Need help raising mealworms

[jackiedon]

I read somewhere on here about raising your own mealworms. I have some questions.

I went to the dollar tree and bought a clear plastic container with a lid.

I first went to the bait shop and bought mealworms and the lady told me I could use those to raise some because these were extra large ones

I bought some anyway. Then I stopped at a new petshop in town. They don't have a lot of stuff but I stopped. They did have some so I bought 100. They had been refrigerated.

When I got home I put chick starter and some oatmeal into the box along with some pulverized corn. I mixed it all up and put the worms in there but they weren't moving. I poked holes in the lid of the box.

Is this right?

Do you know why I couldn't use the large ones?

The chicks loved playing with large ones.

Thanks for any help possible.

jackie

 

[su-geek]

http://www.efinch.com/mealworms/mealworm.htm

Meal worm raising guide off of a google search, I hope that helps! I don't think you should refrigerate them if you want them to actually grow. I know you buy lady bug larvae at the garden center in the refrigerator and then let them thaw out and they hatch.

 

[jackiedon]

Thanks for the info.

jackie

 

[bayouchica]

Hi, I have been raising mealworms since November.Sounds like you are off to a good start. Did you put a potato pieice for moisture? You may want to make a larger hole for ventilation. I use those sweater size rubbermaid containers & use unmedicated chic starter or layer pellets.
I believe the big worms are called superworms.Don't know much about them.I got mealworms from wormman.com 2,000 mealworms for about 17.00 shipping included.
They have some helpful links about care etc.
superworms
mealworms


If ya have anymore questions, I'll try to help.

Miriam

 

[Chelly]

Sounds like you're doing ok, we used to feed them to our bearded dragon - we bought them refridgerated as well, sometimes we found dead ones from there, so we would open the container before we bought any. (to make sure they were moving)
We had a couple escape once.... and then these HUGE black beetles came out from all over! NASTY!

Good luck - let us know how it works out.

 

[Poison Ivy]

Hey Jackie how is the mealworms coming along? We had thought about doing this a while back my 8 year old daughter wanted to grow worms to make her some money. She even went as far as making posters to hang on the fence by the road. But we didn't try it yet. lol

 

[jackiedon]

Well, I think I'm going to have to start all over again. All my worms are dead

I think most were dead when I bought them. I will know to ask questions at the pet shop. Plus I had put some pulverized corn in it and I think some DE had gotten into my corn.

I'm going tomorrow to buy some more worms and talk to the manager about them.

I'll let you know.

jackie

 

[Frozen Feathers]

When I had plated lizards we raised meal worms. I had them in a 10 gallon aquarium full of shavings and I would dump in stale cereal, oatmeal and bread for food(after I ran it through the food processor). I kept a wet sponge in there for water (make sure it's not an antibacterial one, that seems to kill them off) I just soaked it every few days. It worked well. Just make sure you don't feed out too many of the beetles, you need them to breed more meal worms. They like heat, it makes them breed better, I found a cheap heat rock does the trick.

I didn't have to buy meal worms for 4 years, it was great. When my lizard passed away,

I must have had hundreds of meal worms, my chickens were very pleased, they love the beetles, too.
Everyone has their own methods and you'll find the easiest one that works for you. Try again, it's so worth it to have your own supply, those pet stores are a rip off. Good Luck.

I have never raised super worms, but I imagine they shouldn't be much different them raising meal worms...but ewwww they are scary!

 

[fishkiller]

Superworms(Zoophorbas Morio)sp. are similar to mealworms(Tenebrio Molitor)sp. though should never be refrigerated, this will kill them. Be careful not to buy King Mealworms. These are just regular mealworms treated with something to make them grow really big, these will not breed large worms.

The main difference in raising Superworms, is that a Superworm will not turn into pupae if left in a community setting like mealworms do. They must be isolated.I used to get those tiny salsa containers with lids from Rubios and put .25 inch of cornmeal in it and 1 worm, poke two holes for ventilation and let it sit in a dark place. After about 3 weeks to a month there will be a beatle in it. Check every few days because if a beatle emerges and doesnt soon get moisture food it will die. Place all beatles together in a plastic box with grain and add a few piececs of veggies now and then for moisture. Afer all the beatles die off there will be tons of worms left in the bedding.

 

[seedcorn]

Best bet, is go into woods or where you have rotting wood, get the beetles as they'll lay you a bunch of eggs and you'll have plenty of them.