Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What do you feed your mealworms? how long do the beetles live?
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

I'm not a owner of any herps, just a domicile attendant.

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As of right now, I'm feeding mine a mix of 5 parts oatmeal, 2 parts corn meal, 1 part flour, along with a small ammount of dried, ground calcium and vitamin fortified mulberry leaves (optional/experimental). If you're going to go into raising a lot of mealworms, bran is what I've always heard recommended.

To drink, they always have available slices of potato, banana peels, and the occasional slice of orange which is changed appx every 48 hours.

I don't have any exact lifespan of the beetles, but I know that some have lived as long as four months before dying, some only lived half that.

I have excellant results with chicken layer mash. I prefer the crumble to the pellets. I have had high production and nice fat mealworms. My babies are raised using these as the main diet, dusted of course.

I feel that this is a more nutritious diet than bran, which contains nothing but fiber, as layer mash is formulated for high egg production. I know a lot of worm grower recommend it for that very reason. It also contains vitamins and calcium that you just won't find in bran.

Just my opinion
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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

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you have any brand that you reccomend?
I've actually got some time so i can make a trip out to a feed store and get some instead of getting oat/wheat bran at some pricey grocery store. i've herd that some are medicated and are bad.
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Later,
WhisQuila

I have used what I can find. In Omaha I was using purina which was very good. Here in South Dakota I am forced to buy what I can find and the only place that even has it un-medicated is Tractor Supply. I have had good results with the stuff I got there too though.

Do avoid the medicated. You don't want to pass those meds to your reptiles even if the mealworms survive it. You may want to call ahead of going to make the purchase to make sure they have it unless you are in an area where you can find well stocked feed stores. I live in a town of 2300 and the local feed store is geared more to horses and cattle and anything else has to be ordered.
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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

groups.yahoo.com/group/agamid/join
(click the link to join the agamid group on yahoo)

Hello,

We raise mealworms on a fairly large scale. We feed ours various oats, brans etc that we obtain from a local health food store who gives them to us. Most health food stores by this stuff in bulk 25lb bags of which they sell it by the half pound, pound etc. All of the ones we deal with just keep it stored in the bags it comes in. They just tear the bags open and scoup it out as they sell it. We stop in about once a month and they give us any that have become "buggy". If you're lucky and you check around where you live, you may find such a store that doesn't store it properly so it becomes buggy after awhile. I just went the other day and they gave me rolled oats, hulled millet, rye flakes and wheat germ flakes (all organic of course). They give us other various grains and such from time to time, just depends what is buggy at the time. All of this is excellent for mealies and our roaches relish it as well! Moisture is provided through various organic fruits and veggies, which are also given to us, by a local organic produce supplier.

Someone mentioned chicken mash... I would personally avoid this myself as some of it contains synthetic vitamin A which some herps, such as chameleons, cannot utilize which will cause gular edema; especially in montane chameleons.

I hope this helps! If you need any further info, please click the link provided as it has very detailed info on their care and maintenance!
www.justbugs.com Mealworm Profile