Nutritional content.

[Kleftiwallah]

Are you sure there is any ntrition in a dried mealworm? They seem to turn to dust ! Cheers, Tony.

[Deb London]

I had heard that some dried mealworms are just mealworm 'casts' when they shed their skin.

[Tringa]

Can see you point Tony, but the RSPB website says, about dried mealworms, -

"have all the tasty goodness of live mealworms (beetle larvae) but not the moisture."

After they have been soaked the birds seem to like them, but it could be that appearance of the dried ones fools the birds.

Dave

[Kreacha]

I tried out the dried mealworms (soaked first) on my birds but they just turned their beaks up at them. Then when I got Draco, my Bearded Dragon, I started giving him live mealworms and borrowed a few for the birds. They loved them. So now I grow (not sure that's the right word) my own. Next year (when the weather gets better), the plan is to use them to tame one of my feathered friends to eat out of my hand!

[(R)ick Neumon]

I've also been wondering about how safe they are for the birds. Even when they have been rehydrated they seem a little long and sharp, so I cut them up first. Is that just me being silly?

[faz]

live mealworms arnt that great for nutrition either best thing to do with live mealworms is feed them before you feed the birds any veg can be fed to them carrot is what i use


wax worms much better but a lot more exspensive

[triops]

Mealworms are highly nutritious. Living they have Fat 13.6%, Protein 18.6%, Carbohydrates 3.6%. Drying of course removes mostly water, and they are still highly nutritious. Mealworm cast skins are thin and transparent and can't be mistaken for dried mealworms. Birds eat all sorts of hard and spiky insects with no ill effects. Yes, of course they prefer live ones....much more interesting! Cage and aviary bird breeders in the UK used to be advised not to feed too many mealworms to their birds because they are much too nutritious and rich, though this doesn't apply to wild birds, of course. It is easy in the spring to attract a Robin with mealworms and after a week or two have it feeding from your hand.

[SuzieandFlo]

I fed soaked dried mealworms in spring and the birds couldn't get enough of them. It was comical watching the starlings trying to cram as many into their beak as they could .
In June, I bought a small tub of live mealworms from the RSPB stand at a large agricultural show. I only fed a few to the birds and kept the rest for breeding.
I now have a continuous supply of live mealworms, all for less than £2.
I keep them in a container with rolled oats and add a slice of carrot or apple for moisture. Sometimes I put in a piece of banana skin , and minutes later the skin is totally covered in mealworms.
The beetles are in another container with rolled oats. They also get apple or carrot , and also love banana skin. The beetles have a slice of brown bread in their container which they all hide under when they are not "at it" (which seems to be most of the time ).
The beetles lay their eggs anywhere, in the rolled oats, bread, banana skin so I never throw any of that out. I do replace the beetles rolled oats now and again but shake everything through a fine seive into the mealworm container.
Very clean, very economical bird food and as I'm squeamish, I use a plastic spoon to move the beetles into an empty tub when changing their rolled oats, and I use a pair of plastic tweezers to pick the worms up when feeding them to the birds .
I think the dried worms are freeze dried which shouldn't remove any of the nutrients.

[Kleftiwallah]

Thanks for all your informative replies,

I too have been breeding my own mealworms for some years but it seems to be a 'law of diminishing returns'. My breeding stock is getting fewer.

I feel I should buy in another batch to improve the gene pool of my brood. When my worms cast off their coats, it seems to be very small bits and pieces which I carefully remove with a vacuum cleaner held well above the container. Thanks once again. Cheers, Tony.

[actionfinch]

i have always felt this... but never have any scraps left over from when i put them out....
i might lay off them for a bit ..