Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Your rack set up sounds impressive, and i printed out your instructions because i may set up something like that in the future. However, at the moment i only really need mealies to feed to a couple of animals. I am feeding two leos and one beardie. The beardie is an adult though, so her diet is mostly greens, she gets mealies only very occasionally. So I dont think I need THAT many mealies, lol. My original plan was just to be gutloading them as one of my leos has decided she likes mealies much more than crickets, but then i figured since they metamorph so quickly i might as well breed them anyway.

I started out with about 500 mealies, 50 pupae, and 10 adult beetles. I want to keep a steady supply, but i dont want to be overrun. I am thinking it may be advisable for population control to go ahead and just clean one half of the box at a time, therefore purposely disposing of some eggs. Do you think this would be too much of a hit for the colony to take? (I will be feeding roughly 20mealies per day to the lizards) If yout hink the colony wouldn't be able to handle that many eggs being thrown away i will just set up two boxes for adult beetles and switch them around.

My last question is what is your cleaning procedure? Even not worrying about the eggs...what about the mealies? Do you just pick out all the mealies by hand before you dump the substrate? The substrate i have them on is too big to be sieved through. Is there an easier way?

Thanks
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake
1.1 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Anerythristic Corn
0.0.1 Red Tegu
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

Oh, and also, do you think the larva and pupae would be ok together if there was plenty of potatoes and veggies for moisture snacking?

Im thinking i might just have three containers...one for pupae and larva...and two for the beetles (one empty and one full of beetles...then when its near time to clean i can move all the beetles into the new clean container, wait for the eggs to hatch int he old container and become big enough to put in with the rest of the larva and then clean that box)

Do you think that would work?

thanks
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake
1.1 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Anerythristic Corn
0.0.1 Red Tegu
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

I've never had a problem with the mealworms trying to eat the pupates. Hope the 2 box idea for the beetles works out for you. If the eggs dont hatch fast enough you can always add a third box instead of having 2.

How do you transfer the "aliens" from one storage area to another? (and I have to admit, those things still creep me out...especially when you poke them and they spasm!!)

AlteredMind and BlueLeo had the novel idea of using mesh screens for separating mealies from substrate but my substrate is too large.

Kendergirl, do you grind your substrate into a finer powder? Maybe that's the key?
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Too many Leos
1.0 feline "Spot"
0.1 canine "Tika"

You'll know when it's time to switch out the substrate because the bottom is going to be powdery mealworm poop. THIS is the stuff that you want to throw out. You can save the larger grains of substrate and the mealworms by using a wire mesh collander. I bought mine from the kitchen aisle at Target.
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www.BugChick.com

chickabowwow

You can scoop up the aliens using a spoon, or use tongs, or (for the brave) use your fingers. You can feel them wiggle with the tongs, but after you move enough you get used to it.

As for cleaning, the food I use is pretty much a powder, so it's really easy to sift. Every 1 - 2 months I get rid of the old substrate by sifting, then disinfect the container. If you ever notice mold, you need to clean ASAP!!! The mold can kill your worms, and your herps. I only throw enough of a moisture source to last about 2 hours, I put it in once a day to every other day.

Cleaning out half of a bin at a time will help keep your population down a great deal. Just be sure to freeze what you are throwing out for 2 - 3 days. You want to kill off any eggs and worms in there. I don't know that mealworms would survive in the wild, but why take that risk for the enviroment?

You can also slow down the growth of the worms a great deal by moving the bin into the fridge. Just take it out once a week or two for about 24 hours for rehydrating and eating. I'm fairly sure the beatles won't survive in the fridge...or at the very least, won't lay eggs.
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Official Leopard Gecko Freak

1:4:1 Leos - Gilean (HTCT), Aurora (High Yellow), Amber (LVPA), Garnet (Tang), Tigerlily (Hypo Tang), and Mirage (Hypo Tang) (1:0 more on the way! WOO!)
2:0 Cats - Troi and Mitsu (shhhhh...don't tell them they're neutered!)
4:0 Betas - So pretty, yet so violent!
1:0 Husband - Eric (He's a lot of work, but it's worth it.)