Anyone buying mealworms at present?

[Tringa]

We use Vine Farms for mealworms.

Having had a few weeks with very few birds around the feeders, they seem to be coming back now, so ordered some yesterday.

I don't know if they are the cheapest - there appear to be lots of different combinations of how they are sold - but the delivery id quick and free.

Dave

[Kleftiwallah]

It's very easy to breed your own. I've been doing this for about five years. I also feed the birds maggots from the fishing tackle shop should there be a shortage of mealworms. I've been trying to breed waxworms but have had no success so far. Cheers, Tony.

[The Woodman]

Originally Posted by nightshade

I buy them for feeding rescued bats but they should not be fed exclusively as they can cause problems.
I think they are sold in unbleached paper as a special bat package

I'm interested in your comment re exclusively feeding mealworms to bats, nightshade. Apart from a dusting of mineral supplement, we don't feed them anything else.

The longest bat we've had in captivity was for twelve years fed daily on mealworms and others for many years with the same diet. If bats aren't able to be released within a couple of days they go to a dedicated hospital where they get nothing else but mealworms.

The mealworms we get from Live Foods Direct come in bran and we feed them Weetabix.

What else do you give your bats?

[captaincarot]

his comment about not being good for them probably originates from herpetology, where the high proportion of chitin which they consist of can cause problems with digestion, i.e. it's not readily digestible to cold blooded animals so they're best kept as a constituent of a varied diet rather than a main component.

[The Woodman]

Thanks, captaincarot.

[nightshade]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

I'm interested in your comment re exclusively feeding mealworms to bats, nightshade. Apart from a dusting of mineral supplement, we don't feed them anything else.

The longest bat we've had in captivity was for twelve years fed daily on mealworms and others for many years with the same diet. If bats aren't able to be released within a couple of days they go to a dedicated hospital where they get nothing else but mealworms.

The mealworms we get from Live Foods Direct come in bran and we feed them Weetabix.

What else do you give your bats?

The mealworms are rich in phosphorous, but the bats need calcium, so when I can get them I feed them crickets which are nutritionally better.
I also use _KITTEN_ food as this has very low salt and a good nutritional balance (so it says on the tin)
All my information comes from Maggie and Bryan Brown (The Bat Rescue Manual) who are very helpful and supportive

[nightshade]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

I'm interested in your comment re exclusively feeding mealworms to bats, nightshade. Apart from a dusting of mineral supplement, we don't feed them anything else.

The longest bat we've had in captivity was for twelve years fed daily on mealworms and others for many years with the same diet. If bats aren't able to be released within a couple of days they go to a dedicated hospital where they get nothing else but mealworms.

The mealworms we get from Live Foods Direct come in bran and we feed them Weetabix.

What else do you give your bats?

The mealworms are rich in phosphorous, but the bats need calcium, so when I can get them I feed them crickets which are nutritionally better.
I also use _KITTEN_ food as this has very low salt and a good nutritional balance (so it says on the tin)
All my information comes from Maggie and Bryan Brown (The Bat Rescue Manual) who are very helpful and supportive, or Heidi Cooper Berry of the Avon Bat Group.

[The Woodman]

Thanks, nightshade, that's interesting. I'll look into that. As that veritable tome was within arms reach, I've just had a review of the Assessment and Care section on feeding. You are right about the higher proportion of phosphorous to calcium and the soft bone issue of long-term captive bats fed wholly on mealworms. Calcium supplements are beneficial in maintaining calcium levels at those of wild caught bats.

There is much on calcium balance, too much can be problematic also. Too much can result in deposited calcium nodules inside membranes.

"Problems like this need a proper diagnosis - balancing calcium is difficult"

[heliart]

BTW, the RSPB get their works from Wiggly Wigglers!!!