| You may ask why one would want to breed | | | | sweater box, or another setup I'll discuss later. |
| mealworms. There are several reasons I can think of | | | | Once the oats & cereal is mixed together, add the |
| why some might NOT be interested in breeding | | | | mealworms. Add an egg carton top and bottom and |
| mealworms: They are worms! They are smelly, slimy, | | | | you are good to go. The worms use this egg carton |
| icky, squirmy, worms! They can get out and infest | | | | to crawl around on and under. Although mealworms |
| my home! Or those that have a bit of experience | | | | will not climb the plastic walls, I position the cartons |
| with these insects might suggest they can easily be | | | | away from the edges of the box. |
| purchase them from a local pet store or even | | | | Keeping the mealworms at a constant high 70's low |
| cheaper in bulk off the internet. | | | | 80's and you will soon start seeing pupa developing. I |
| First, let me dispel the assumptions- they are not | | | | have found with the medium mix described above |
| smelly, slimy, squirmy, and I don't think they are icky. | | | | and other foods offered that the worms will not |
| Their climbing skills are limited to non slick objects. | | | | bother the pupa. Some pupa may turn brown and die |
| They are slow moving so if you do drop one, you | | | | but most should turn into beetles. If you want to |
| can easily capture it. | | | | maximize the output, you can certainly separate the |
| Yes, you can order mealworms from a pet store. | | | | pupa from the worms. |
| The Internet also sells worms for as little as $12 a | | | | After about 2 weeks of being a pupa, you will start |
| thousand! So why would I want to go through the | | | | to see a few Darkling beetles appearing under the |
| hassle of breeding them if I can purchase them so | | | | egg cartons. Again, I have not noticed any predation |
| easily and inexpensive? Great question. | | | | in my groups, even of the softer pupa by the |
| If you raise small reptiles like I do, or have very small | | | | beetles if they are feed well. The beetles are |
| hatchlings such as viper geckos, pictus geckos, or | | | | ultimately what you are striving for in a healthy |
| even chameleons, you need to raise your own | | | | mealworm colony. They lay the eggs to create new |
| mealworms! You will find that breeding mealworms | | | | mealworms. The eggs are quite small and it is likely |
| provides a great range of sizes perfect for these | | | | you will never see them as they are sticky and will |
| small reptiles. Young reptiles eat often! You need to | | | | adhere to the bedding. |
| have a dependable supply of food just the right size | | | | Eventually the container will be a mix of substrate, |
| for these young animals to allow them to grow at a | | | | egg cartons, mealworms of various sizes, maybe |
| healthy rate. By raising your own, you will have | | | | some pupa, and certainly beetles. From this slurry of |
| several sizes available for your animals. | | | | activity you can selectively harvest the size of |
| To begin raising your own mealworms start with | | | | mealworm you desire. |
| about 100 - 200 adult worms. Again, these can be | | | | The above technique works well if you need to feed |
| purchased at a local pet store or even from an | | | | just a few animals. If you have more than a handful |
| Internet company. A note that regular mealworms | | | | of animals, the best way to go about setting up a |
| will metamorphoses to a pupa and then into the | | | | non-stop mealworm factory is to use one of those |
| Darkling beetle. | | | | plastic filing system found at your local department |
| Prepare the bedding used to keep the worms | | | | store. Setup each bin with a culture and you will be |
| healthy by using a generic brand of oats and a dry | | | | pulling all sizes of mealworms-more than you could |
| baby cereal. The cheaper the better. I use the oats | | | | ever use. |
| as a base for the medium. I like to add the cereal as | | | | In this setup, I have 6 drawers of mealworms going |
| an additional food source for the young mealworms. | | | | (the middle bin is used for vermiculite). I don't use all |
| Mix the two together - 2/3 oats to about 1/3 cereal. | | | | the worms this unit produces. I let several bins |
| You will want to mix enough to have about an inch | | | | mature to produce pupa, beetles, and eventually |
| or two in the bottom of your container. This will | | | | more mini-mealworms. |
| become the base food of the worms. Additional | | | | I hope you try this neat way to provide your animals |
| foods such as potatoes, carrots, apples, kale, and | | | | additional foods. Be a bit patient as it does take a |
| other greens can be offered to provide moisture to | | | | little time to see those first micro mealworms. |
| the worms. The container can be a plastic shoebox, | | | | |