Breed your own mealworms

[Babygirl74]

Hi thought I'd help someone out by describing how I breed my own MEALWORMS. I started to do this as used to buy them as live food for my reptiles and it is expensive this way. I didn't realise that wild birds eat them so thanks guys & gals for that info as I'm over-run with the blighters & will start leaving some out for the birds straight away!

To breed your own: start with some live ones & put them in a high sided container ( I use a plastic fish tank) filled with a min 2cm of bran (approx £1 kilo at reptile shops). Pop in the MEALWORMS and put on top some crushed & torn lettuce or other green-leafed veg. Any veg will do but from experience I only use leafy veg torn up small as anything else goes moldy & the littlest worms get trapped in it. Put fresh veg in as soon as the old stuff dries up or is consumed - this is important as they need it as a water source. As the bran is consumed it'll be replaced by a darker brown dust-like stuff so it'll need topping up regularly. Mine are kept in my bedroom at approx 21C & go through a complete life-cycle in about 1month (never actually timed it accurately). The lower the temp the longer it takes. The worms go hard & White & shorten into crysalis which then turn into beetles. These mate, burrow into the bran & lay eggs and then die to be consumed by the next generation of hatching worms ( too small to see when first hatched).

To prevent mold growing at the bottom & compacting the substrate, every couple of months I set up a new container & as the worm turn into crysalis in the 1st I move them to the new container. Waiting for all the worms to do this can take awhile but this is shortened if I place the container over my snake tank at about 25C.

Well that's all except: black worms or crysalis are dead. The beetles don't fly so a lid isn't necessary. Newly emerged beetles are whitish & turn black / brown as they dry & harden. Oh, wild frogs & hedgehogs also like them - worms & beetles!

Before long folks you'll have loads of worms for your birds & wildlife so good luck.

[The Woodman]

Hi Babygirl74 and welcome to WAB.

That's a good account of breeding mealworms and I hope it encourages others to do the same. Much cheaper as you say.

We abandonded our set up due to an infestation of ceral mites which got into and took over the kitchen and got into every crack, crevice and unsealed packet. Beware.

[captaincarot]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

Hi Babygirl74 and welcome to WAB.

That's a good account of breeding mealworms and I hope it encourages others to do the same. Much cheaper as you say.

We abandonded our set up due to an infestation of ceral mites which got into and took over the kitchen and got into every crack, crevice and unsealed packet. Beware.

you can stop that by putting a very fine mesh lid on it, but you need it to be very fine metal mesh, 1mm or less. such as that used in modifying dart frog vivaria.

it's actually best achieved by modifying a RUB if you cut a hole about 50% of the lid size out of the lid then glue the mesh over the hole, it will become invasion proof.

[Deb London]

I got mites too, but after a couple of generations, and it was a lot of fun.

[Deb London]

Originally Posted by captaincarot

you can stop that by putting a very fine mesh lid on it, but you need it to be very fine metal mesh, 1mm or less. such as that used in modifying dart frog vivaria.

it's actually best achieved by modifying a RUB if you cut a hole about 50% of the lid size out of the lid then glue the mesh over the hole, it will become invasion proof.

What is an RUB?

[captaincarot]

Originally Posted by Deb London

What is an RUB?

Really usefull box. they're well known in herp keeping circles

[The Woodman]

Originally Posted by captaincarot

you can stop that by putting a very fine mesh lid on it, but you need it to be very fine metal mesh, 1mm or less. such as that used in modifying dart frog vivaria.

it's actually best achieved by modifying a RUB if you cut a hole about 50% of the lid size out of the lid then glue the mesh over the hole, it will become invasion proof.

Just the sort of information you need before embarking on breeding mealworms - a useful adjunct to Babygirl 74's post. Thanks.

[captaincarot]

mr woodman i know the pain of a confused flower beetle invasion.