How many meal worms?

SamFoy · Post by **SamFoy** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:51 pm

How many meal worms should I give my male CB at one and only feeding per day do you suggest? He is not going to breed in the next mouth, but soon after.

SamFoy · Post by **SamFoy** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:18 pm

If I remember right, don't CB's and other finches suck out the insides of the worms and not eat the whole thing?

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:37 pm

My Cb's can eat them all day long. And they eat them however they want. I noticed with the smaller worms they eat them whole and the bigger ones they squeeze their guts out or just eat the heads of them.

Post by **Sally** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:48 pm

If you are just wanting to stimulate him into breeding condition, you could give him 10-12 mini mealworms each day, just to get him expecting them. Do you have a mate for him, or are you going to get one soon? If you do breed, and are successful, be prepared to go thru as much as several hundred minis per day. And don't be surprised if they bite the heads off and discard the rest--some CBs are very wasteful.

SamFoy · Post by **SamFoy** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:22 am

No I don't have a mate for him yet. I got him about 6 months ago and have put off going him a mate until now. I had a mating pair a few years ago put I couldn't get them to eat mealworms at all. They are a finch I would like to breed a few times at least - a good looking bird.

Looks like I need to be committed to breeding mealworms as well. Sounds like I need to fill a bowl of worms per day, especially for the chicks. I paid $3 for 50 small worms today. I wanted to see if he would at lease look at them - he gobbled all 10 of them down real quick. This might be a good sign for me to go forward and try again.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:41 am

His eating them is a terrific sign of things to come but those worms were pretty expensive too. Hopefully you can find a more economical supplier.

CandoAviary · Post by **CandoAviary** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:42 am

Mealworms are easy to raise, there is a post towards the bottom of this diet and nutrition page with lots of ways of doing it.
Fluckers farms are an excellent source to order on line in bulk... reasonable also. Good luck with your future breeding, having a strong dad is half the battle

Post by **Sally** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:26 pm

Candace, does Fluckers still use the cardboard boxes with screen windows for ventilation for shipping their mealworms? I had worms crawling out the screen when I ordered. Many companies now use a fabric bag, with no escapees.

Sam, you might want to check with rainbowmealworms.net, since they are also in California--less time enroute.

SamFoy · Post by **SamFoy** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:33 pm

I will check out rainbowmealworms - thanks. I'm trying to schedule what time is spent in my work area with what time is needed for my birds. In other words, I'm comfortable with 15 - 20 mins. a day with my finches and parrots. This keeps me happy and willing to keep up this hobby. Then the weekends come around and I'm enjoying more time moving perches and cleaning water basins.

CandoAviary · Post by **CandoAviary** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:59 pm

Sally,

I don't know how Fluckers ship them now... I have been raising my own mealworms for years.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 6:34 pm

I just got some last week from them. They come in a canvas bag tied at the top with a string No problems. I ordered 5000.

I also hope to to be ordering too many more I have started my little farm and hopefully it will work......