Mealworm farming

[Emily1220]

This is one of the funniest things I've heard!!! Come on people.....they are worms!!!! LOL!!! But I must admit, when I first started I thought the same thing when I saw "stuck sheds"!! LOL!!!

 

[frostbite]

Oh my, now you guys are starting to hurt my feelings; I have some of the finest show worms and beetles in all of Alaska, no one will compete any more with my outstanding specimens, my competitors are all tired of red, white, and green ribbons.

I wouldn't say I've got the blues, though...

 

[Mealwormer]

You don't need to help them. It just takes time, and they have plenty of time. It's like butterflies, if you help them out of their final packaging, they don't get the final squeeze they need to survive. Let nature take it's course. Even when it looks like they're dried up and dying, they are really okay.

The beetles all have more legs than they need to get around with, so unless you're raising show beetles, I wouldn't worry about it. Let them have sex and lay eggs.

Some do die when the shed is stuck, so I just try to make it easier. They aren't all okay I know that, but I can do something about it. Yeah, I care too much about these pupa and beetles ATM, but my first few or so were deformed and had stuck sheds and couldn't manage to get it off. But I am starting to worry less now. We are getting 30-60 pupa every day now and only 1-2 out of 10 I would say have shed problems, and not all of them are that bad.

 

[Stark]

My worms are growing like crazy but still waiting for them to start to pupate... *impatient*

 

[Mealwormer]

Wanted to say:

I think others should try Bell Peppers for themselves in case they are curious. My worms at the moment don't seem that interested in any vegetable or fruit at the moment. I have near 4,000 and very few of them are eating this cantaloupe that they previously swarmed like flies on poo. So perhaps they are calming down and getting ready to pupate, or they have had enough moisture for awhile. Anyway, try it out guys if you want. It doesn't hurt them from what I can tell.

 

[Emily1220]

Oh my, now you guys are starting to hurt my feelings; I have some of the finest show worms and beetles in all of Alaska, no one will compete any more with my outstanding specimens, my competitors are all tired of red, white, and green ribbons.

I wouldn't say I've got the blues, though...

LOLOLOL!!!!! YOU ARE HILARIOUS!!!!!!

 

[bobbieschicks]

I found this guy moving a little today when I was separating out the pupa. Is this what the early stages of the darkling beetle looks like or do I have someone else living in my bin. If he's the real deal do I need to move him to the top bin now or wait until he moves around more? Also I don't have carrots in the pupa bin - just oatmeal. Should I provide something in there with the pupa in case the beetles hatch before I get to them? Also should I put something like an toilet paper roll in the pupa drawer?
Thanks!
Bobbie

 

[frostbite]

Yeah, it kind of looks like a beetle in progress. One thing though, I did my first batch in oatmeal, but now i find sifting out the worms is tougher, so I've switched to wheat bran for my next batch.

 

[appychick]

Well it is spring & thinking about time to start worm farm for my birds.........My question concerns the bedding,I see a couple posts preferring wheat bran to oatmeal. I must be gluten free & see a couple posts complaining about crumbly,dusty oatmeal. Has anyone used rolled feed oats(horse feed) as they would be coarser ?
Of all the threads on BYC,this one has to be the friendliest & most interesting ! Thanks ALL for making worms fun !

 

[bobbieschicks]

I have my larva (worms) in wheat flour and mixed in some oatmeal too. The wheat flour is great - I use a colander to sift out the flour over a bucket and all that remains are the larva and pupa. Then I use a plastic spoon to pick out he pupa & dump the worms into the bucket with the flour - or toss the contents to the chicks. When I'm finished I put the whole bucket of worms and flour back into the bin. The only problem now is that the oatmeal looks like pupa - so it's annoying to have to sift through that stuff too. Next time I'll leave the oatmeat out and just use wheat flour. I'll look into the wheat bran - if I can find it nearby.

Yeah, it kind of looks like a beetle in progress. One thing though, I did my first batch in oatmeal, but now i find sifting out the worms is tougher, so I've switched to wheat bran for my next batch.