what to do with my mealies

[Angel]

I got this colony of mealies when i bought my blizzards from the breeder however wasnt told anything as far as caring for them so I googled it and everything has been going well until now. recently it has a very strong smell off ammonia kinda smell, they are producing still and seem ok but the smell is awful, Im thinking i have to empty the container and start with new substrate but what do I use???? it looks like baby food rice cereal ??? also how do i get them into the new container im guessing painstakinly pick them 1 by 1 lol? and does anyone know what could have caused this?
I keep them in the laundry room prob the coolest room in the house and feed them whatever fruit core or vegi stem i have present usually apple or carrott but i place ontop of papertowel. I have been feeding 4 leos with it but would love if there was a bit more producing is ther a way to speed up reproduction on the mealies???
I never would have gotten my own colony they kinda creep me out but they came with the package and now as much as im grossed out by them they are saving me a lot of $$$ so hoping i can get this right before its too late, Thank you in advance I appreciate all the advice on here =)

 

[MrLeoGecko]

yes painstakingly 1 by 1 lol the smell maybe mold from moist substrate form the vegies ive just completely ruined my colony from mold so ive thrown it all away i think its eaiser to but them

 

[RoninSTi]

If the substrate is fine enough you just scoop the whole lot into a sifter of some sort (I use a screen colander made to strain pasta) and just sift out the worms. You will loose some little ones and eggs, but at least you can start with nice new substrate.

 

[Angel]

what substrate options can u use? I heard oatmeal? the stuff in there looks like baby rice cereal.

 

[RoninSTi]

I use old fashioned oat meal. I chop it up in a blender. They seem to love it. I also use carrots and potatos as a water source. I change out their water source every 2-3 days.

 

[leoman777]

another good substrate is wheat bran i like it better than oat meal

 

[RoninSTi]

Where can you get wheat bran? I check the grocery store and they only had it in the organic section and it was very expensive for a tiny amount.

 

[LizMarie]

I've used Pro Geckos Gutload but almost anything can be used. I've heard of oatmeal, wheat bran, chicken feed, etc.

If your substrate is fine you can use a sifter and sift through the mealworms. Until I found a big sifter I used a window screen over a plastic bin then dumped the clean worms into a new clean bin.

Are you mealworms enclosed? Humidity might be building causing mold.

 

[Angel]

its a rubbermaid tub shallow with a lid but there are holes punched in the top , like i said i recieved everything the breeder had with the geckos i bought off him and know nothing on raising mealies, should i replace the lid with screen maybe?

 

[LizMarie]

its a rubbermaid tub shallow with a lid but there are holes punched in the top , like i said i recieved everything the breeder had with the geckos i bought off him and know nothing on raising mealies, should i replace the lid with screen maybe?

Yes. I punched holes into my super, mealies and roaches bin and I got the smell of mold in all of them. I then cut out a space and replaced it with screen and have never come across the issue again. From my experience holes just don't seem to work, screen ALL the way!!!

 

[RoninSTi]

Ventilation is key. I use the sterlite 3 drawer system sold in walmart for like 10 bucks. Beetles in the bottom, hatchlings in middle, worms on top.

 

[Angel]

Great thank you I will deff be adding a larger screened hole on top and probably upgrade the whole system after i get my leos homes redone , thanks.