Mealworm farming

[Emily1220]

LOL...... seems chickens and mealworms makes all of us get carried away!!!!!

 

[colonel sander]

Quote:
Ya I went to petco too and saw the aquariums and the sale but in the reptile area they had plastic containers the size of a fish tank but the top had little slits in it long ways and also two big plastic lids you could just lift up and the main lid you could jsut pull off easily. i went with that and it was a little more but it was tempting ot not do the fish tanks!

I already had the tank so just picked up a top to keep out the unwanteds. I also grabbed a lizard matt to keep them warm. I am going to set up my colony up in my garage. It has heat but it only stays about 50 in there so hopefully the matt will take care of the rest. I am going to do a test run after the wheat germ gets out of the freezer and see what temps I can hold before I throw the meelies in there.

 

[andrea98]

Quote:
1. Wheat bran or oats
2.yes but the cost would be much less to order them online
3.home grown treat that you know what they are being fed & it's pretty exciting to get a beetle

4.they like it kinda warm so inside might be better
5.nope not really .. Substrate & fresh fruit or veggies once a week or so & you will be good .. They don't even require any extra lighting

happy mealie growing!!!!

 

[bloom_ss]

I see a lot of you are freezing the bran before using it...just a small suggestion for you: microwave it instead. Way faster and does the same thing as freezing.

I just used a large microwavable bowl, put in about 6-8 cups of bran at a time and nuked it for about a minute per bowlful. Easy peasy!!

Just gotta let the bran cool off a bit before putting mealies in it, but even with that it is way faster than freezing.

 

[vclark321]

I have a starter size bin as I only bought 500 from Petco, but not all made it to the bin. Some sacrificed themselves to the chickens. I am patiently waititng (pupae watch) for them to get a move on and become beetles! I never knew this would be so addicting! There should be a disclaimer somewhere! I am thinking about staarting a second colony for alternating harvesting. It looks like my spare bedroom is going to be a mealie labor & delivery. One more question... When it is time to put some away for winter how does everyone do it? Freeze alone freeze & BBQ...and how do you store them...zip lock, daisy seal a meal, tupperware?

My co-workers think I have gone insane to have "bugs" in the house. Oh well, they may not be as industrious as the rest of us, or as miserly as myself! Thank you for the inspiration, I only wish I had started sooner!

 

[onafixedincome]

Just be glad they eat less than almost anything else you might be raising!

Okay, here's our sign:

CAUTION!

RAISING MEALWORMS IS ADDICTIVE AND MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR SANITY.

APPROACH WITH CARE--ADDICTION MAY OCCUR WITHOUT PHYSICAL CONTACT.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

WHEN FEEDING MEALWORMS ( ~~~ ) TO CHICKENS (

), BE AWARE THAT
FEEDING FRENZIES HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO OCCUR WITHOUT WARNING.

~~~

~~~

~~~

~~~

~~~

 

[Emily1220]

That is hilarious warning sign!!!!!! I love it. But its to late for me......I've already become addicted!! LOL!!

 

[vclark321]

I got a kick frrom the warning sign, but alas, I too am addicted. I have moved the buggers up into my room since I only have heat in there. They are hiding in the substrate & shedding againm it is hard not to peek at them just to see if anything is happening. Sigh...

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
oh go ahead... peek!

 

[Emily1220]

Ok, I have to ask zzGypsy, why no cows??