The mealworm thread made me think of this. I raise confused flour beetles to feed the larvae/worms to my dart frogs. As the larvae are similar to very small meal worms, and I already grow them I am wondering if anyone has tried feeding them to quail?
For those interested in culturing these, it couldn't be easier. I take brown rice flour and sift it through a metal kitchen sifter, throwing out the bran and large pieces that don't fit through the holes. Place the flour in your culture container, add the beetles and close it up. Forget about the culture for 7-10 days while the beetles do their "job" of producing the next generation. Prepare a second sifted flour culture ready to go. Open the 1st culture and sift the flour through the same screen, catching all of the adult beetles and place them into the new culture. The eggs and any young larvae will remain in the first culture flour. Allow the 1st culture to mature for a week or so and sift again, this time you will catch the larvae in the sifter (ready to feed) and the flour will be ready to add adults back into for breeding.
As far as the adult beetles go, the frogs wont eat them as it looks like they taste terrible (when one does take a chance on a beetle they are quickly spit out and much face wiping follows), so I doubt that birds would be much different. The cultures don't smell bad, and I have never added any type of moisture/vegi to the mix.
For those interested in culturing these, it couldn't be easier. I take brown rice flour and sift it through a metal kitchen sifter, throwing out the bran and large pieces that don't fit through the holes. Place the flour in your culture container, add the beetles and close it up. Forget about the culture for 7-10 days while the beetles do their "job" of producing the next generation. Prepare a second sifted flour culture ready to go. Open the 1st culture and sift the flour through the same screen, catching all of the adult beetles and place them into the new culture. The eggs and any young larvae will remain in the first culture flour. Allow the 1st culture to mature for a week or so and sift again, this time you will catch the larvae in the sifter (ready to feed) and the flour will be ready to add adults back into for breeding.
As far as the adult beetles go, the frogs wont eat them as it looks like they taste terrible (when one does take a chance on a beetle they are quickly spit out and much face wiping follows), so I doubt that birds would be much different. The cultures don't smell bad, and I have never added any type of moisture/vegi to the mix.
