Mold in Mealworm Colony

[crazylizardlady]

I have my breeder beetles set up in a sterilite with a screen glued in the bottom set over another tub so the baby worms, eggs and frass falls into the bottom container. Somehow over night the bottom container with the babies has molded terribly and the top one has a lot of condensation in it. I have a ton of air holes in the top one and plan to add more around the sides today. My question is should I try to salvage anything from this colony or toss them all because of the mold?

 

[telliott4]

Try putting screen on top for better ventilation. Are you feeding a lot of veggies? If so cut back they can go without constant water, a screen on top helps with this too. Lastly I've tried the method you are using and found keeping beetles in a tub and sifting with 1/8" mesh (cut up an old 10g top) regularly is far better.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[indyana]

You should be able to let the colony dry out and save it.

 

[crazylizardlady]

I ended up just tossing them out once i started trying to sift them out I realized it was through all the oats not just around the edges. I think I have found a way to fix the problem just in case anyone else runs into it. I had my beetle bin with the screen in the bottom just sitting over the other bin so it was only about an inch above the oats in the bin for the eggs and babies, no airflow to the bottom bin. I drilled holes into the bottom bin and put in a couple bolts to elevate the beetles more and poked some air holes at the top. Seems like common sense would have told me the bottom bin wasnt getting enough ventilation but I set them up following a youtubers advice and didnt even think about it until there was mold all over.