Mealworm farming

[Kusanar]

Quote:
By the time I get that many of them, I'll have them setup so that all of the worms in a certain bin pupate within a week of each other, once I see the first pupa, I will give them a wet sponge to pupate on and near. I have the beetles in a container with a mesh floor, but I will be changing their bin soonish to one I can give them an auto waterer and a food bowl rather than substrate.

 

[doglover1]

Lol, mine are always easy maintenance. Just mist them every other day or so.... I don't give them fruit or veggies, just mist them every now and then, they seem to do well that way. I have a Tupperware with a vent lid, I put a damp paper towel on the bottom and put the pupa in there, so the pupa have high humidity and I've only had 1 with messed up wings (before I started that) and one of the weird half pupa half beetle things... the rest have morphed perfectly.

I would suggest really putting in a water source for them. That's how they drink is by the carrots, apples, potatoes etc.

 

[doglover1]

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[doglover1]

Ok Thank you for answering my question. I Have been looking all over for an answer and then I remembered BYC.

Chickens free ranging will eat way more then 10 mealies in a day lol. They love bugs. I wouldn't worry to much. I mean I wouldn't dump pails and pails a day of worms but you know what I mean

 

[Kusanar]

Quote:
Actually, the worms can get moisture out of the air, and when I mist them they get plenty of water. I mist them worms and the substrate to damp on the surface, they suck all of the water out of the substrate in no time. I have given them actual food, chunks of banana, and the first piece they swarmed, but the 2nd time they didn't even touch it.

 

[doglover1]

Mine go crazyyyyyyy with carrots and apples. They act like kids in a candy store lol

 

[curleydog]

How long do the beetles lay eggs for? A couple of months or until they die?

 

[doglover1]

Usually until they die.

 

[Latestarter]

both answers are correct

 

[jak2002003]

I am having some serious trouble with my mealworms....

I have had mealworm cultures many times in the past with no problems.

But now I am loosing a lot of them.. they are turning black and drying up.... and the containers smell disgusting.

I thought it was not enough water.. so I added more sliced carrots. Still they were going black. So I thought it was too much water.. I only added small amount of carrot every other day.

They were being fed chicken feed... I thought maybe it was medicated... so I swapped for organic oats. But still the same problem.

They have lots of ventilation as the containers have no lids.

Its been hot here.. with a heatwave... so maybe it was too hot for them.. even though there were inside my house out of the sun.

But its gone cooler the last 2 days.. and still a lot are dyeing.

I even bought a new batch... and the same thing is happening.

I really need to ideas and help!

I have also started culturing wax worms... and they, by contrast, are doing great!