Where to get Live Mealworms?

[Northwest_Wannabe]

Live ones, not the dried dead ones ;D I want to start a Small colony just to test it out, we have a plastic bin with a lid (I'm making a ventilation spot in the lid) and I believe there's wheat bran at our WinCo, if not there's other stuff there I can use for them for sure, still in planning stages! : D

I have came to a roadblock though, I'd like to buy mealworms in person if possible? Buying online makes me nervous when it's something live ^^" especially with the incredibly slow shipping times that have been happening in my area...

Has anyone bought;

1. Vita-Bugs mealworms from Petco? 100 for $3 and 500 for $10
2. PetSmart 'live regular mealworms'? 100 for $6
3. Maybe bait shop or hunting shop that may have them? Or are these a no-no?

I've heard treated ones are bad, if they're treated will it say on their label/container?

There may be someone local-ish who has 500 for $10 should I do that, is that too many? My container is not giant, it's about 2-3 inches less wide than a 10 gallon tank so I don't want to get too many :'( I don't want too many that if I don't want to make a colony of them and keep them, I can take a few weeks and feed them to the birds : ) thank you!

 

[LoveCochins]

Amazon

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

Amazon

Like I said in the post I don't want to do online : ) I'm looking for local, which Amazon is not

 

[Aquira]

If you're getting them from Petco or PetSmart, be sure to check inside the containers and find the one with the least amount of dead worms in it. Depending on the store, they might not regularly check them. Dead worms are black. Some will turn into pupae in there. And some will turn in to beetles so be sure to watch out for that if you're squeamish

 

[centrarchid]

I get mine from the local wild bird feeder place (http://www.birds-i-view.biz/). Odds are you have a similar vendor near you.

 

[donddon]

500-1000 is what I've been told is the number of mealworms you'd want to establish your little farm. Once I wrap up a dozen or so other projects, I will start one as well. There are some reliable suppliers on ebay. Don't be scared. They guarantee live delivery.

 

[Flockincrazy]

Live ones, not the dried dead ones ;D I want to start a Small colony just to test it out, we have a plastic bin with a lid (I'm making a ventilation spot in the lid) and I believe there's wheat bran at our WinCo, if not there's other stuff there I can use for them for sure, still in planning stages! : D

I have came to a roadblock though, I'd like to buy mealworms in person if possible? Buying online makes me nervous when it's something live ^^" especially with the incredibly slow shipping times that have been happening in my area...

Has anyone bought;

1. Vita-Bugs mealworms from Petco? 100 for $3 and 500 for $10
2. PetSmart 'live regular mealworms'? 100 for $6
3. Maybe bait shop or hunting shop that may have them? Or are these a no-no?

I've heard treated ones are bad, if they're treated will it say on their label/container?

There may be someone local-ish who has 500 for $10 should I do that, is that too many? My container is not giant, it's about 2-3 inches less wide than a 10 gallon tank so I don't want to get too many :'( I don't want too many that if I don't want to make a colony of them and keep them, I can take a few weeks and feed them to the birds : ) thank you!

When I first started my mealworm farm I got mine from petco there's are always in good shape and i rarely get dead ones from their now i can put 1c of mealworms in my flocks feed every day and not run out for another 20yrs and they are the easiest thing to take care of
My setup is so simple I have a 20gallon fish tank I put in some nonfertalized soil and some oatmeal tore up one of my cardboard egg cartons put in the mealworms and put the egg carton on top of them put some carrots in with them and vwala mealworm farm ready