How do you raise meal worms?

Question

I have turtles who like to eat them but the ones you buy in the store say to keep them refridgerated. Well, occassionally some of them that I've fed to my turtles have escaped into the substrate and get much bigger. Seems like the chilled ones often just die before I even get a chance to use them and they never get any bigger because they hardly move, let alone breed. Has anyone ever bred their own and if so, what type of food and container do they need?

Answer 1

ive been keeping mealworms for over ten years...just get some kind of large tupperwear with air holes, half filled with oats throw in some carrots and potatoes even apple ocasianally,its not nessesary to keep them cold ...after a whille all the oats will be poop get a cheep wire screen strainer and strain the poop over the garbage,put more oats in and take out the dead beetles and start again

Answer 2

to raise meal worms place about 100 in a container they cannot escape from. smooth plastic container 2 x 2 is good I use a 10g aquarium. I got my medium from new york worms I also make my own from saw dust. some people suggest oatmeal and other products but you do have to provide moisture for them and if these food products get wet buy sucking the moisture from the potato etc. then it can start to smell bad. I mix corn meal and gut load combined with potato's. now sit back and wait. in 7-10 days maybe longer you should see little larva/pupa's popping up hear and there they will not look like worms at this time and they will be a whitish color. remove these and place them in a seperate container so the meal worms will not munch on them. I use 1/2 inch potting soil as the medium. these pupa's will eventually turn into beetles and mate then lay eggs in the potting soil. I use 1/2 of potting soil because i can mist it and provide moisture for the newborns and it does not rot or smell bad and baby mealworms eat just about anything so i mix a little cornmeal with the soil. you are not concerned at this time with gutloading them. eventually you will see tiny little movements these are the newborns. you can now begin feeding them potatos and other stuff. remove dead beetles and keep this process going removing meal worms as they get large enough to be used for food, if you build up a surplus you can sell them on the side or refrigerate them. if you want the procedure for superworms let me know I have a great procedure for them too.

Answer 3

Place large mealworms in a shallow plastic sweater container. Cut a hole in the top for ventilation and use a hot glue gun to adhere window screen to it to keep critters out.
Add 2-3" of bedding/food:
wheat bran, or a 3:1 ratio of wheat bran to dried skim milk, or
4 layers: 1/4" layers of chicken mash (non-medicated) separated by layers of burlap or newspaper, or
10 parts oat or wheat kernels, 10 parts whole wheat flour, 1 part wheat germ or powdered milk; and 1 part brewers yeast.
For moisture, add a small wedge of cabbage or half a potato. Replace vegetable at least weekly or if moldy.
Ideally keep at around 80°F (room temperature is fine too) and around 70% relative humidity. Use a moistened sponge in a baggie/container (open side up above grain) for additional moisture.
Periodically (e.g., every 1 to 2 weeks) sift out beetles from bedding with eggs/tiny worms. Once worms are big enough, sift frass (waste) and bedding out once a month, dispose of in garden, wash and dry container, return worms and add new food.

Answer 4

I never bred them, but have used them for my reptiles.
I do know that they say to keep them in the door of your refrigerator to prolong their life. They shouldnt die in the fridge unless it is too cold.
The cold slows them down and kinda puts them to sleep.
As they warm up, they become more active and start moving around and are able to get bigger.

Try refrigerating them, and feed them to the turtles when they are cold so they dont escape so fast.

I am not positive, but I think they feed off the sawdust stuff that they come in.

Answer 5

buy some live meal worms and put them in an Rubbermaid container with some dirt in it so they can go underground.when you feed them you should feed them every week not every day but feed them a slice of an apples, or even some bread on top of the dirt.then you'll be ready to go.my yellow-bellied slider likes meal worms once an a while so I understand GOOD LUCK with breeding meal worms

Answer 6

i dont recomend keeping them cold it just slows down their inturnel organs and puts the into hybernation if you u want them to grow get a small container with an inch of soil and feed the potatos and whatch them grow.