# Mealworm beatles?



## arcane (Jun 30, 2003)

Has anyone tried using mealworm beatles as feeders?  How big do they get/do they bite/fly/smell/climb glass?  I have all these mealworms I got, and my T has only eatten one.. doesnt seem very fond of them.

Crickets stink/die etc. and my two T's are too small for roaches.

thanks,


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## genious_gr (Jul 1, 2003)

Well, they do nothing of the things you mentioned but they tend to burrow, so you'll have to make sure your T's got them before you leave as they might come out of the soil while your T is molting = disaster. They dont get very big, like a medium mealworm in length.


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## Code Monkey (Jul 1, 2003)

> _Originally posted by arcane _
> *I have all these mealworms I got, and my T has only eatten one.. doesnt seem very fond of them.*


You'll be happy to know that I've seen a fair number of reports saying their Ts liked the adult beetles more than the larvae. You can get a permanent culture going by layering unmedicated chick feed & oat bran in a plastic shoe box container with a couple inches left at the top. Use things like potato, apple, and carrots as a water source for the adults and you'll be good to go. The beetles can't fly or climb so they're stuck in the box.



> *my two T's are too small for roaches.*


That's a problem because an adult mealworm beetle is about the size of a lobster roach.

Although, roach nymphs, depending on species, come every bit as small as pinhead crickets, and there's always the old slice and dice for feeding slings.


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## Nikos (Jul 2, 2003)

I've been feeding my t's beatles and mealworms since 1 year now and they prefer the beatles.
As for the size they've been eating beatles as from their 4th molt.

And also have to disagree with the other replies, cause the beatles do smell, but not so bad.And from what i've read this is the reason why some Ts don't like them.


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## Poecilotheria (Jul 7, 2003)

I put a mealworm bettle in with a scorpian, I picked it up and crushed it, then put it back down and left it. Those things a completely hollow.
Steve


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## Immortal_sin (Jul 7, 2003)

some of my Ts will eat mealworm beetles, but NONE of them will touch a superworm beetle...they really do stink LOL!
I can't get some of my Ts to touch either the beetles, or the worms though. 
I'm back to crickets for the moment, as I've decimated my lobster colony on my A versicolor slings.


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