week). This is usually when i seperate them so when they do turn into beetles, the beetles don't eat the pupae, which has been known to happen and has happened to me before.
4th Step: Putting Pupated Beetle Into Tub, And Basic Care For Beetles
Once the pupae turns into a beetle, i usually take a plastic spoon, and move them from the container to the tub with the bedding. After pupating, the beetle will be very hungry and thirsty, so put a couple slices of a vegtable (potato works very well) in the container. The slices should be thin, because they'll only eat so much before the potato dries up. I usually replace the potato's after a week or so, when they become dried out.
5th Step: Breeding and Mealworms
I haven't gotten any worms yet from the beetles, but here's the information i have come to know after a while of researching breeding mealworms. After a month - a month and a half, you'll have to move all the beetles into a different container. This is so the mealworms can grow in the bedding, and so the beetles don't eat the mealworms. Once moved out of the current container, you should see mini-mealworms after a month or two. Keep a couple of those worms, and continue this process all over again.
Tips:
For a more sucsessful breeding colony, put the beetle container in a closet, or a dark place somewhere. They are a lot more active in the dark, thus making them breed more often, thus more mealworms will be born.
Keep them warm, they'll stay more active this way.
Once you see mini mealworms, you can sift them out with a wire sifter, which should be easy because your bedding should be very fine, and all the mealworms will be in the sifter after all the bedding is sifted.
Warm temperature promotes pupation, while cold temperature prohibits the morphing.
PICS
A Pic of my recently pupated pupae bucket
A Pic of a more recently pupated pupae on the left, and a near beetle pupae on the right
A Pic of my near-beetle pupae, waiting to hatch to beetles
MORE PICS COMING TOMORROW OF BEETLE TUB, BEETLE STAGES, ECT.
If anybody here has any tips i should add, just post
Jeff K.
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