Mealworm farming

[OkChickens]

Jayare's Chicks :

I came across this thread again the other day and now I have the bug to start my own colony of them. I gotta find some Wheat Bran now so I can get this started. I thought I could get it at the grocery store but I didn't find any there so I came back to this thread and saw I needed to get it at a feed store. I will check with the 2 feed stores I deal with to see if they have it or can get it for me. Is there any other place anyone has found (Wheat Bran) at?

Jayare

I just bought wheat bran at my feed mill this morning and it was 14.50 for 50lbs. They don't carry very many bags so it can be hard to find sometimes.

Nate​

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Quote:
There's no way I could do super worms. They are terrifying... And after a breeders' hedgies died due to being bitten internally by them, I'm scared to feed them even if I cut the heads off. Scratch that, I'm afraid to even touch them!

Sigh ... That seems to be a topic in geckos also.. About eating thru their guts.. Pet store say don't feed em mealies & long time breeders say they are fine & that they feed them to their leos ..

Yeah. I won't feed them to my Leo's either. Supposedly the guy getting shipped out this morning was fed superworms, but you won't see me risking it! I always trust the breeders before the pet store. After all, the pet store doesn't even have a shedding hut for the babies they have.

Quote:
Where can I get IGR? Will it affect my animals negatively? I was more interested in it about my geckos. After all it's easier to feed a few king mealies than a bunch of tiny ones

Oh dear. I don't think I'll be boiling mealworms

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
I just bought wheat bran at my feed mill this morning and it was 14.50 for 50lbs. They don't carry very many bags so it can be hard to find sometimes.

Nate

I just use layer pellets, but I bet the feed store would be better priced then the grocery store, depending on how much you need.

 

[bloom_ss]

Jayare's Chicks :

I came across this thread again the other day and now I have the bug to start my own colony of them. I gotta find some Wheat Bran now so I can get this started. I thought I could get it at the grocery store but I didn't find any there so I came back to this thread and saw I needed to get it at a feed store. I will check with the 2 feed stores I deal with to see if they have it or can get it for me. Is there any other place anyone has found (Wheat Bran) at?

Jayare

The bran I got was labeled as food bran for horses at my local feed store. I would think the feed store is your best bet!

 

[andrea98]

What do you feed your leos ? I feed mine mealies & sometimes crickets ..

Quote:
Sigh ... That seems to be a topic in geckos also.. About eating thru their guts.. Pet store say don't feed em mealies & long time breeders say they are fine & that they feed them to their leos ..

Yeah. I won't feed them to my Leo's either. Supposedly the guy getting shipped out this morning was fed superworms, but you won't see me risking it! I always trust the breeders before the pet store. After all, the pet store doesn't even have a shedding hut for the babies they have.

Quote:
Where can I get IGR? Will it affect my animals negatively? I was more interested in it about my geckos. After all it's easier to feed a few king mealies than a bunch of tiny ones

Oh dear. I don't think I'll be boiling mealworms

 

[colonel sander]

Jayare's Chicks :

I came across this thread again the other day and now I have the bug to start my own colony of them. I gotta find some Wheat Bran now so I can get this started. I thought I could get it at the grocery store but I didn't find any there so I came back to this thread and saw I needed to get it at a feed store. I will check with the 2 feed stores I deal with to see if they have it or can get it for me. Is there any other place anyone has found (Wheat Bran) at?

Jayare

I found mine in my local grocery store in the bulk food area. I had to go to 2 stores as one was almost out but they are avaialble in my part.​

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Quote:
That's a good diet. I usually cut out the crickets for the most part, I don't have the patience to deal with them and I don't like that they stress my geckos out. My diet for them mainly consists of gutloaded and calcium dusted mealies/king mealies. Wax worms are the most common treats but they get crickets and silk worms too

 

[colonel sander]

Temperature question what is the tops that anyone has had them at? I have differant temps all through my bran. I am trying to have them in my garage with a lizard mat under the tank. Temps range from 100 right at the bottom in the middle to 65 on top in the corners. I figure the worms will work there way through the bran but do not want it to hot for them if possible. Even in the middle ontop of 3 inchs the temp is only about 70. Only place it is hot is directly on the glass at the bottom.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
I think that should be fine. For the past several years I've kept mine on the back patio (shaded) during the summer where the temperatures exceed 100 F on most days. Even the 115+ F days don't seem to bother them much.

 

[onafixedincome]

Just remember...heat will tend to accumulate in the substrate over time, so check it regularly or move the pad so it leaves one end of the tank markedly cooler--that way they have someplace to go if it DOES become too hot. (A trick I learned with redworms--and it works!)

Tonight I realized that my one shoebox with 1400 or so mealies in it was wayyy too wet, so I took the lid off and put the desk lamp on it (the lamp, a halogen that casts a lot of warmth as well as light, usually sits on top of this box). The mealies don't much care about the light; they do like the warm; but I turned the light off for a while, then back on and wow--lots more worms at the surface than I'd expected!

But in general, they don't *much* care about light--or at least not as much as they do about warmth.