Post by harrisi on Jan 12, 2009 12:38:44 GMT -5
Havent seen a thread on breeding mealworms so thought I would start one with the basics in...
How To:Feeder Breeder:Mealworms
Meal worms are very easy and cheap to breed and dont take up alot of space at all, making them a favourite with reptile keepers.
Life cycle:
There is 4 stages of meal worms - eggs (ova), meal worm, "aliens"/pupae and meal beetles. The eggs are nearly impossible to see, as are babies, pupae/aliens are in a sort of cacoon and are white, when the meal worms go into pupae they turn into beetles. The beetles are small and black and are relatively quick moving. They are totally harmless but do bite if scared (you can barely feel the bite much less it hurting ).
Housing and substrate:
Housing couldnt be simpler, its limited only by what you can fit into the space and your circumstances. Usually meal worms are kept in a plastic sterilite container or storage box. The substrate is best made up of food, a good mix is 50% wheat biscuits/weetabix, 10% instant oats (dry) and 40% crushed up bran (you can buy this is bulk sacks for ponys or use bran flakes, put them in bag and smash them up with a rolling pin). The meal worms will eat this, sleep in it, go to the toilet in it and overall live in it as will the beetles and they also lay eggs at the bottom of the tub/substrate. I like to use an industrial conrete mixing bucket and I put in 2x cups of instant oats, 10x cups of crushed wheat biscuits and 8x cups of crushed up bran flakes then I use a serving spoon to mix it up, then I put it into the clean tub and the rest goes into tupperware containers or jars, depeding on how much is left, usually only a jar full is left though. For cleaning out I wait until the substrate is mainly frass (poop), wich takes a long time but then I take a sieve and sieve through all of the frass and then all meal worms/beetles that I sieve out get put into a new, clean tub with fresh substrate. If I notice a good amount of baby meal worms in the old tub from what is sieved out then I will put that into a new tub along and mix in some of the fresh substrate until the babies are old enough to be sieved out, they are then taken out and put into the same tub as the others and the tub they were in will be cleaned out. This sytem is never ending and what I find best and easiest.
Feeding and watering:
As above, the meal worms will eat the substrate made of cereals but some like to put veggies such as potato, carrot, celery and cucumber on top of the substrate for the mealworms to drink. This can have a down side of moulding the bedding around it however if you take out the bedding surrounding the veggies then this will not happen.
Temprature and humidity:
The meal worms and beetles will do well at 18C-29C and need no humidity. Humidity will only increase chances of mould and killing off the colony.
Breeding:
It is best to start off with 500g-1kg of meal worms and wait until they grow into adults, then pupae, then meal beetles and breed from there, the beetles will breed without special care as long as they have suitable substrate, food, water and light. They will lay eggs at the bottom of the substrate and then the eggs hatch into tiny meal worms, you will most likely not be able to see these, however give it a month and take a look at the bottom of the tub and you should have babies, these will slowly rise up to the top of te substrate for the "new" food. When the babies grow up they turn into pupae, the pupae when spotted should be put into a seperate tub, they do not move or eat so they are fine in a cleaned out jar with kitchen paper at the bottom. They should be taken out as the beetles sometimes chew on them, however dont worry if you dont get them all out! When they turn into beetles put them back into the tub with the rest. Done.
I think thats about it. They can be fed live however I prefer to put them in the freezer for a minute to kill them, let them warm up a bit again then feed them. But they are generally killed by the body heat/chewing from the ferrets anyway.
Hope this helps some people!
How To:Feeder Breeder:Mealworms
Meal worms are very easy and cheap to breed and dont take up alot of space at all, making them a favourite with reptile keepers.
Life cycle:
There is 4 stages of meal worms - eggs (ova), meal worm, "aliens"/pupae and meal beetles. The eggs are nearly impossible to see, as are babies, pupae/aliens are in a sort of cacoon and are white, when the meal worms go into pupae they turn into beetles. The beetles are small and black and are relatively quick moving. They are totally harmless but do bite if scared (you can barely feel the bite much less it hurting ).
Housing and substrate:
Housing couldnt be simpler, its limited only by what you can fit into the space and your circumstances. Usually meal worms are kept in a plastic sterilite container or storage box. The substrate is best made up of food, a good mix is 50% wheat biscuits/weetabix, 10% instant oats (dry) and 40% crushed up bran (you can buy this is bulk sacks for ponys or use bran flakes, put them in bag and smash them up with a rolling pin). The meal worms will eat this, sleep in it, go to the toilet in it and overall live in it as will the beetles and they also lay eggs at the bottom of the tub/substrate. I like to use an industrial conrete mixing bucket and I put in 2x cups of instant oats, 10x cups of crushed wheat biscuits and 8x cups of crushed up bran flakes then I use a serving spoon to mix it up, then I put it into the clean tub and the rest goes into tupperware containers or jars, depeding on how much is left, usually only a jar full is left though. For cleaning out I wait until the substrate is mainly frass (poop), wich takes a long time but then I take a sieve and sieve through all of the frass and then all meal worms/beetles that I sieve out get put into a new, clean tub with fresh substrate. If I notice a good amount of baby meal worms in the old tub from what is sieved out then I will put that into a new tub along and mix in some of the fresh substrate until the babies are old enough to be sieved out, they are then taken out and put into the same tub as the others and the tub they were in will be cleaned out. This sytem is never ending and what I find best and easiest.
Feeding and watering:
As above, the meal worms will eat the substrate made of cereals but some like to put veggies such as potato, carrot, celery and cucumber on top of the substrate for the mealworms to drink. This can have a down side of moulding the bedding around it however if you take out the bedding surrounding the veggies then this will not happen.
Temprature and humidity:
The meal worms and beetles will do well at 18C-29C and need no humidity. Humidity will only increase chances of mould and killing off the colony.
Breeding:
It is best to start off with 500g-1kg of meal worms and wait until they grow into adults, then pupae, then meal beetles and breed from there, the beetles will breed without special care as long as they have suitable substrate, food, water and light. They will lay eggs at the bottom of the substrate and then the eggs hatch into tiny meal worms, you will most likely not be able to see these, however give it a month and take a look at the bottom of the tub and you should have babies, these will slowly rise up to the top of te substrate for the "new" food. When the babies grow up they turn into pupae, the pupae when spotted should be put into a seperate tub, they do not move or eat so they are fine in a cleaned out jar with kitchen paper at the bottom. They should be taken out as the beetles sometimes chew on them, however dont worry if you dont get them all out! When they turn into beetles put them back into the tub with the rest. Done.
I think thats about it. They can be fed live however I prefer to put them in the freezer for a minute to kill them, let them warm up a bit again then feed them. But they are generally killed by the body heat/chewing from the ferrets anyway.
Hope this helps some people!