Posted by:
marcus-sparkus
at Wed Jul 16 16:09:23 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by marcus-sparkus ]
Ok well first off, I don't exactly know what species you have. There are two main feeder mealworm speciesv in the trade. The first is tenebrio molitor which is usually smaller, but occasionally some people feed them hormones that make them grow larger then they normally would(sometimes called superworms). The other species is zophobas morio(sometimes called superworms, sometimes called kingworms). which is the larvae of a tropical darkling beetle. These species have completly different requirments.
If you have the hormone enhanced tenebrio molitor then I would say feed them all off and just get some plain ole small mealworms cause these guys have serious problems becoming worthwhile feeders. Some people say that they cant become breed at all.
If you have zophobas morio (lets hope you do) then what you would want to do is to take a suitable tank/rubbermaid bin and fill it will about 6 inches of peat moss. Sprinkle oats and cornflakes on top for food, also add a corrot, potatoe or similar fruit/veggie for moisture. That should keep the worms happy and healthy.
Getting them to pupate can be somewhat tricky and there are 2 ways of going about it. In the wild the larvae would chew a little pupation chamber into a peice of wood and crawl in there to be safe. So, its not just about them being seperate to pupate, its about them feeling safe. The two ways Ive done this with decent results are to throw a bunch of decaying wood into to tank (which can be smelly and add some insects you didnt want to the tank if you didnt properly starilize it) or to put them into little black film canisters with some carrot. The wood in the tank requires a lot less work from you to maintain the colony, but has somewhat slower results whereas the film canasters work a lot faster, but can be a very long, boring thing to do.
My recomendations are to firstly, find out what you have. If you do have zophobas morio then I would use the wood in tank method along with throwing some in film canasters if your beetle population dips to low. If you have tenebrio molitor then I can help you out there too, just let me know.
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heres what you do - marcus-sparkus, Wed Jul 16 16:09:23 2003