Mealworm farming

[hannakat]

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Love your post HenCrazyMom! Isn't is awesome?! Thanks for sharing!


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If it's above freezing, they will go dormant. If it goes below freezing, they will die. No room under your bed?

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When there are more worms, the food disappears quickly. Feed according to the size of your colony.

Amy ~ I

the photos!

 

[jomoncon]

I've been following this topic from the beginning. After the first page, I decided to start my meal worm farm. I simply purchased 1000 from the local petco & started them on wheat bran. So far, they've been doing great.

Now I'm starting to get confused about about putting veggies and/or fruit in. I guess I started out with the assumption that the veggies were for the moisture & the worms actually eat the bedding. But the lately there have been several posts that are implying that the veggies are food. I do give the worms various veggies, but I also keep a damp folded paper towel on a plastic lid for moisture. They seem to gravitate more towards the paper towel than the veggies.

So, are the vegetables for moisture or for food?

 

[zzGypsy]

ok, so wheat BRAN or wheat GERM?
I've added wheat germ to their oatmeal, but it's pretty powdery, not like the wheat bran which is more flake-like.

 

[zzGypsy]

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I know mine are eating the food (fruits, veges), but I think they eat the bedding (oatmeal) too.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

jomoncon, You're right, the veggies are for both moisture and food. A damp paper towel will have more moisture than most vegetables and will likely be a stronger attractor. Oh, BTW, I first learned to raise mealworms at the Audubon Zoo!

zzGypsy, wheat bran.

 

[jpsbcfc]

sadly there is no room under the bed as its not the type that has any room.

i am working on finding a space, still above freezing here but probably not much tbh.

i may just feed the whole lot to the girls ( they will eat the beetles i think?) and start over with a couple of indoor colonies.

 

[anklebiter]

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Lately, i've been using (for refills) a mix of wheat bran, layer's mash (added Calcium and Vitamins), and ground oats. Never had a problem using any of them individually as bedding material, so a while back I thought I'd try a mix. So far, so good.

 

[hannakat]

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Veggies are for moisture and food but they really don't need a lot. They also eat the substrate. When the colony gets bigger, you'll notice that they go through it much quicker. 1000 don't eat much. There's others who use the wet paper towel on a plastic lid ... just use caution.

The substrate can be made from so many different things although we now know that cream of wheat will cause the failure of the colony to survive. I started out using a mix of ground up rolled oats, chicken crumble, wheat flour, a pinch of corn meal and a pinch of dried milk. You can also put fish flakes in the substrate.

It really doesn't have to be complicated though. Just wheat bran or oats will do very nicely.

 

[hannakat]

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Hope you find a good place for them jpsbcfc! Remember, they don't need a large container to thrive. The girls would love the beetles. They like all the life stages of the Darkling beetle!

 

[loanwizard]

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Veggies are for moisture and food but they really don't need a lot. They also eat the substrate. When the colony gets bigger, you'll notice that they go through it much quicker. 1000 don't eat much. There's others who use the wet paper towel on a plastic lid ... just use caution.

The substrate can be made from so many different things although we now know that cream of wheat will cause the failure of the colony to survive. I started out using a mix of ground up rolled oats, chicken crumble, wheat flour, a pinch of corn meal and a pinch of dried milk. You can also put fish flakes in the substrate.

It really doesn't have to be complicated though. Just wheat bran or oats will do very nicely.

Gee, thanks for pointing that out lol! At least I am good for something.....