How long to keep mealworms

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Philogirl

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Okay, so I bought a container of little mealworms and tossed any dead ones or larval shells. I bought this container about 2 or 3 weeks ago. They're in the fridge and they're still going... a couple have a black looking thing inside them and I don't give those to hedgies.

I mean, as long as their still alive, they're good right? Is there anything I should be wary of regarding the look of mealies?
 
Yep they are still good. If you take them out once in a while, allow them to warm up and feed them a small piece of carrot (give them a few hours) then put them back in the cold they could live for many months (i think my best was 8 months).

And you don't have to throw away the pupae, they are edible, and if you allow the pupae to live they will eventually turn into beetles, an absolute favorite in my house.
 
The beetles are a favorite here too :) ( and as a little bonus they are also a little lower in fat than the 'worm' or pupae form )
 
Sorry to Philogirl for getting off topic but I didn't think it was necessary to start up a whole new thread about it. I was thinking about starting a mealworm culture. I have read through a LOT of mealworm raising websites. They kinda vary but I think I have the basic concept down on how to raise them. I read from multiple sources that it is good to have about three containers, one for each stage. So I should put my starter culture in a 6 quart container, move the Pupa to a smaller container, then move the beetles to another container. Now this is where I'm confused. Every two weeks(I think?) I should move the egg filled bedding from the beetle's container into the mealworm container(minus the beetles). Should I just throw the bedding in the worm container or will the eggs be apparent enough to just move them from the beetle container to the worm container? Also, do beetles only lay eggs once in a life time? I don't want to feed a beetle that is about to lay eggs to Hot Dog!
 
I only have 1 container at the moment and at most have 2 containers. I find moving the pupa to increase the death rate while in that stage. They seem to be extremely fragile at that stage and moving them (at least when I try) kills a lot of them.

I don't worry about them laying eggs or not. You'll find once your colony gets started you will have more beetles than you can use before they die. Last time I looked in my container I had about 200-300 beetles. If they all have babies, I'm going to be over run with mealworms again! Robins & blue birds will love me this summer!
 
Thanks a lot! The website and tips were great! I may hold back on the mealworms for a while simply because I have a lot of freeze dried mealworms lying in my fridge. Also I only have one hedgie who is already spoiled to max:winkers: I don't want to have hundreds of beetles and worms lying around for months on end. Thanks again!
 
Before starting a colony I often bought mine online 1000 at a time. If you put them in a big enough container with bedding and take them out once a week or every two weeks to allow them to eat, they will live quite a while. I found the cost to have 1000 shipped to me to be A LOT less than what I paid for at the store, and they were much much healthier bugs. Just something to consider if you don't want to start a colony.

BTW I only have 2 hedgehogs, and have at times had 1. With the colony I do have extra, I share them with the wild birds.
 
The last time I got them they were from Fluker Farms. I have used several sources, some don't exist anymore though. Just checked on fluker's site and 1000 mealies costs $6.75. I'm guessing that doesn't include shipping.

NY Works is charging $19.99 (includes shipping) for 1,000.

www.flukerfarms.com
www.ghann.com
www.nyworms.com
 
I tryed to grow my own mealworms. I did pretty well until i saw a bettle run across the contaner and then i freaked out and threw them out side on top of the snow for the wild birds. lol. I knew what they where gonna look like and everything it just really got to me. exspecially since they where in my room. since then i went back to frezze dried. I might go back to live ones. deffently no to breed though. I think i can deall with them in my mini frezzer as long as my sister dosnt know about it. She keeps some of her stuff in there with mine. she would flip out if she found out. thinking about it i might do it just to see her face
 
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i never keep mine in the fridge, but they still last me a good 2-3 weeks between the hedgies and geckos.
 
If I was to start a colony in a 10 gal aquarium would you need like a mesh top reptile lid? Also, are the adult beetles noisy?
 
No mesh should be required. My container is completely open and I've never had any escapees. You shouldn't hear anything from the colony. The only sound you may hear is if there are a lot of mealworms and the colony is disturbed, then its just the sound of bedding being moved around.
 
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