Beetles in Stock (Mealworms mid October)

[Germaine_11.20]

I just love mine sillybirds. I won't let anything eat them yet until I can get them multiplying. I have tons and tons of beetles and keep waiting to see those little mealies!

My favorite part though is when the worms turn into aliens. I love to play "I spy with my little eye" and search them out, scoop them up and wait for them to turn into beetles.

They are almost as much fun as the chickens!

 

[sillybirds]

Quote:
They are kind of fun to raise, aren't they! I would expect that you may already have tiny mealworms from the beetles I sent you. At least I have some bins with beetles "born" around the same time as yours that already have little mealies in them. Are you letting all of the worms progress to beetles? If so, you're going to need more containers than just the two you got from me. That'd be a lot of beetles!

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Oh my yes! I have about 10 boxes, of all stages. I have alot of chickens. And my bearded dragon loves them and thinks they are candy.
That is why I want to get them all to beetles because I know that they will go fast.
My DH would feed the dragon until she couldn't move if I let him.
He loves to watch her eat the meal worms.
So I have them tucked away. I bought a gorilla shelf rack years ago for my plants. Well it now holds my boxes and has room for at least 20 more if I wanted.
I go in there and "play" at least 3 times a day. How amazing to have no beetles and then 2 hours later have 20. I feel like it is Christmas everyday. I may be a little strange...but I love them.
I figure by spring my little chicks and chickens are going to absolutely love me!

 

[Germaine_11.20]

I must have killed the thread... but anyway just wanted to update you sillybirds.

I have babies!! Just looked really close at the potato and they are crawling all over it! Yahoo!!!

Wow, this is great. Thank you so much!

Oh I forgot to ask, will the beetles just die when they are done laying eggs? If so, I just remove them right?

Thanks again..

 

[sillybirds]

Quote:
Congratulations on your babies! You'll find that they are voracious and will grow rapidly! Sometimes they'll finish the carrot pieces overnight. Little piggies.

The way I have my colony setup, I take the beetles out of their first box after about a month and put them into a new box with fresh bran. I leave them there for another month and a half, then I'll usually pick them out, and feed them to my chickens. The beetles can otherwise live quite awhile. I've had them live over 3 months. A colander, if you can find one with the right sized holes, works well to separate the beetles from the bran/tiny mealies.

Your little mealies should start reaching feeding size in a month or so. Good eats for your chickies!

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Thank you! This is so cool.