mynewturtle
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Breeding Mealworms
Introduction:
A lot of people use Mealworms as a staple diet for their geckos. They provide variety, and are very easy to breed. Breeding your own feeders has many benefits: You know what is going into the feeders, low cost, etc. This guide will be your basics on producing your own mealworms.
Materials:
- 2-3 6qt Rubbermaid tub -Mealworms
- Oats, or any substrate -A constant supply of veggies.
The start;
Mealworms are a larva, their final life stage is a beetle. The mealworms themselves do not reproduce, you will need to get them to turn into beetles. This part of breeding mealworms is where patience is needed.
Start with a couple hundred mealworms, I suggest buying 1000 or so, and putting 300 away, to turn into pupa. Put your desired amount of mealworms onto a substrate. Keep feeding them vegetables for moisture. After a few weeks you should notice quite a few mealworms starting to turn into pupa. After mealworms start to turn into pupa, remove them and put them into a separate container. This is essential so your mealworms do not eat your pupa.
The pupa will take a few weeks to turn into beetles. After they turn into beetles put the beetles into a separate 6qt tub. This is where the breeding will happen within the colony. Unfortunately there is no accurate way to sex the beetles by look, so you will have to have a lot of beetles. Be patient with the beetles, do not mess around with them to much.
A few pupa:
The Middle:
By now you should have quite a few beetles in your “breeding” tub. This is good, they will continue breeding and producing lots of mealworms. I like to keep my beetles in there breeding tubs for about 3 - 4 weeks. Some people like to keep them in their for less, it truly depends on your personal preference. After the 3 - 4 weeks, you are going to need to separate your beetles. I personally sift the substrate, this will easily allow you to keep beetles and the substrate with eggs/babies separate. After you remove your beetles you should see a lot of little tiny, micro baby mealworms in the substrate. You will have to keep feeding these little mealworms over the course of the next couple weeks. These tiny mealworms should be feed able in about 4 - 6 weeks. Be patient, let your mealworms get to a nice size before feeding.
Substrate / Food:
A lot of people have very fancy, special substrate for their mealworms. I personally like to keep things simple. All I do is add some oatmeal, and some dog food. This has been successful for awhile now. If you choose to have a special substrate for your mealworms, you will have the same success if not better. A few other substrates I’ve heard of: Wheat bran, cereals, dog food, cat food, Pro Gutload, and horse feed. All with good success stories. Choose what works best for you, and stay with it!
Fresh Substrate:
Some people use tons of different vegetables and fruits to feed their mealworms. I personally again keep it simple. I use carrots and potatoes occasionally I use other things but not often. These keep my mealworms nice and plump, and provide nutrition to them. I used to feed a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to my mealworms. When I started to keep it simple, there was no noticeable difference. If you want to feed a wide variety of food items to your mealworms, all the power to you. I’d suggest trying to keep it simple for awhile though and see if you like the results.
Beetles eating.
Conclusion Thoughts:
By this point you should have a lot of mealworms harvestable. Remember not too feed off all of your mealworms or else you will not have any to continue the breeding cycle. The main thing to remember when breeding mealworms is to stay patient. My first attempt breeding mealworms, was not patient and I did not succeed. If your vegetables start to mold, remove them this is obviously bad if the mealworms eat it then your animals do.
Good luck with your breeding, I wish you all of the success.
*Any suggestions or spelling errors let me know and I'll try to fix everything up.
*Before feeding mealworms as a staple I reccomend reading this article: http://www.geckodan.com/The Pro.htm:main_laugh:
Introduction:
A lot of people use Mealworms as a staple diet for their geckos. They provide variety, and are very easy to breed. Breeding your own feeders has many benefits: You know what is going into the feeders, low cost, etc. This guide will be your basics on producing your own mealworms.
Materials:
- 2-3 6qt Rubbermaid tub -Mealworms
- Oats, or any substrate -A constant supply of veggies.
The start;
Mealworms are a larva, their final life stage is a beetle. The mealworms themselves do not reproduce, you will need to get them to turn into beetles. This part of breeding mealworms is where patience is needed.
Start with a couple hundred mealworms, I suggest buying 1000 or so, and putting 300 away, to turn into pupa. Put your desired amount of mealworms onto a substrate. Keep feeding them vegetables for moisture. After a few weeks you should notice quite a few mealworms starting to turn into pupa. After mealworms start to turn into pupa, remove them and put them into a separate container. This is essential so your mealworms do not eat your pupa.
The pupa will take a few weeks to turn into beetles. After they turn into beetles put the beetles into a separate 6qt tub. This is where the breeding will happen within the colony. Unfortunately there is no accurate way to sex the beetles by look, so you will have to have a lot of beetles. Be patient with the beetles, do not mess around with them to much.
A few pupa:
The Middle:
By now you should have quite a few beetles in your “breeding” tub. This is good, they will continue breeding and producing lots of mealworms. I like to keep my beetles in there breeding tubs for about 3 - 4 weeks. Some people like to keep them in their for less, it truly depends on your personal preference. After the 3 - 4 weeks, you are going to need to separate your beetles. I personally sift the substrate, this will easily allow you to keep beetles and the substrate with eggs/babies separate. After you remove your beetles you should see a lot of little tiny, micro baby mealworms in the substrate. You will have to keep feeding these little mealworms over the course of the next couple weeks. These tiny mealworms should be feed able in about 4 - 6 weeks. Be patient, let your mealworms get to a nice size before feeding.
Substrate / Food:
A lot of people have very fancy, special substrate for their mealworms. I personally like to keep things simple. All I do is add some oatmeal, and some dog food. This has been successful for awhile now. If you choose to have a special substrate for your mealworms, you will have the same success if not better. A few other substrates I’ve heard of: Wheat bran, cereals, dog food, cat food, Pro Gutload, and horse feed. All with good success stories. Choose what works best for you, and stay with it!
Fresh Substrate:
Some people use tons of different vegetables and fruits to feed their mealworms. I personally again keep it simple. I use carrots and potatoes occasionally I use other things but not often. These keep my mealworms nice and plump, and provide nutrition to them. I used to feed a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to my mealworms. When I started to keep it simple, there was no noticeable difference. If you want to feed a wide variety of food items to your mealworms, all the power to you. I’d suggest trying to keep it simple for awhile though and see if you like the results.
Beetles eating.
Conclusion Thoughts:
By this point you should have a lot of mealworms harvestable. Remember not too feed off all of your mealworms or else you will not have any to continue the breeding cycle. The main thing to remember when breeding mealworms is to stay patient. My first attempt breeding mealworms, was not patient and I did not succeed. If your vegetables start to mold, remove them this is obviously bad if the mealworms eat it then your animals do.
Good luck with your breeding, I wish you all of the success.
*Any suggestions or spelling errors let me know and I'll try to fix everything up.
*Before feeding mealworms as a staple I reccomend reading this article: http://www.geckodan.com/The Pro.htm:main_laugh:
