Gecksta
Active Member
is it easy? and how do you do it? and are they like crickets eat there babes?
how to breed mealworms?
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Bez84
Very Well-Known Member
Is easy, woodies are easyer and better though.
When i used to breed mealworms id just have them in a container with an inch of substrate.
This was made by blending up some dogfood and sheep and cattle pellets in an old blender till it was a powder and then an inch of this was placed in the container and the worms lived and ate this...
It was changed when it had turned to dust..eg worms had eating it all and replaced it with dust waste.
Once the worms had changed into pupae they were moved to a new container where they would turn into beetles and lay eggs...beetles will apparently eat eggs if left in containers to long....
All in all breed woodies there easyer and a better food source, more meat to shell ratio.
Breeding woodies....place in a well ventilated container that they cant escape from...use fluon to achieve this.
Add food and thats basically it they breed like crazy...
When i used to breed mealworms id just have them in a container with an inch of substrate.
This was made by blending up some dogfood and sheep and cattle pellets in an old blender till it was a powder and then an inch of this was placed in the container and the worms lived and ate this...
It was changed when it had turned to dust..eg worms had eating it all and replaced it with dust waste.
Once the worms had changed into pupae they were moved to a new container where they would turn into beetles and lay eggs...beetles will apparently eat eggs if left in containers to long....
All in all breed woodies there easyer and a better food source, more meat to shell ratio.
Breeding woodies....place in a well ventilated container that they cant escape from...use fluon to achieve this.
Add food and thats basically it they breed like crazy...
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Gecksta
Active Member
bump
i used to keep mine in a small tupperware "tank"
filled it with some dried feed i.e. oats, bran, and stuff as substrate, possibly dry kibble or milk powder for added oomph
a few pieces of carrots on top/greens for their water (iceberg lettuce works pretty good for a water source) + extra nutrition (darker greens)
just change the veg when it goes dry and substrate when it gets stale
remove white pupae or they might get eaten by the other larvae
beetles are kept pretty much like the larvae
won't use em as a primary food substance tho, too much chitin
filled it with some dried feed i.e. oats, bran, and stuff as substrate, possibly dry kibble or milk powder for added oomph
a few pieces of carrots on top/greens for their water (iceberg lettuce works pretty good for a water source) + extra nutrition (darker greens)
just change the veg when it goes dry and substrate when it gets stale
remove white pupae or they might get eaten by the other larvae
beetles are kept pretty much like the larvae
won't use em as a primary food substance tho, too much chitin
I found breeding mealworms much more difficult than woodies. I haven't tried crickets, but I've heard they aren't terribly easy, either.
I would have a large container filled with bran for the mealworms. Inside that, there was another smaller container with holes in the bottom for the beetles to lay their eggs. I would pull the pupae out from the bran / large container (a bit of a task) and separate them. Once they had turned into beetles, I'd put them in the small inner container with the other beetles who would lay their eggs. The eggs would drop through the small holes into the bran, eventually becoming mealworms.
A bit time consuming though to sift through and separate them into their three stages - pupae, larvae and beetles. Not to mention, they're fatty and not very nutritious for bearded dragons.
I'm much happier with my woodie colony, especially since changing to a 165L container and making it nice and neat and using fluon. I just put in dog biscuits and carrot. Every week or so, I tip the container so the waste goes to one corner and clean it out.
I would have a large container filled with bran for the mealworms. Inside that, there was another smaller container with holes in the bottom for the beetles to lay their eggs. I would pull the pupae out from the bran / large container (a bit of a task) and separate them. Once they had turned into beetles, I'd put them in the small inner container with the other beetles who would lay their eggs. The eggs would drop through the small holes into the bran, eventually becoming mealworms.
A bit time consuming though to sift through and separate them into their three stages - pupae, larvae and beetles. Not to mention, they're fatty and not very nutritious for bearded dragons.
I'm much happier with my woodie colony, especially since changing to a 165L container and making it nice and neat and using fluon. I just put in dog biscuits and carrot. Every week or so, I tip the container so the waste goes to one corner and clean it out.
Gecksta
Active Member
i have tried woodies but they escaped and what other food is there for reptiles
Bez84
Very Well-Known Member
What were you using to stop them escaping? vaso or fluon...i used fluon for years with my woodies and dont have any escape.
GeckoJosh
Almost Legendary
Meal worms are easy as long as you keep them warm.
Keep your colony on pollard and or bran, always have a small piece of fresh carrot or any vegie really on top, when the worms pupate separate them until they morph into beetles then place them into a fresh tub of bran etc to start a new colony.
The beetles tend to go infertile after a month or two but live for 6+ months so if your not getting any worms out of them thats probably why
Keep your colony on pollard and or bran, always have a small piece of fresh carrot or any vegie really on top, when the worms pupate separate them until they morph into beetles then place them into a fresh tub of bran etc to start a new colony.
The beetles tend to go infertile after a month or two but live for 6+ months so if your not getting any worms out of them thats probably why
i breed woodies and king meals, i just have them all in one enclosure, on the odd occasion i see the mealie beetle getting around.
the woodies are breading like mad, but i have nfi about the mealworm population, tho the annoying this is my beardie turns his nose up too woodies but will eat mealies out of your hand :/
the woodies are breading like mad, but i have nfi about the mealworm population, tho the annoying this is my beardie turns his nose up too woodies but will eat mealies out of your hand :/
depends on the reptile you keep
"flushed" snails (feed em with stuff to flush out the bad stuff in their gut), pinkies & mice, earthworms (make sure they aren't the toxic variety), etc
i've actually read that king meals (zophobas morio) has less chitin and would be a slightly better choice, depending on the size of what you're keeping
waxworms are a good treat but very fatty so treat only/for recovering/thin reps
crickets are relatively easy but i found their babies matured pretty slowly and a pain, even had some drown in a droplet of water
used to just put a cotton bud soaked in water for a water source and dried foods (grains, kibble, + some veg for extra moisture). Usually would find eggs in the buds so its an extra egg-laying thingy, just spray once/twice to prevent drying
another thing about crix are they can be cannibalistic, especially when they don't get enough water from their feed
i've seen some people keep silkworms but its quite complicated, especially if you don't have the food source
P.S. meallie eggs & babies are tiny, downright microscopic, i used to keep the substrate in the adult beetle's tank and put some bran, after awhile you can see the ground "moving"
"flushed" snails (feed em with stuff to flush out the bad stuff in their gut), pinkies & mice, earthworms (make sure they aren't the toxic variety), etc
i've actually read that king meals (zophobas morio) has less chitin and would be a slightly better choice, depending on the size of what you're keeping
waxworms are a good treat but very fatty so treat only/for recovering/thin reps
crickets are relatively easy but i found their babies matured pretty slowly and a pain, even had some drown in a droplet of water
used to just put a cotton bud soaked in water for a water source and dried foods (grains, kibble, + some veg for extra moisture). Usually would find eggs in the buds so its an extra egg-laying thingy, just spray once/twice to prevent drying
another thing about crix are they can be cannibalistic, especially when they don't get enough water from their feed
i've seen some people keep silkworms but its quite complicated, especially if you don't have the food source
P.S. meallie eggs & babies are tiny, downright microscopic, i used to keep the substrate in the adult beetle's tank and put some bran, after awhile you can see the ground "moving"
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