Mealworms... my story. Almost impossible not to raise them!

[Gallo del Cielo]

Hi Pet Duck Boy, Thanks for the description of super worm husbandry. Seems that if you have space and time to care for them they could be great (maybe the roaches are a quicker, better, source of protein?

).

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

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[Nifty-Chicken]

Haha... ya, I saw those videos when I was first researching all this!

Hey Gallo del Cielo (or anybody else): If you're letting everybody hang out together in all the stages, how do you separate out the adults for feeding to your birds when you have eggs, young worms, and beetles all mixed in there together?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I gather them when I feed them. I put a half potato or something like that in there and come back later and the worms will be gripped on with their mouths. I pick up the potato (flick off any beetles), shake the worms into a bowl for feeding and put the potato back into the colony.

 

[Tdub4chiks]

Mealworms/Beetles also like to have newspaper on top of the wheat bran. Just be sure not to cover the entire colony, just in the middle. I take a spray bottle with water and moisten the newspaper. This will attract the mealworms. Then I just pick them off to feed or to sell to customers.

 

[Gypsi]

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Hahahaha
This is me 10 years ago. Only it has never been mealworms. Critters yes, lotsa kinds of critters.
Waiting for the reply on do they smell. I have to hide them from the cats and dogs who might find them worthy of investigation and removal from the container for playtime. I don't want them eating my carpet or anything interesting like that.

 

[Gypsi]

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:

This is me 10 years ago. Only it has never been mealworms. Critters yes, lotsa kinds of critters.
Waiting for the reply on do they smell. I have to hide them from the cats and dogs who might find them worthy of investigation and removal from the container for playtime. I don't want them eating my carpet or anything interesting like that.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Hi Gypsi and ShannonS79, no, when maintained under proper conditions they don't stink at all. It's important to keep them dry--they can begin to stink if they get too much moisture in the colony. We used to keep 20 or so colonies in one room and most people that came in there never knew they were there.

 

[mountaintopchicken]

Pet Duck Boy, about the roaches. How do you keep them at 90 degrees without getting a big electricity bill? I've noticed that anything we heat, from animal waterers to aquariums, seems to add frighteningly to our electricity bill. I'm intrigued by the roaches, but don't want to spend a ton each month to keep them at the right temp.

I hope this isn't too off topic.

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

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I keep my roaches on a good sized human heat pad set on medium, and a ceramic reptile heat emitter on top. My parents pay the electricity bill though, so I have no idea how much money those 2 devices burn, but my parents haven't said anything! The temperature usually sticks between 90-95 degrees. I also make sure to turn the heat pad off on hot days, because I keep the bin in my garage it stays pretty warm by itself in there. Simply placing the bin somewhere warm helps tremendously.