my baby gecko has been raised on cricket, and mealworms. When he gets older I will try feeding him pinkies, but for now I was wondering how to keep mealworms. and how to breed them?? Can i use an icecream bucket?? thanks
u can use and ice cream bucket if u like. to breed them keep a buch in there for awhile untile they grow into beetles. once they turn into beetles put them in a different container for aboub 2 weeks then move them to a new one. soon the first container u moved the beetles into will start showing sines of small baby mealworms. if u want to breed keep them at room temp but if u want them to be fed put them in the fridge. go t www.reptilefood.com for a carecheet and it will also tell u how to breed. but dont buy from them. u can also look at wat i said in the feeder forum about mealworms and superworms.
also, dont get the care need of superworms and mealworms mixed up! mealworms need breeding temps to be room tempeature but will live in a fridge if u want to feed them and keep them from growing. Superworms can NOT be kept in a fridge. they come from areas where temps r around 70-80 degrees F dont get the two mixed up! also, superworms move faster and grow slower than mealworms so there wuld be no need to refrigerate anyway. dont keep mealworms or superworms in the same area where eggs may be. the worms will eat the eggs. and dont keep superworms in a thin plastic container, they have been known to chew.
ok so i will buy some meal worms from the store, and then i will place them in a bucket with bran and vitamins. then when they turn into beatles they go into a new bucket, leave them for two weeks and then take them out again, and put them into a new container. Soon little worms will apear in the second bucket... ?? then wait about a week for then to mature and then place them in the fridge??? then i can start the process again with some of the baby mealworms?? lol how do they drink?
Ok first of all. To breed mealworms it is reccomended to get about 5 thousand. if you want ongoing population of beetles. Mealworms do not simply turn into beetles after about a week or so. They pupate in to yellow like alien coocoon thingies. it takes about 1- 2 weeks for them to emerge in to a beetle. The beetles will not lay eggs for about a week. But they will breed. The eggs will hatch in about a months time in the rite heating conditions. They are very super small mealworms at first. So use your eyes very closely after about a month and a week. Putting small pieces of driftwood in a 5-10 gallon tank for your beetles to lay eggs in is much safer. And has a better chance of hatching. because at the egg stage mealies are very fragile. One shake of the subtrate can kill some eggs. I use a 5-6 gallon kritter keeper its a long one not tall. I put 5k in there. If you see any pupaes then take them out, as some mealies just can't wait to eat the pupaes. After that I reccomend using a 5-10 gallon galss aquarium for the pupae that are about to emerge after awhile. In time you will have a lot of beetles. All mealies, and beetles can eat carrots or potatoes. Pupaes do not eat nor drink during this stage so do not worry. Make sure to let alittle calcium in the 5-10 gallon glass aqaurium for the beetles to lay eggs. not too much or they can o.d. Any ways Some-alot of beetles will live uto a month or more with good care. And some will not breed until there last days. So if you do not see many baby mealies that are microschopic don't worry. they are either there or not there. Some beetles wil die before breeding. One inch atleast of substrate. I use a mixture of processed bran, processed oats, Turkey feed, 2 carrots in a 10 gallon, sometimes 4 if I feel like it. Oh and back to the start, if the mealworms are hatched they most all will likely be eaten bythe larger mealworms. Beetles do not eat there younge. That I know of because I have been breeding for quite awhile. A real good site for breeding mealworms and taking care of them is on chameleon news. Just do a search for chameleon news mealworm breeding/ caresheet or something.
