Mealworm farming

[hannakat]

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Okay, this creates an awesome picture!!

How much WILL a chickadee do for the mealies?

 

[chickens? not yet]

The one I have plugs into the outlet and when there's any pressure on it it heats up. You can put a brick on it and it gets warm under the brick.


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[Gypsi]

I'm about to go find out how much 5 chickadees will do for 10 mealies. Will report back.

Never mind, my mealies are all turning into pupae. The chicks will have to make do with cleaning up under the wild bird feeder when I get home from work. Sunflower seeds are tasty!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Quote:
Okay, this creates an awesome picture!!

How much WILL a chickadee do for the mealies?

I am hoping for back flips but that may be a stretch!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Well, it happened.
I was afraid it was going to and dreaded the day that it would cause me grief but today was the day. Now I am not blaming anyone (DH) and I am not pointing any fingers at anyone (DH) but I warned anyone (DH) that if they messed with my mealie bins I would be angry because something could happen.
Today a certain person (DH) took the lid off to talk to the mealies and put in banana peel. A little while later he came back into the room and was standing beside the meal worm bin when it fell in the floor!!!

I scrambled to get all the beetles scooped up and most of the wheat. The meal worms were a bit harder and there were thousands of teeny tiny little ones that I am still trying to lure up from the carpet fibers. Fruit is a powerful motivator!

This was my ExoticNutrition bin, too!!!! I have been agonizing over this bin for months and here are all my little babies in my carpet. I have spent the past few hours sweeping them up with a soft brush into a dustpan, covering the spot where they fell with the plastic lid with banana peel on the carpet (fruit side up, peel side down) and every 30 minutes I lift it up and sweep the tiny mealies into the dustpan, dump in the bin and am grateful I found more.

Anyhow, I am glad to see the bin has prospered but not onto the floor.

 

[gale65]

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yikes. would it hurt them if you put a nylon sock kind of thing (like panty hose) on the end of the sweeper hose and vacuumed them onto it?

 

[ipana]

Thanks, dlee and chickens?, for the info on heating pads. I need one for an older cat so I'll check into Walgreens online first to see what they have. Then, if nothing, I'll try to find one that is pressure activated. Once the cat is finished with it, the mealworms will have dibs.

Amy, what a mess. I am so sorry about your mishap. I know DH is regretting it, too. Anyway, hope you get them "rescued." Seems like when they're that small, it would be easy to injure them. Anyway, hope you make headway. If nothing else, bring some chickens into the house to finish the job.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

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yikes. would it hurt them if you put a nylon sock kind of thing (like panty hose) on the end of the sweeper hose and vacuumed them onto it?

LOL Didn't think about that but the way they are embedded in my carpet, which is old and crushed down pretty good, I don't think my vacuum could get them up.
I will try it in the morning when my eyes can see what T am vacuuming up.

Great idea! Good thinking!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

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Thanks!
I do have chicks in the house that would love to gobble them up but these are teeny worms and I want them to grow into big fat meal worms!

 

[oneofseven]

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Oh boy. I am sorry. That seems to be a lot of work. Good Luck.