mealworms

[mr.ownfinch]

on ebay or amazon they sell live meals worms of different sizes and prices and its affordable, just type meal worm in ebay or amazon search engine and there youll find your worms.

I was wondering if someone could tell me where I could buy live mealworms or freeze-dried mealworms for my RCCB. I've been giving them some that I found at Petsmart in the reptile dept. but they are definitly not alive and they don't really like them. The brand name is Flukers. I've also read that they enjoy the bloodworms so that would work too. I think I would rather the freeze dried worms if they would eat it. Thanks for any help.

[Sally]

I have not tried the canned mealworms or pin-sized crickets. I am afraid of the live crickets getting away and hiding in the house. They are so small, I am sure they would be very hard to catch. I really dislike that sound they make in the evenings and am afraid it would stop me from being able to sleep. I bought a can of dried bloodworms and it's sitting in my cupboard. When I put the dried bloodworms in with the live mealworms, my RCCB's ignore it or use their wings to swish it away and get at the "good" stuff (i.e, mealworms). I wish I knew a better way to serve the bloodworms. Maybe adding water to it would make it more appetizing for them.

The freeze-dried bloodworms are so lightweight that they will blow around the cage. I mix mine in with my homemade eggfood, so they stay in the dish. Waxbills will almost always prefer live food to dried, but you can convert some of them.

[katlovesaandw]

Best deal for dried that I have found is Lowe's in garden/wild bird food section.
Feed stores are good but prices are higher.
Check your local pet stores for fresh, smaller quantities of live mealworms. You can keep them yourself, easy to do. We do it for our lizards.

[Chris103]

You can easily raise your own mealworms if you'd like to. Its super simple and cheap since you only need one container of live worms to get started. Just use a shoe box sized plastic container, poke holes in the top, add about an inch or so of oatmeal or wheat germ, a few slices of potatoes and your worms. It will take a few weeks for them to pupate and turn into beetles. Once the beetles emerge they will lay HUNDREDS of eggs and soon you will have tons of mini mealworms! Just don't feed all the worms as you want some to turn into beetles to keep your colony going. I started with about 30 worms and within 2 or 3 months I have probably 500 or more...and that's with feeding 20-50 worms every other day! Just remember to change out the potatoes every 5 days or so to prevent mold.

[katlovesaandw]

Total brand cereal, lightly crushed also works as great medium for the mealworms to raise them and is actually better because they eat the medium as a food source and it has TONS of vitamins in it...especially calcium which is GREAT because they in turn will supply it to your birds!!

[kcdozy]

http://www.exoticnutrition.com/driedmealworms.html