Post by Ritzie/Admin on Feb 29, 2004 8:52:07 GMT -8
Here some meal worm information from the website:
www.reptilerascals.com/mealwormcare.html
And here some breeding information from the website of Glasgow Zoo:
www.reptilerascals.com/mealwormcare.html
Regular Meal worms.
Latin Name: Tenebrio Molitor.
Meal worms are the larvae of the darkling beetle and are often used as a treat (not a staple food) for a variety of herps. The darkling beetle goes through complete metamorphosis. They start out as egg, then larva, to pupa and finally beetle.
Things To Avoid: - Cold or Dampness (If you intend to breed). too cold of conditions can make them completely slow down in growth and they will not breed.
- High humidity and moisture. This will cause mites and you will lose your colony.
Housing Meal worms: When you purchase your meal worms from a pet store you may be told to keep them in the refrigerator. You can do this if you don't want to breed. If you intend to breed your own meal worms don't put them in the refrigerator. In the cold the growth of the larvae slows down and they will not breed. At room temperature they will eat (which allows you to gut-load) and breed.
-Place them in a roomy shallow rubbermaid container with lots of holes in the lid or cut out a square hole in the cover and tape or glue window screen in it. Some people will even leave the entire top off as the beetles do not fly.
-Place a small pieces of wood (drift wood is good) in the container and the beetles will lay there eggs in the porous of the wood. This is said not to be necessary but I have found it works best for me so this is what I do.
Feeding Your Meal worms: fill the bottom of the container with a substrate of bran and rolled oats or a mealworm/cricket feed a couple inches deep. This is what the meal worms eat. You can also put small piece of carrot for some moisture. You can also use slices of orange or romaine for variety and moisture. Fruits and veggies should be eaten within 24 hours. If not remove and replace with new food in 48 hours.
Cleaning Your Meal worms: You don't want to do this too often because you will disrupt the breeding cycle. When you do, do it about once a month and make sure you move the pieces of wood carefully as they will probably have eggs in them. Clean with a 10% bleach solution and replace the substrate.
Breeding Meal worms: As said before, meal worms basically do all the work with minimum help from you. Just a few small containers, a couple pieces of wood, and some fresh food. The pupae are put in a container by them selves and once they turn into beetles the beetles are removed to a breeding tank.
The meal worms will live like this for a long time as long as you keep feeding them and an occasional cleaning. They basically do all this without any help from you, you just have to make sure they have a fresh food supply and the mealies are separate from the beetles.
Latin Name: Tenebrio Molitor.
Meal worms are the larvae of the darkling beetle and are often used as a treat (not a staple food) for a variety of herps. The darkling beetle goes through complete metamorphosis. They start out as egg, then larva, to pupa and finally beetle.
Things To Avoid: - Cold or Dampness (If you intend to breed). too cold of conditions can make them completely slow down in growth and they will not breed.
- High humidity and moisture. This will cause mites and you will lose your colony.
Housing Meal worms: When you purchase your meal worms from a pet store you may be told to keep them in the refrigerator. You can do this if you don't want to breed. If you intend to breed your own meal worms don't put them in the refrigerator. In the cold the growth of the larvae slows down and they will not breed. At room temperature they will eat (which allows you to gut-load) and breed.
-Place them in a roomy shallow rubbermaid container with lots of holes in the lid or cut out a square hole in the cover and tape or glue window screen in it. Some people will even leave the entire top off as the beetles do not fly.
-Place a small pieces of wood (drift wood is good) in the container and the beetles will lay there eggs in the porous of the wood. This is said not to be necessary but I have found it works best for me so this is what I do.
Feeding Your Meal worms: fill the bottom of the container with a substrate of bran and rolled oats or a mealworm/cricket feed a couple inches deep. This is what the meal worms eat. You can also put small piece of carrot for some moisture. You can also use slices of orange or romaine for variety and moisture. Fruits and veggies should be eaten within 24 hours. If not remove and replace with new food in 48 hours.
Cleaning Your Meal worms: You don't want to do this too often because you will disrupt the breeding cycle. When you do, do it about once a month and make sure you move the pieces of wood carefully as they will probably have eggs in them. Clean with a 10% bleach solution and replace the substrate.
Breeding Meal worms: As said before, meal worms basically do all the work with minimum help from you. Just a few small containers, a couple pieces of wood, and some fresh food. The pupae are put in a container by them selves and once they turn into beetles the beetles are removed to a breeding tank.
The meal worms will live like this for a long time as long as you keep feeding them and an occasional cleaning. They basically do all this without any help from you, you just have to make sure they have a fresh food supply and the mealies are separate from the beetles.
And here some breeding information from the website of Glasgow Zoo:
Meal Worm Breeding
If you are a keen gardener, it's amazing how tame the local robin becomes if he knows you have a few meal worms in your pocket.
They are easy to breed.
Just:
* Get an empty biscuit tin and line it with numerous sheets of newspaper cut to size.
* Sprinkle dry porridge oat flakes between each sheet of newspaper,
* add some meal worms to each layer,
* replace the lid
* put the tin in a dark, warm place...
...and away they go. If you don't interfere, you'll soon find some of the original meal worms have developed into the adult black beetles. These will start to breed and in no time you should have more than you need...and the local robin will have a full tum!
If you are a keen gardener, it's amazing how tame the local robin becomes if he knows you have a few meal worms in your pocket.
They are easy to breed.
Just:
* Get an empty biscuit tin and line it with numerous sheets of newspaper cut to size.
* Sprinkle dry porridge oat flakes between each sheet of newspaper,
* add some meal worms to each layer,
* replace the lid
* put the tin in a dark, warm place...
...and away they go. If you don't interfere, you'll soon find some of the original meal worms have developed into the adult black beetles. These will start to breed and in no time you should have more than you need...and the local robin will have a full tum!
my goodness what carnage.