Wondered why my mealworms weren't pupating....

[Ghostoftangerine17]

Turns out half of what I put in my oat box was superworms :main_robin:

Whoops! I thought maybe there were different types of mealworms and that's why they looked slightly different. Head that superworms have stronger jaws so I guess I'll be sticking to the tamer mealworms from now on.

...so how long will normal mealworms take to pupate? I don't want to keep paying for them. I'll get rid of the superworms this week during feeding. The biggest ones may have to just stay put because they're huge and and I won't risk my leos' safety.

 

[lisa127]

I'm not sure how long mealworms take to pupate. I don't breed mine, though I've been considering it. I'm with you when it comes to superworms, I don't feed them to my leo because of their aggressiveness. I do feed them to my blue tongued skink because he is a much larger lizard and has no problems whatsoever.

Did you buy these from the petstore or order them online?

 

[Ghostoftangerine17]

Bought them in store. The Japanese label said "Superworm" but I thought it was just large mealworms lol. I didn't know there was actually things called superworms that looked similar to mealworms.

 

[lisa127]

Oh...lol. Yes, they are different. I had a few get loose one time. One ended up pupating and this huge beetle began walking in front of the TV one evening while we were watching a movie. Yuck!!

 

[cassicat4]

There are also Kingworms or Giant Mealworms which I've seen mislabelled as Superworms and vice versa on several occasions. Big difference between the two!

Mealworms do not take long to pupate at all...and devoid of food or water, they'll take even less time. I'm currently breeding them, and I would say from pupa stage to worm stage, less than a month. It does take time for the mealworms to grow to reasonable feeding size though. Kingworms/Giant Mealworms take longer, and Superworms even longer than that.

 

[lisa127]

I never feed Giant Mealworms. I only feed my blue tongued skink the superworms. When you see the two they do look different so it's not hard to tell the difference.

Have you found breeding the mealworms to be easy?

 

[DrCarrotTail]

How long it takes mealworms to pupate depends on their size and age. If they're large mealworms when you buy them they could pupate in a week or two. From Egg-Pupae usually takes about 4-6 months but can take quite a bit longer if they're kept at cooler temperatures (under 60 degrees). Breeding them is super easy. I just chuck mine on oats or a box of generic Rice Crispies and throw them an apple core a couple times a week after I eat the majority of the yummy parts...haha. I also throw them organic kale and anything other grains or veggies I'm not planning to eat. You probably have to buy mealworms before your colony gets established. I started with a few hundred beetles and have nearly enough to feed a dozen leos most of the time from the babies after four months of growing. I usually wind up purchasing an extra thousand a month to make my life easy. The adults from those few hundred are still alive and producing eggs.

 

[Ghostoftangerine17]

Hmm, thanks for the tips.

I think I need to stop using mealworms from my breeding box as feeders if I want them to grow into beetles