what temp?

[daleo]

what temp should meal worms be kept at in order for them to turn into bettles? thanks

dale

 

[leegooman2323]

I'm gonna guess room temp. and above-just because the containers say store 35-40* F. You store them this cold so they do not turn into beetles, so I guess that's about right.

 

[Khrysty]

If you put one of ZooMed's mini tank heaters (for 5 gallon--they can be used on plastic) on the bottom of the mealie container, they "grow up" faster

 

[daleo]

well the resaon i ask is i started a mealy colony about a week ago and the temp is at 74 degrees. i change the patatos and carrots out every two days. the last three days the largest ones are not moving much some not at all. is this because they are about to molt into the pupa? any help would be great!

dale

 

[Khrysty]

well the resaon i ask is i started a mealy colony about a week ago and the temp is at 74 degrees. i change the patatos and carrots out every two days. the last three days the largest ones are not moving much some not at all. is this because they are about to molt into the pupa? any help would be great!

dale

Yup, that's exactly why they're not moving. 74 is a nice temp. Really as long as it's not cold they'll be perfectly fine.

 

[daleo]

sweeeet!! im getting some little black bettles soon! lol

dale

 

[Khrysty]

sweeeet!! im getting some little black bettles soon! lol

dale

Hah, awesome!

Just a heads up in case you've never bred mealies before--once you have beetles, DON'T change the mealworm bedding/substrate. The beetles will lay their eggs in it and you'll accidentally throw out your entire new colony. I did that the first time...then I felt so silly for having wasted so much time. I ended up having to wait another two months until I had baby mealworms that I could see..