Hi, I am looking into raising meal-worms and have a question or 2. When I go to harvest meal-worms to store them away I assume I will have a bunch at some point for later use or sell to others, should I freeze them to death or just keep them chilled and alive? I dont know which is best.
I have chickens and will do fresh live for them too. Reptiles prefer them to be alive. I have a leopard gecko that I tried to feed dead meal worms to and he would not eat them. As soon as I gave him some that was a live he had no problem scarfing down about 15 of them.
Did I kill them by putting them in the fridge? How long are they supposed to be in their dormant state before the wake up and start moving? If you have mealworms but their just sitting around and your not using them what can you do with them. Will they smell up my fridge?
How often do I need to pull them out for 24 hours to feed them? If you buy mealworms from Petco, they come in something like sawdust. Should that be kept dry or moist? Can the beetle stage be stored in the refrigerator or will it kill them? We are going out of town and have a bunch in that stage right now. We are not totally familiar with the mealworm beetle growth process because we do not breed and raise mealworms on our farm.
However, everything we have read on them has indicated that you keep the beetles at room temperature or at about degrees. I guess that will work? I would recommend that you do further research on this topic. In the summer and fall you might have a problem with fruit flies if using apple halves, banana peels and carrots for moisture.
So to avoid this problem I use damp paper towels. Depending on the temperature, I water the towels once to twice a week. Just watch for mold. If it forms reduce moistening.
The towels are good for moisture but also for the worms to grab on to to remove their next skin phase. They like to hide between the towels. So three or four towels deep works nicely. Can I freeze mealworms? I understand the mealworms to be the larvae stage of the beetle. Good to know. I usually order mealworms at a time. I keep them in the refrigerator. Should I still be putting carrots or potatoes in the container? So let me get this straight, I get them, put food in the container.
Do I give them a few days to eat first or put them straight into the fridge? Also if they do gutload before the fridge or while in it do I gut load them again before feeding my anole?
I want my meal worms to breed make more meal worms. Once the larvae become pupae, they will not eat during this stage. This will give the pupae something to hold onto while they transition into their next life stage, which will take anywhere from days. Keep the temperature of the container above 62 degrees F. Temperatures lower than this can have a negative effect on the reproduction cycle.
If you are trying to progress the life cycle and encourage full grown beetles to lay eggs and start the cycle over, make sure they have a warm environment in which to do so. But, temperatures lower than 40 degrees F may cause the worms to die. Did you know you can get expert answers for this article? Unlock expert answers by supporting wikiHow. Samuel Ramsey, PhD Entomologist. Samuel Ramsey, PhD. Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.
Not Helpful 4 Helpful 7. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. Don't put wild beetles with your adult mealworms. Many beetle species are carnivores and may eat the mealworms. Helpful 28 Not Helpful 3. It is best if after your worms pupate that you keep them in a container with substrate and food so when they come out they can eat.
Helpful 18 Not Helpful 4. Helpful 36 Not Helpful Never give water to meal worms but you can give apples on a damp cotton wool. Helpful 16 Not Helpful Mealworms turn black when dead. In order to make sure they are healthy, check frequently.
Helpful 86 Not Helpful Handle them with care, and hold them over the container so you won't drop them on the floor. Helpful 64 Not Helpful Related wikiHows How to. How to. More References 3. About This Article. Mealworms are good for water-soluble vitamins and for most of the mineral content, but they do lack calcium, which needs to be supplemented. In addition, the quantity you order should also be determined by your storage space.
Mealworms can be easily maintained for long periods of time if stored properly. Upon arrival, immediately place the insects inside a plastic container with air holes and cover them with a two-inch layer of wheat middling or oatmeal to provide bedding and a food source.
The substrate should be ground to a fine powder to make it easier to pick out the mealworms when you need to move them. Mealworm Keeper is a bedding that separates the mealworms, but also acts as food. Therefore, you will need to replace it every once in a while after it gets eaten.
Shake off the mealworms from the newspapers, into the storage container, then discard the newspapers. The mealworms may pull the food under the bedding to eat it, which is completely normal.
Some moisture is necessary for the mealworms to drink. While the raw vegetables contain some moisture, it is best to add more by using Thirsty Cricket gel water source. Do not add a dish of regular water, the mealworms can drown. Let the mealworms sit in their container with their food and water, at room temperature for 24 hours. This will give them adequate nutrition and hydration to stay healthy while dormant. Even though you will be feeding the mealworms vegetables, naturally they will lose some nutritional value after staying mostly dormant for multiple weeks.
We recommend you gutload them to offer your pet maximum nutrition, instead of offering an empty vessel.
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