I tried PetSmart live mealworms to start a colony but...

[BellevueOmlet]

Sorry to be negative but it was probably the conditions or way you raised them, maybee not enough moisture. I started my colony from Petsmart mealies and the colony is growing like crazy

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
How long did you have them? It sounds like the conditions were good. Some of us have ordered them online with great success. If you want to start out with a good number then ordering them online is usually cheaper.


Edited to add: Oops!!! I didn't look at the date of the original post so I didn't realize it was old. Sorry. I imagine the OP already has it worked out.

 

[speedy2020]

Quote:
How long did you have them? It sounds like the conditions were good. Some of us have ordered them online with great success. If you want to start out with a good number then ordering them online is usually cheaper.


Edited to add: Oops!!! I didn't look at the date of the original post so I didn't realize it was old. Sorry. I imagine the OP already has it worked out.

The local store much cheaper than on line from Petco. I purchased my $6.99 for 500 medium (3/4"-1") mealworms. You can get 1000 giant (1.5-2") mealworms for $12.99 at the store.

 

[hitgsd]

I never had any luck raising my own mealworms. I feed them to wild bluebirds. A good source for cheap bulk mealworms is Sunshine mealworms, or Flukers. I had better luck with Flukers.

 

[rollingll]

i dont know my petsmart ones are good but i also have a decent petco mealworm colony so try them if you can. I hope this helps!!!

 

[jrae1216]

I've been raising mealworms for years. I've only purchased them online. It seems like Pet Smart should be fine though. Are they the regular mealworms, not the giant ones? I always use wheat bran as their bedding. Sometimes I'll throw in some oats. I mainly use lettuce for water and sometimes a few apple slices. I layer newspaper for them to hide under and paper towel rolls to crawl in. It's important to make sure the bedding is dry. Too much lettuce or apples can made mold grow and your bedding will go bad.

 

[WhiteLeghorn2]

they all died. got black and crispy, I never saw an adult or a pupae.

I had them on oats with pieces of carrot. I watched several videos on it, and read lots.

Would it be the Petsmart worms? do I need to order from a mealworm dealer?

Hi, I am a mealworm breeder, and I can definitely help you on this because I have lots of experience with pet store worms. Keeping them on oats with carrots is exactly what you are supposed to do.

But, make sure they are in a large bin with a screen lid. PetSmart buys their worms from a company called Timberline, but by the time the containers of mealworms actually make it to your PetSmart, they can be weeks old and starving.

I've had good, and bad, luck with PetSmart. Some of my containers have decently healthy worms, and some die off quickly just like yours. PetSmart should carry "Giant Mealworms" which are regular mealworms that were raised in an environment with extra of their own hormones added. It makes them grow larger, and not pupate as quickly. (However, they are 100% safe to feed to animals. It's just extra of their own hormone. It will not hurt anything) Plus, by the time you buy them, those "Giant Mealworms" are old and big and should be ready to turn into beetles. There are many myths about Giant Mealworms, and one is that they can't have babies. WRONG, they most certainly are sterile and can have many babies. I started my whole colony off of 100 Giant Mealworms, and now I've had thousands of my own mealworms. Just to let you know, their babies will be regular mealworms and not Giant Mealworms. You'd have to buy the hormone to make their babies be Giant (Which is not neccesary). So anyway, get rid of those dead worms and buy about 150 Giant Mealworms. Hope this helps!

Good luck with your colony!