Mealworm Shortage

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i think i looked into growing them myself at one point, but once the instructions get too long, like more than three steps, i lose interest.

 

[coffeelady3]

The local pet store was out of mealworms, but gave me wax worms as a substitute. They're a bit bigger, but the girls loved them just the same!

 

[Maidservant]

Raising mealworms (in 3 steps! lol)

1. Get a sweater box or storage box. The lid is not needed.
2. Put bedding and food in the box. I use oatmeal and baby cereal. Put a few potatoes (sliced) for water.
3. Dump in the mealworms. You'll have beetles soon, and when the beetles die, you'll have babies in no time. Mealworms grow like crazy, just keep them fed (more oatmeal and baby cereal) and watered (with potatoes).

Short and sweet! If you want more details, pm me or reply here!

Emily in NC

PS - I like buying my mealworms from grubco.com, last time I bought (3 years ago) I was able to get 6,000 for $28 after shipping, plus they always add at least 500 more for the shipping losses, which have never been that big.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Wow, really? It's that simple? How long does it take from mealworm to beetle and then back to mealworm?

 

[LoneCowboy]

Dang I miss another profitable opportunity. I could have been supplying pet stores if I'd started growing them myself

Although, it just sounds gross.

 

[basicliving]

I've been trying to order mealworms to raise for the past couple of months. Airheart43 just posted yesterday that she ordered from the worm man and I got all excited and went there ready to order. But I found this when I tried to place the order:

Due to the huge demand in mealworms and a nationwide shortage, there are no mealworms available at this time. We will put them back up when they are available.

Darnit!

I do have a question about raising them though - on his page that describes how to raise meal worms, the worm guy says that once the grubs become beetles you should "place the beetles in a second container with bran and potatoes..."

Is it really necessary to keep 2 containers - one for the grubs and one for the beetles?

Thanks in advance,
Penny

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

It looks like wormman.com does have the mediums, just not the giants. i ordered the mediums. There are also sellers on ebay that have the mediums. Not as exciting as the giants, but oh well.

i read about the second container set-up myself. That's what grossed me out. i've come so far as to be able to pick up the mealworms with my hands, although it is a little creepy when they grab your finger with their teeny legs. But transferring beetles and pupa between drawers . . . well, i would rather not go there.

 

[seismic wonder2]

I grew my own batch from 50 mealworms from the store.
I let 5 or 6 grow into beetles. A few weeks later I had several hundred worms!

I fed 90% to my local birds and my two silkies. I picked the biggest fattest worms and placed them in their own tub of corm meal.

I have 20 or so beetles and I expect worms in a few weeks.
I'm thinking of expanding and selling them to the local pet shops.

Wonder how you go about that?

 

[EngieKisses]

My husband and I are major animal lovers, therefore, we have a mini zoo. My dad teases me abiout it and asks every once in while when we are going to charge admission!!
That being said we do own 2 bearded dragons, whose main diet is made up of crickets and greens. They are given wax worms for treats. The wax worms are better for them because they do not have as much exo skeleton, plus some people believe they have more nutrients in them. I would imagine wax worms would be better for our chickens too.
Stephanie

 

[basicliving]

Thanks for posting a response, airheart43! I just went back to the wrom guy's website and you are right. He does have small and medium meal worms. I ordered 1000 medium. I also did a bit of research on the web and not many mention separating the beetles. I'm going to start out planning to have only one container and playing it by ear..... unless someone responds here and tells me it's necessary.

Penny