Mini Mealies

[Hilary]

Thanks! I knew I had seen the two-color bands somewhere!

Hilary

[Diamond Sparrow]

I breed maggots here in Aus using bran and milk powder in my fly box the birds love them and they are better for the birds rather than mealworms.
I am trying to breed mini mealworms but no luck yet,may need more heat,i can breed plenty of normal meal worms .Any one know any tricks

[Sally]

OK, Diamond Sparrow, I am almost ready mentally to breed maggots! Please tell us how you do it? What is your fly box? Plans, please. Do you have your birds in an outside aviary, so that any maggots that don't get eaten aren't in your house?

Sorry for all the questions, but I am really trying to breed my Purple Grenadiers, live food is a necessity, and a constant diet of mini mealies doesn't seem to do it.

[Ursula]

I breed maggots here in Aus using bran and milk powder in my fly box the birds love them and they are better for the birds rather than mealworms.
I am trying to breed mini mealworms but no luck yet,may need more heat,i can breed plenty of normal meal worms .Any one know any tricks

I am a little confused.... Are you saying you can breed "normal mealworms" but "not mini mealworms"? When people talk about "mini mealworms" they usually mean the smallest size of "normal" mealworms. You just dont let them grow as big before you feed them.

If you mean these little black worms that I have seen on the Internet referred to as "true mini mealworms" or something like that, I haven't heard ever that somebody breeds those at home. I bought them once but my birds didn't like them. I think they were too active and aggressive for them, and I didn't like the fact that they can escape much easier. I feed my birds the mini size of mealworms that I can breed myself.

[Diamond Sparrow]

To breed the maggots I have an old bar fridge with a fly screen arcoss the front ,inside I have 2 light globes for heat ,run at around 35 c,I mix a 2 ltr ice cream conatin to 2 large tables spoons of milk powder,mix this will a little water,the flys lay their egg in this mix after a few days you have maggots,I then gut load these for a day with pollard and or powdered game bird feed.
I then feed a small portion to the birds once or twice a day.
The mini meal worms are different to the normal meal worms,the beatles are tiny and so are the worms.