Reptile & Amphibian Forums

please tell. I think it is a smart investment for me so when I want to feed my leos I don't have to go out and buy any.Thanks so much!
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NICK

Mealies will breed if you just leave them be. Start off with two hundred mealies in a plastic shoebox or sweater box (well ventilated!) with a good gutload as a bedding (put a slice of vegetable in there every other day for moisture). Then leave them alone for a bit. The mealies will grow and turn into these little pupae things that do not eat but wiggle like crazy if you touch them. When you start finding these, remove them into their own separate container with some bedding (if you don't the unchanged mealies will eat them!). After a couple more weeks, the pupae turn into adult beetles. Make sure the box the beetles are in has 2 inches of nutritious bedding (don't forget those veggies for moisture!). Every female beetle can lay hundreds of eggs before she dies. Do not disturb the bedding (even after all the beetles have died) because the eggs will be scattered throughout the bedding. Little mealies will hatch out maybe a week after the eggs are laid (if they are at room temp or above that is). The little mealies are very tiny, so again, be careful with moving the bedding or throwing it out. Once the mealies get big enough, you can refridgerate them or put them back in the feeder bin.

Cleo
1:1 leos...soon to be 1:5!!!

I thank you so much and you are greatly appreciated!I have right now about between 500 and 1500 in a huge plastic box in 8 boxes of corn flakes an there are a whole lot of beetles in it crawling around do you know if that would work to?
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NICK

Yes, it will. In addition to cornflakes, you could use oatmeal with some powdered milk mixed in and other grains. But don't forget to add a carrot or apple piece for moisture.

how long will the meal worms last if you refridgerate them

Eat the pupae? I've never had my mealies do this...are you sure you aren't thinking of zophobas ("super worms"? I had zophobas eat my crickets once when I made the mistake of putting them together to gutload.

Thats it!

YEPPERS ITS SIMPLE!

i got a rubbermaid tub and mixed in weat bran,powdered milk, dry baby milk.Also took some peanuts and sunflowerseed and powderd eggyoke put it all in the blender and choped it up to a fine powder. i added all this and mixed it with some sawdust. worked great for me. the babies seem to loike cheerios.

A tupperware shoebox works well. Put a few small holes in the lid in for air.

Fill it 1/4 to 1/2 full of something yummy for them. I like to use dry baby cereals, but then, I had some left over that my son didn't like. Many people use oat bran, which the mealworms think is fine, but might not be the most nutritious gutload. Even a non-sugared nutritious dry cereal works well, I've actually used grape nuts before. <G> Basically, any ground grain is good for raising them. Designate one area of this as the "watering zone". It's much easier to clean up a patch than the whole thing, and if the bedding there gets too damp, it's a risk for molding. You can put in a slice of orange or peeled apple for moisture, or a soaked bit of tissue or paper towel. Be careful not to "throw the baby out with the bath water" when you change out the moisture source. Adults will lay their eggs around it, and worms may burrow inside. I leave mine until they are completely dried out, and inspect them carefully before discarding them.
If you use the tissue method, beetles and larvae, once they begin multiplying, will shred to fluff and scatter the paper across the top of the bedding providing a slightly humid cover that doesn't mold out the bedding material--it works pretty well.

Mold is the greatest risk to your colony--change everything out if you get mold, and just rescue the adults and larvae that you can. Also make sure they always have SOME source of moisture, or they'll quickly dessicate in the dry grain environment.

They have little in the way of odor, if kept this way, and they are quite prolific. Be aware that it does take some time if you start from a batch of worms, for them to metamorphose and lay, and start the next generation. It can take quite some time for eggs to hatch and minute new larvae to appear. You probably will not see them until they are larger, they are nearly microscopic when they hatch. This is why you don't dump the bedding or materials unless you absolutely have to.