Mealworm farming

[Varglet]

Yeah, I thought he looked odd. I'm not worried about one in hundreds. When he's turned over on his feet he can walk a little. Poor guy.

 

[drewskimac]

Yeah, I thought he looked odd. I'm not worried about one in hundreds. When he's turned over on his feet he can walk a little. Poor guy.

I'd cull that one off to the chickens. It's not a big deal, it happens to a lot of mine to be honest Don't worry, you'll start getting beetles... One... then another a few days later... Then a few a day... The it'll be like picking the pupa out haha. And i can't wait for the days where i'm over run with the task of separating pupa and beetles It may help them morph if you have some sort of humidity source with the beetles. You see how those little wings are really dried out and stuck to the sides? It almost seems to me like mine were too dry and werent able to morph completely. Anyways, ever since i put a dish of water crystals in the pupa container i seem to have a little bit less number of the deformed ones.

 

[Varglet]

It actually is humid in there. It hadn't finished shedding its skin in the pic. I don't think it even has wings. Can't put a dish of water or anything in there because there are so many pupae, but I mist the newspaper covering them and the room alone is humid. Condensation on the windows from freezing temps outside and 80 degrees inside. It's a small room, too. They're in the laundry room.

 

[drewskimac]

It actually is humid in there. It hadn't finished shedding its skin in the pic. I don't think it even has wings. Can't put a dish of water or anything in there because there are so many pupae, but I mist the newspaper covering them and the room alone is humid. Condensation on the windows from freezing temps outside and 80 degrees inside. It's a small room, too. They're in the laundry room.

Yeah, you're definitely fine with the humidity.And i'm right there with you on "I don't think it even has wings" because mine normally don't seem to either. I'm not sure why that is. I called "rainbow mealworms" which is where i bought mine and just said "So, my pupa are starting to morph into beetles... and a lot of them are coming out deformed" And the response i got was a lady munching on something crunchy over the phone and she replied with "Huh, that's weird." And there was a very long awkward silence and she said "So?" ... Wouldn't say they had the best customer service lol.

 

[Varglet]

Yeah, these are from Rainbow Mealworms.

 

[ladyearth]

still trying to understand about mealworms and their stages
got the first batch of a dozen on Feb 1st. just first today saw a beetle.How can I tell if the mealworms that turning dark are dead or turning into beetles.....????
so now do I put him in a separate container with bran and some squares of white cloth ?
I have the 2nd drawer with less than 500.. is that too many? dimensions are 12 by 13 by 7 inches tall...... and unit has 3 drawers. I have two of these 3 drawer units....
read lots and wached you tubes but still confusing...
thanks

 

[azygous]

First of all, a meal worm that is turning dark is mostly likely just getting ready to shed a skin. They are almost white right after they finish. A dead meal worm won't be moving, but straight and stiff and black.

Before a meal worm turns into a beetle, it morphs into a pupa, which is a truncated version of a worm body. Once it sheds that case, it's a beetle which is very light colored at first, then turns black after a day or so. Then it goes and finds someone to party with and they commence to lay eggs, lots and lots of eggs for weeks and weeks.

If you want the eggs to hatch quickly, they need around 85 degrees, or else, at room temperature, they can take weeks and weeks lying there until they decide to hatch into very, very teensy worms you can't even see with the naked eye. The warmer it is, the more quickly these worms grow, shedding their skins as they become larger, until they reach the final morph and go into the pupa stage.

500 worms aren't that many. They don't mind being crowded as long as there's meal to eat, and not just frass, which is made up of worm poop and skin castings. It's the beetles that mind being crowded, and you can lessen the stress caused by large populations by providing several squares of newspaper for them to colonize and to eat and to mate on.

Warning: beetles can escape those three-drawer units if they can reach the top edge of the drawer and climb out. So can the worms. I've had them all escape and colonize the inside of the file cabinet, then over-run the surface the cabinet is sitting on, then spill over to the floor, getting loose in the kitchen. The horrors. But that isn't as frightening as grain mites, which is another whole story.

 

[drewskimac]

First of all, a meal worm that is turning dark is mostly likely just getting ready to shed a skin. They are almost white right after they finish. A dead meal worm won't be moving, but straight and stiff and black.

Before a meal worm turns into a beetle, it morphs into a pupa, which is a truncated version of a worm body. Once it sheds that case, it's a beetle which is very light colored at first, then turns black after a day or so. Then it goes and finds someone to party with and they commence to lay eggs, lots and lots of eggs for weeks and weeks.

The eggs need around 85 degrees to hatch, or else they can take weeks and weeks lying there until they decide to hatch into very very teensy worms you can't even see with the naked eye. The warmer it is, the more quickly these worms grow, shedding their skins as they become larger, until they reach the final morph and go into the pupa stage.

500 worms aren't that many. They don't mind being crowded as long as there's meal to eat, and not just frass, which is made up of worm poop and skin castings. It's the beetles that mind being crowded, and you can lessen the stress caused by large populations by providing several squares of newspaper for them to colonize and to eat and to mate on.

Warning: beetles can escape those three-drawer units if they can reach the top edge of the drawer and climb out. So can the worms. I've had them all escape and colonize the inside of the file cabinet, then over-run the surface the cabinet is sitting on, then spill over to the floor, getting loose in the kitchen. The horrors. But that isn't as frightening as grain mites, which is another whole story.

Are you sure that they need around 85 degrees to hatch? That would require an additional heat source. From everything i've read, most people have said that they enjoy raising mealworms because they DONT require additional heat. By this do you mean that the 85 degree range speeds up the process? I'm not trying to be rude, i'm sorry if it sounds that way. Just curious, because you're one of the first people i've seen say that the eggs "need" 85 degrees to hatch.

 

[Varglet]

First (real) beetle!

 

[drewskimac]

First (real) beetle!

Congrats!