FINCHforum

I have a mealworm "farm" in a tub, as we have a hedgehog. But I have way more mealworms than Hedgie could ever eat. So, obviously she can share them with the finches.

But...do I have to pick out just very small ones for the finches? Or can they handle the big ones also? I have mealworms up to an inch, easily. It is a lot easier to pull out the big ones than the tiny ones, which is what I have done on occasion for the finches, and which is why I have only done it on occasion for the finches. Picking out the tiny, 1/4 inch max mealworms is quite a chore.

How many/much mealworm do I give them if I'm using the bigger ones?

And do you ever give them the later stages, beetles or pupa?

And those with budgies, what about feeding them mealworms? I have read both yes and no recommendations.

Most finches prefer the small ones, though some people have had success feeding the larger mealworms. I've never offered beetles, as I don't want them to escape the cages, but I have offered the pupae--my birds ignored them. If you have excess large mealworms, you can always put them outside if you have bluebirds--they love mealworms.

my waxbills love mealworms... big ones, little ones... pretty much any ones! i do find though that sometimes when they are on the bigger side, like an inch or so, they may just bite off the heads , i assume because they are too big for them to swallow. so i end up with a lot of decapitated mealworms all over the cage floor

my button quail will eat the larvae and the pupa, but i haven't tried to give them beetles yet. i agree with sally, i really don't want beetles all over my house! i have tons of crickets for my reptiles, but haven't tried to feed them to my quail for the same reason.

I let the mealworms get big & fat, then cut them in half for my birds (guess they're kinda spoiled!). The only ones who really eat them are the spice, bronzewing mannakins, and OC waxbills. But they LOVE them! Cutting in half makes it easy for them to squeeze the juicy goodness out of each end! I find the dried outer shells all over the flight! LOL

I've offered them to the Zebras, Society, & Goulds but they don't seem to have any interest in them..

I prefer seed and greens for my birds, personally. Mealworms gross me out! Yech!

Still finding beetles and mealies in the house, after 2 years of no longer feeding them Those little bugs can multiply faster than you can blink an eye

I also gave up on mealworms. My parrot finches, spice finches, cordons and weavers loved them. I still raise parrot finches and spice but no longer the others. The parrot finches do well on boiled eggs and green seeds so I gave up on the mealworms after having many moth invasions! It is important to remember that the mealworms are only as good as what they are fed. I used oatmeal and carrots as well as kale. These are healthier choices than bran and potatoes. Some people use dog food or chicken feed to gut load the mealies.

Zebrafincher wrote: I prefer seed and greens for my birds, personally. Mealworms gross me out! Yech!

Ditto!
Ewwww !

They are gross, but they are good for the hedgehog. Only they reproduce much faster than needed, so I have a huge excess.

We feed ours leftover/stale cereal, wheat germ, leftover cat food from Hedgie (she eats cat food, in chewing it up leaves lots and lots of crumbles, so we dump her bowl into the worm farm when refilling). Occasional carrot or lettuce rib, but we don't seem to need to add moisture despite what I read. And I do believe they cannibalize each other.

I have never had a beetle fly away on me, Hedgie eats them too quickly, I guess. We tried crickets once, but she had trouble catching them, so no more crickets.

I cannot imagine cutting them in half. too gross. but rather than pick out the tiny ones, I think I will just see how big they will handle on their own.

I have no problems feeding larger mealworms, some will only eat the head while others will eat it all. In preference the bird will take smaller mealworms than larger. As for the pupa and beetle no finches of mine have bothered with them but I know softbill breeders will use them. How much to give well that's all depending on a number of factors, have you ever feed them to your birds before, breeding season or not, size of worm, types of finches its being feed to. I go by my judgment of what season it is, through non breeding time I use it as a treat here and there, when breeding season is to commence then I would consider a few each bird daily, when young are in nest well that's when i would consider either heaps in one shot or a few dribbled over the day, try to not run out if the bird is more reliant on them.

Ok, this might sound silly, but is there a list of foods that are safe for my spice finches? Any help would be gray. I'm open to any tips. Thanks!

Atticus- spice finch
Aeodontis-spice finch

Noah Russell wrote: Ok, this might sound silly, but is there a list of foods that are safe for my spice finches? Any help would be gray. I'm open to any tips. Thanks!

Atticus- spice finch
Aeodontis-spice finch

;

Here is a link to the Nutrition section of the Finch Information Center. Lots of good information on what to feed, including fresh veggies and fruit. I personally would not bother with mealworms, I don't think Spice finches have to have them. I do keep a mealworm farm going, but that is because I have several highly insectivorous species. Without those species that will not feed young without live food, I would not bother, it is not worth the work.

http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/index.php

Thanks a lot! This helps greatly!

My waxbills love the mini mealworms. But my budgies like to munch on big mealworms, believe it or not. And my button quail love anything insect-like.

But I put the mealworms overnight in a little dish in the freezer. That kills them and they thaw in a few minutes in the morning. This way there are no escapees, because I also had already a mealworm farm in my aviary at one point. But they are still fresh. (At one point I tried canned mealworms, they look and smelled disgusting, and my birds didn't eat them at all.)

My birds love the frozen and thawed mealies!