Mealworm farming

[furbabymum]

Sounds like a moisture/company problem. Add another carrot piece and pull it out after a few minutes and see if there's a good amount stuck to the veggie.

I looked in on them last night before bed and the carrots I'd put in couldn't even be seen. I'll make sure to put in more tonight!

 

[PAchickensgalor]

Will the mealworms eat apples? If so, is it better to put in half an apple or slice the apple and put a few pieces in?

 

[Hypertay]

I started out using apple wedges and potato slices but both of those would mold very quickly. I have changed to carrots and the occasional celery stalk end slice because those get eaten before they mold. If you feed the apples, you will have to take out the uneaten pieces every other day to keep your colony mold free, and also make sure you put the fruit on a small piece of plastic like a cool whip lid cut in half and lay that on the top of the bran.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I started out using apple wedges and potato slices but both of those would mold very quickly. I have changed to carrots and the occasional celery stalk end slice because those get eaten before they mold. If you feed the apples, you will have to take out the uneaten pieces every other day to keep your colony mold free, and also make sure you put the fruit on a small piece of plastic like a cool whip lid cut in half and lay that on the top of the bran.

I also noticed gnats last summer if i used apple.. carrots are sure easier. i slice the food thin that i give them and put it on plastic too.

 

[furbabymum]

Why the plastic??

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Why the plastic??

the substrate wont absorb moisture that way, and then no mold or mites get in...

 

[DMRippy]

I just put a whole carrot in and put it in the bin... no plastic. They eat it quickly enough and I have not had a mold issue with carrots.

 

[UrbanMamaHen]

I just put a whole carrot in and put it in the bin... no plastic.  They eat it quickly enough and I have not had a mold issue with carrots.

 

How many worms do you have in the bin with a whole carrot? And how often do you add new ones? I have no idea how much the worms eat. I use baby carrots and only put in about 4 at a time, every week or so. I have 1000+ worm. Is that enough?

 

[UrbanMamaHen]

I just put a whole carrot in and put it in the bin... no plastic.  They eat it quickly enough and I have not had a mold issue with carrots.

 

How many worms do you have in the bin with a whole carrot? And how often do you add new ones? I have no idea how much the worms eat. I use baby carrots and only put in about 4 at a time, every week or so. I have 1000+ worm. Is that enough?

 

[LaBella]

I now have SIX, count them SIX BEETLES!!!!

And TEN, that's right TEN new pupae!!!

Thems my new bebes!!! That's only one of the beetles, right now a couple of them have the dopies, where they fall and they can't get up for whatever reason. I just leave them alone, experience tells me they'll get over their buggy equivalent of an inner ear disorder sooner or later. I have two really dark ones, one of them is almost all black, the other four are the chestnut color of the one above.
Excuse the poor quality of the picture, my super awesome camera with superior zoom and macro function is BROKEN (and no one will fess up as to who killed the 300 dollar camera) and I took the pics with my phone. They were even worse than that before I did a bit of photo editing to brighten things up a bit.
And if anyone is keeping track, I have struggled my way to page 380.. slowly but surely I am making my way through this whole thread, lol