MEALWORM FARMING
You will save money on mealworms once you get your farm going good. It takes some effort to get your farm started , and it takes several months to get to the new mealworm stage. It is worth the time.
You will need:
( I started with 600 large mealworms)
Get plastic 3 drawer holder
non corn based substrate ( bedding)
I use old fashioned oatmeal
oat bran crushed up
Gerber baby cereal oatmeal
fresh veggies
fresh fruit
plastic shoe boxes
Do not use giant mealworms, they have been given hormones to reach their size. Superworms will not work either. Use the large mealworms.
You can buy mealworms at petstore, Grubco, Worm man's worm farm, check online for many sites .
Drawer #1
Put 1 inch of bedding in one container, then place your mealworms in it.
Drawer #2
put 1/4 inch bedding in it. This will hold your pupae
Drawer#3
1/2 to 1inch bedding with eggcrate or papertowel pieces. This is what the beetles will lay their eggs on. Beetles will go into this drawer to start.
Keep temperature 75 to 77 degrees, this will speed up process, compared to cooler temperatures.
You will notice little light colored squiggly things in with the worms. These are the pupae. Place them in drawer #2.
You will notice beetles in pupae bin, light colored at first, then they turn copper, then black. Place beetles in bin #3. After 2 to three weeks, take out beetles carefully, not to disturb eggs, and very delicate tiny worms. This way the beetles will not eat the babies. This will occur if needing moisture. Place some wheat germ in bin so babies will have small pieces of food to eat. Also, you will need to place fruit and veggie in bin twice a week.Keep bedding and papertowel along with the eggcrate in Bin #2.
I move beetles every two weeks, to plastic shoe box. This way, my babies do not get eaten. Keep the paper towel and eggcrate in those containers also. after a while you will see baby worms, and your off to mealworm farming.
Once big enough, you can place worms into plastic container and place in refrigerator to slow down growth process. Take them out to warm and gutload, before feeding to your sugar glider.
I move my beetles to another ( plastic shoebox ) with eggcrate, and paper towel, every two weeks, I have about 4 boxes, and the first box of babies are big enough to put in refrigerator.
This page was last updated: February 22, 2010
Mealworms
Pupae
Black Beetle
