drublenaut
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2020
- Messages
- 45
Does anyone know how to raise a colony of mealworm beetles?
Thanks! That helps a lot. Do you think adding spring tails to the mix will help?There are varying ways to do it, but how I do it is...
- I use a plastic shoe box filled with about 2 inches of bran flakes mixed with oatmeal
- Leave the top off, as they are not able to escape even as adults. Top on = mite problem
- I supplement them with lettuce or pieces of fruit once a week or so
- I have a much smaller deli container with a very thin layer of oats. I regularly take the pupae out of the main box and place them into this container. After they mature into beetles I put them back into the main box. Pupae are often nibbled or cannibalized by larvae and adults, resulting in less making it to adulthood.
- I often have two boxes at once. As the substrate ages and is consumed and fills up with feces, I may top it off with new oats and bran but at the same time will start to put newly matured beetles into a fresh box to start a new clean colony.
I've had my current "colony" for at least four years now.
No reason to add springtails to a mealworm colony. It should be kept dry and open with only fresh veggies or fruit slices used as a water source. If the mealworms are kept properly the springtails would languish and die off.Thanks! That helps a lot. Do you think adding spring tails to the mix will help?
Why bran with oats and not just oats?There are varying ways to do it, but how I do it is...
- I use a plastic shoe box filled with about 2 inches of bran flakes mixed with oatmeal
- Leave the top off, as they are not able to escape even as adults. Top on = mite problem
- I supplement them with lettuce or pieces of fruit once a week or so
- I have a much smaller deli container with a very thin layer of oats. I regularly take the pupae out of the main box and place them into this container. After they mature into beetles I put them back into the main box. Pupae are often nibbled or cannibalized by larvae and adults, resulting in less making it to adulthood.
- I often have two boxes at once. As the substrate ages and is consumed and fills up with feces, I may top it off with new oats and bran but at the same time will start to put newly matured beetles into a fresh box to start a new clean colony.
I've had my current "colony" for at least four years now.
Using only oats works ok (I've done so), but in my experience I have had better population density and faster growth of the early instars when using bran mixed with oats.Why bran with oats and not just oats?