mealworms

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 6:06 pm

Has anyone been able to find mealworms? I can't seem to find any ANYWHERE.

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 8:35 pm

I have been geting mine from Grubco in ohio. look them up on line then call them dont try to order on line they seem to be filling orders on phone first .good luck
BCAMP

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:46 pm

almost any petshop has them, i know petsmart, petland, petco, and a view other petshops in my area all carry mealworms. Do you have any petshops in your area?

Post by **Sally** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:28 am

I see on some other forums that everyone is having trouble finding mealworms. I heard that Grubco has some but they are limiting how many you can get. I would follow Bcamp's suggestion and call them.

Choxie79 · Post by **Choxie79** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:17 pm

Reptile stores should carry them if you have one near your area. That's where I get my feeder insects.

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:40 am

I think it's a nationwide scarcity! All the pet stores around me have slim pickins'. They generally have a small fridge with small plastic containers, but I looked yesterday and it was pretty empty. 100 small worms for $2.49, but the fine print should say only 4 live ones.

williep · Post by **williep** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:52 am

Very strange that you guys aren't able to find mealies in the US. Maybe this is a good excuse to start raising them yourselves. But good luck with that, I for one prefer termites any day, but I assume they aren't so easy to find in your case.

Post by **Sally** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:31 pm

I heard that one of the big producers of mealworms in the US had a problem and lost their whole inventory, so there just aren't enough to go around for now. Until they can build back up, there will be a shortage.

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 6:17 am

has me beat as to why more people dont breed their own mealworms. it is so easy to do and any excess to your needs are easily given away

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 8:14 am

mickp wrote:has me beat as to why more people dont breed their own mealworms. it is so easy to do and any excess to your needs are easily given away

My husband has suggested the same thing. I told him I would love it if he would do this for me.

The worms I can handle.... but those beetles give them the creeps.

Of course you have to get some to do this and they are impossible to find right now. My poor little courdon blues appear to come to the floor every evening looking them because they are used to having them in the evening. I don't know what to offer them. Hopefully there will be some soon.

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:22 pm

if you have any fishing tackle shops/bait shops in your area try there.
doubt they would have mealworms but they should have some small maggots available

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:44 am

mickp wrote:if you have any fishing tackle shops/bait shops in your area try there.
doubt they would have mealworms but they should have some small maggots available

I will try that! Thanks

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:44 pm

Maggots aren't as common here in the US as they are in other countries. Be careful if you offer maggots. They can carry a lot of bacteria if they aren't properly cleaned.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 7:24 pm

Found some mealworms today at a little mom and pop pet store.
They were a little expensive, but my courdon blues sure were happy and my shaftail devoured them!

I ddn't think I was going to be able to handle maggots anyway.....
yuk!

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:59 pm

if you ever do need to resort to feeding maggots to your birds make sure that you put them in a container of fresh bran as soon as you get them home and keep them in that for 2 to 3 dys before feeding any to the birds. doing this ensures that the maggots are free from any bacteria.

wish I was as lucky as willie, would love to be able to feed termites to my birds. the couple of times I have been able to do so every bird in the aviary is down there eating even the gouldians.
my red billed firefinches have a love for mosquito's and moths and are forever chasing their own live food around the aviary