Oh My Good God, What Is This?

[Rox]

Gosh that made me laugh!!!! You need A LOT of beetles before you get a lot of worms

I use cat litter trays to breed my mealworms in. Found it to be the best size and works well. And the beetles stay inside

[lovezebs]

Rox
Good idea, but will the cats stay out of them, and that is the question? I mean having a beetle jump up at me is one thing, having a pooping cat leap out at you, is another thing all together! Plus, I might find some giant worms in there, that neither the birds or myself would appreciate

~Elana~

[Rox]

Hahaha, that is a conversation you will have to have with your cats

I gave up on mine and now keep the mealworms in an area the cats can't get to them. My one cat actually just slept in the tray and dragged the bran and contents with him all over the place when he got up. We weren't impressed, lol!

[lovezebs]

Rox

Hahaaha. A cat covered in bran. Very healthy feline.
Do you cover those trays at all? I kept my little container covered with a few holes for air.

~Elana~

[lovezebs]

Ok all worm loving bird people.

I looked up the life cycle of a mealworm.
According to these folks, these darn beetle things fly off after they lay their eggs. Is this true? Am I going to have these horrid things flying around my house like the flightless fruit fly things? Please tell me it isn't so.....

~Elana~

[Toddmin]

Sally, you just gave me such a loud laugh!

[Rox]

I have never seen a beetle fly. They usually just die off once they have done laying eggs.

[Sally]

Toddmin Didn't know if anyone would get the reference to 'my drawers'.

@lovezebs I've never seen them fly, they just die off, then I pick them out of the bran. What's left are hundreds of eggs (future mealies).

[lovezebs]

Sally & Rox....

Thanks for the info. I just couldn't handle these things flying around the house. I'd be running around screaming my head off, and it would be the looney bin for sure for me, that's if my boys didn't have me commited when and if they find the beetles in the box.

All joking aside.
Sally
I really didn't want to say anything about having bugs in your drawers...... I mean to each his own, right?:-)

Ok, so now......

1) I gets me a box (with cover, has to have a cover, or I'm not playing this game)

2) I get a bag of regular Bran, *will they eat oatmeal? Should I add bloodworms, bits of fruit, or anything else?

3) I put pupae (if I have any available) in there. Or shall I put just a couple of worms in there? If no poopaes available?

4) Put cover (with air holes) on box.

5) Place box on shelf in basement, and wait for 3 to 4 weeks, and see what happens?

How long does it take for actual mealworms to hatch and become big enough to see?

~Elana~

[Toddmin]

Sally, I wasn't sure anybody else got it either. LOL

[Sally]

lovezebs Not quite that easy, but almost. You will need to feed the larvae and the beetles, I use slices of potato or carrots. The pupa don't eat, they are like in hibernation (sure there is a better term for it, just can't think of it right now).

I like to use those 3-drawer systems from Sterlite, not too big, each drawer is something like 12x12x3", so small enough to set on a shelf. That way, you can have several farms going at once.

You can start with large mealworms from the pet shop, one little container will be enough. Put those in one of the drawers with bran or oatmeal (not instant), about 1 or 1 1/2" deep. These large sizes won't take too long to pupate. Once they turn into beetles, they will start laying eggs in the bran. Keep feeding these beetles, and they will start to die off. Once they are all dead, remove the dead bodies, and now you can ignore that drawer for a couple of weeks.

Now you can get another container of large mealies from the pet store and start the process in a second drawer. Eventually, you reach the point where you don't have to buy large mealies, you just save some of your little ones, put them in a starter drawer, and let them grow up and start the process all over again.

As KarenB has said, if you keep them in the basement, they won't grow and reproduce as fast. The warmer the temperature, the quicker they will grow, which is why we put mealies that are the perfect size for feeding into the refrigerator, to slow down their growth.

[guhloreea]

Hahaha I worked at a pet store a few years ago, and I was just as shocked to learn this as you were. The bug basically hatches from the mealworm. I'm sure I'm repeating what everyone else is saying, but they're really harmless. They were usually dead when I would find them. Go get yourself some fresh mealworms!

[lovezebs]

guhloreea
I've got a bunch which I just bought a few days ago, so that's not the issue.
I have to buy some containers, and some bran or what not, to get the ball rolling. I mean if these things can be grown, then why pay for them?

~Elana~

[Colt]

You go girl. ;) I'll let you try it out and then when I get brave enough I'll give it a go. I have yet to raise live food for the birds yet...

[lovezebs]

Sally
Hi Sally.

Thanks for the information. I figure, that for the $4.00, that it costs me to buy 100 mealworms at the pet shop, I could probanly get the containers at the $ store, and for a bit more, purchase a bag of bran.

Then I should be on my way.....
I'll start small but grow rapidly, it will be the survival of the fittest and the strongest worms. My worms will be the biggest and the strongest ever. No worm will be able to stand up to them. And my beetles, they will be ginormous, better than any beetles ever. If ever we have beetle battles, my beetles will win every time.

I will be Queen of the beetle and worm world. No one will be able to even come close, or hold a candle to my guys. My worms and beetles will be the strongest and the most aggressive, they will go where no worm has gone before.

I will feed them only the best super carrots and super dooper spjuds. They will be like wolf worms, and hunt down even king worms and swallow them whole.

My worms will be better than your worms, Sally. Better than Marius' worms and Roxann's worms put together. Better than even Colt's worms, which aren't even hatched yet.

I'll sell my worms for millions. People will come from all over the world to just get a glimpse of them. I'll go down in the Guinness Book of Records, and they'll pay me to put my worms in there. .........

~Elana~