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Post by fuzzymom on Nov 10, 2008 11:00:46 GMT -5
I am attempting to breed mealworms because my sugar glider eats them like candy. I just gave Twitch a mealworm, just to see if she'd try it, and she inhaled the darn thing. So I gave her another and she went nuts over it!
So are mealworms ok for ferrets? If so, I guess I need to breed more because Twitch loves them.
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Post by suds on Nov 10, 2008 12:40:03 GMT -5
yep mealworms , superworms , crickets are all good enrichment treats for them .
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Post by fuzzymom on Nov 10, 2008 23:12:48 GMT -5
Wonderful because she loves them. Since I plan on breeding mealworms, superworms and crickets, I will have tons for her to munch on. Is there a limit to the number of insects per day she can have?
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Post by Forum Administrator on Nov 11, 2008 2:30:28 GMT -5
Not really, just make sure she doesnt fill up on mealworms and then not eat her raw meat
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Post by harrisi on Nov 12, 2008 18:06:32 GMT -5
Meal worms are great if you get a bag of potting soil (organic), put it in a tub and put in some mealworms, put in the ferrets and they will root around to find them. Just dont let them trample dirt across the house afterwards lol
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Post by Kerit on Nov 19, 2008 8:48:56 GMT -5
If your mealworm colony is successful, I'd like to know your methods! When mealies were so scarce earlier this year, we spared about two hundred to try to start breeding. Just dumped them in a tupperware with some airholes and added oatmeal, carrot chunks, cricket cubes and whatnot. Before long it was crawling with pupa and beetles (I couldn't look at it for more than a moment, made me queasy), but we've only recently started seeing small worms. Granted, this was with very little intervention and probably not enough ambient heat. I'm glad we weren't depending on them for a main source, though. Between all the herps we go through a couple hundred a week.
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Post by fuzzymom on Nov 19, 2008 10:36:29 GMT -5
You have herps too? What kind?
As for breeding mealworms. I tried it once before last year and I had 2-3 groups of a couple hundred worms so I had the beginnings of a decent colony. Mealworms are extremely slow to start up. It took me months to get my first set of worms. Because the life stages are kind of long. I believe they spend 1-3 weeks as eggs, 8-10 weeks as worms, 1-2 weeks as pupa, and then 1-2 weeks as beetles. So 11-17 weeks for a full life cycle of worm.
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Post by Kerit on Nov 19, 2008 11:10:38 GMT -5
Right now we have nine leopard geckos of various color morphs, a couple firebelly toads, a pacman frog, and what I believe is a common european toad -- she's the size of a softball. Her main diet is superworms over mealworms, and of course the firebellies can only have very small mealworms. But the geckos are voracious.
Someone at work is trying to rehome a crested gecko, but I'm trying to stay strong and say no. Until recently I also had a house gecko that had come in on a box in the warehouse and survived. Someone caught it and brought it to me because they know I'm a sucker. He was in pretty poor shape, but he stayed alive with me for a couple months after.
I've always liked sugar gliders, but I couldn't afford another high-maintenance family member. And I've been trying forever to find one in the area to be a model. Maybe if we had more exotic vets around here...
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Post by fuzzymom on Nov 19, 2008 11:39:49 GMT -5
Crested geckos are extremely easy to care for. They do not need a heat source or a specific humidity. They live, breed, and incubate at room temperature. And their food comes in a little black bottle that lasts you forever. Not to mention you can also feed them fruit baby food and crickets.
I love leopard geckos. I used to have one. I want another one but I'm going to have to wait a few months, perhaps even until next year. She did eat up a lot of mealworms though. If you have nine leos, breeding your own mealworms could save you a lot of money. My little girl put away 20 mealworms per day and a single tub of mealworms around here only has about 50 in it. Talk about expensive!
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Post by Kerit on Nov 19, 2008 13:14:32 GMT -5
That's why I'm wavering about taking the Crested... I already have a suitable enclosure, and it wouldn't add much to the daily routine. I do like the Leopards. They have such distinct personalities. We might be adding to that group soon too... our source is having a sale I'd have to check again, but I believe I pay 2.49 for 100 mealworms at the closest supplier. They're just the little Bug Co cups. An hour away is a PetCo and PetSmart, where they have cups of 500, but the price isn't any different. I don't like patronizing them for anything other than worms, anyway.
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Post by fuzzymom on Nov 19, 2008 13:19:27 GMT -5
I'm going to have to get me another leo because I really miss having one. I have all the stuff for one too, since I kept all of Chibi's old tank stuff. I have hides, substrate, meal worm bowl, light, cage, lid. Everything....so wait....why am I waiting to get one? Haha. I have so many reptiles though. I'm afraid of overwhelming the husband. He already puts up with the animals I already have. I have 14 snakes, 3 ferrets (soon to be 4), 3 cats, a dog, sugar glider, crested gecko, 2 betta fish, rat colony, mice, and gerbils. Not to mention I want to start my own feeder business ( provide feeder animals and insects for people who keep ferrets, snakes, lizards, and other exotics)
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Post by razzlette on Nov 19, 2008 14:09:43 GMT -5
We had 2 sugar gliders before we got the Ferrets but had to get rid of them because no matter what we did the cat was trying to eat them . My mom still has one. We are going to try the ferrets out on some Giant Meal worms and if they like them we are going to start breeding them for the glider & the ferrets.
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Post by fuzzymom on Nov 19, 2008 14:16:00 GMT -5
I plan on breeding many types of feeder insect.
Crickets Dubia Roaches Wax worms Silk worms Meal worms Super Worms
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Post by Chelsea on Nov 20, 2008 6:59:11 GMT -5
I used to breed mealies, its really easy. Just put them in a container with a food and water source, and wait. Superworms can be tricky. I am currently breeding those still. You have to put each superworm in a separate small dark container for it to morph into beatles. Its a much longer process than mealies, and much harder. You cant just leave them all in the same container. But its worth it if you have alot of hungry mouths to feed. and my ferrets like them to
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