I posted this question in the "leopard gecko" forum, but figured I'd post it here also to get a bigger audience. If I'm storing mealworms in the fridge, do I need to keep a moisture source in with them, or just the dry food/substrate? I just got my first leo yesterday and should be getting the mealworms early this week. JQ
Hey DC, If they're in the fridge, I wouldn't worry about food /water as their metabolism is sufficiently slowed that they're not likely to need it. I keep mine at room temp on sand and have to feed and water them weekly. As a result, I only have to buy 100 once a year to maintain a nearly self sustaining colony. They reproduce like mad and I always have mealies of any size ready to feed to the hungry masses. Ceph
I've considered starting my own mealworm colony, but I'm not ready to push that one on my roommates. Keeping mealworms in the fridge and crickets in the apt is enough for right now. Baby steps. Thanks for the storage advice.
Good idea By the reaction of some of my friends and my mealworm/cricket keeping...I don't know how a room mate might handle it. And Ceph...why do you keep the mealworms on sand?
I'm really not sure to be honest. I don't remember why I even started it, but it works great and I've only had to buy fresh stock twice in about three years. ??C
But (sorry if I seem ignorant or anything, I don't mean it that way..just curious) if the mealworms are on sand...they eat it...and then the geckos eat the worms with sand in them...and then the geckos are full of sand, which can cause them to be impacted. I've always just kept my mealworms on a substrate that they can eat...(oatmeal/bran)...or is there something I'm missing?
Hi-I'm pretty new to this forum... So hi to all... Ceph-what do you feed the mealies & how do you water them? When I get them from the pet store...they are in some kind of sawdust...Do I put them in a different container w/oatmeal or something? Then how do I water them? Without getting the oatmeal or whatever wet? Then do I just keep them on the counter? No temp control needed as with crix breeding? This is a great thread...I can really use this info!!
I keep them on the floor of my herp room in a shoebox sized Sterilite or Rubbermaid container. The average ambient temp is probably in the mid 70's F. Moisture is provided primarily with wedges of orange and occasional leafy greens. They are fed the same gutload formula as my crickets, consisting of ground poultry finisher (chicken feed) enriched with any one of a number of supplemental nutrient products specific to reptiles. I've found the mortalty rate to be extremely low and they breed like mad in this environment. I've never researched the ideal setup for mealies and only arrived at this by chance. C
ok-I mixed oatmeal & wheat bran (about 1") in a 5gal ice cream bucket, added a slice of orange & poked small holes in the lid. This gonna work?
Probably, but I'd poke quite a few holes to keep any moisture from building up. I've got about a dozen holes 3/8" in diameter in mine.
Hey, no worries! I didn't take it as that at all. I just wasn't going to step into that debate. Now turn that frown upside down! C
Zeke, did you really mean a "5 gal ice cream bucket"?? If plastic, it should work fine, but like Ceph said,... a shoebox works well and takes up so little space!! I breed my own and I stack them with different sizes in different shoeboxes. or if you want to slow them down for a while you can put the whole shoe box in the fridge without having to move your favorite refresment out. A 5 gal bucket is a large space consumer!! lol!! Just my 2ยข
1 gal ice cream bucket (oops) I'm keeping them in a dark closet, I heard that this helps with the breeding process....Yes?
The do seem to hide from the light, but whether the light slows down the beetles reproductive cycle!! I don't really know. But I know dark doesn't slow'em down, lol!! Here are 2 sites with instructions on establishing a colony. It isn't as complex as they want you to believe! LOL http://www.drgecko.com/mealworms/ http://home.midsouth.rr.com/conservewildlife/mealworms.htm Good Luck!
