How to care for mealworms?

[Fade]

I am thinking of using mealworms for my first tarantula(curly hair).
I am wondering how to care for them as feeders, I am guessing breeding them is pointless for just 1 T.

1. What items do I need?

2. how long do they last before becoming a beetle?

3. how long do they last in the fridge?

4. What is the maintenance for them? feeding, cleaning, hydration

5. What enclosure do I use, what size, and how do I go about ventilation without having escapes?

6. How to estimate what size mealworm to feed to my T? I don't know the size of my T. It's in a KK and it seemed to be half the height of it which is 7 inches tall. Maybe 3 inches or so but the woman that sold it estimated 1.5-2 inches however it seemed she didn't know much about Ts and her father did, he was busy with snakes next to her.

7. What are some good online sources for the small amount at a very good price? I may just go to a local chain store, how much are they at a typical petco?

Is this how to care for them?

plastic container, add a few holes, then tape mesh over it
put oats or bran in as bedding/food
put a potato or apple or romaine lettuce for hydration every 2 weeks if in fridge or every 2 days if not in fridge
clean out the enclosure every 2 months or as needed(using dish soap and hot water)

Thanks for any help.

I know keeping feeder insects is easy, but I get different info from different sources.

 

[Dannica]

I kept mealworms prior to starting a dubia colony. I’d purchase around 100 (I have 16 tarantulas), and store them in the fridge. I’d pull them out once a week or so to feed, usually a piece of potato or carrot, pull a couple for feeding, then back in the fridge. I also would pull any dead ones and toss them at this time. I had one batch for around 8 weeks, and never had any pupate, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that. If your T is 3 inches, a mealworm or two definitely won’t be too big, even the smallest of my slings get half a mealworm, with the rest being tossed 24 hours later. If you’re not looking for a ton, I’d suggest just purchasing at a local pet store, definitely cheaper. I believe I paid $2 for 150 at my LPS

 

[The Grym Reaper]

1. What items do I need?

A plastic tub with a lid.
Bran.

2. how long do they last before becoming a beetle?

Several months.

3. how long do they last in the fridge?

Several months.

4. What is the maintenance for them? feeding, cleaning, hydration

Nothing really, pick out any that turn into pupae or die as and when you find them, sieve the rest and replace the bran every few months, that's about it, the bedding is their food and their moisture requirements are almost non-existent so adding stuff like potatoes every few days is just a waste of time/effort.

5. What enclosure do I use, what size, and how do I go about ventilation without having escapes?

A plastic tub with a lid, put a shedload of air holes in the lid only, it's now both ventilated and escape-proof.

6. How to estimate what size mealworm to feed to my T? I don't know the size of my T. It's in a KK and it seemed to be half the height of it which is 7 inches tall. Maybe 3 inches or so but the woman that sold it estimated 1.5-2 inches however it seemed she didn't know much about Ts and her father did, he was busy with snakes next to her.

Prey size shouldn't exceed the size of the tarantula's abdomen (you can go bigger if you really want to but you'll need to feed less often if you do).

7. What are some good online sources for the small amount at a very good price? I may just go to a local chain store, how much are they at a typical petco?

No idea as I'm in the UK

They are stupidly easy to breed, just take any that turn into pupae and place them in a separate container filled with an inch thick layer of bran, when they turn into beetles they'll have a wild orgy & squit out loads of eggs which should hatch a couple of weeks later.

I then sieve the contents of that container, put the sieved bran that contains the eggs and hatchlings into a new container so they can hatch/grow and I put any surviving beetles into a container with an inch of bran (I just keep adding the pupae to that as I go, they'll either get eaten or emerge as beetles, doesn't really matter), rinse and repeat.

 

[NukaMedia Exotics]

This is going against what everyone else is saying but I've been keeping mine in a small Kritter Keeper with like a half inch of coco peat. I mist the sides of the enclosure like once a week and drop in some lettuce and they seemingly do alright.

 

[Fade]

Thanks everyone for the help. Can't wait to see a tarantula feeding in person.

 

[Psydeus565]

Can't emphasize the air ventilation enough. I had a huge grain mite explosion due to poor ventilation. Any ambient humidity and those little buggers take off.

 

[Dave Jay]

I have better pictures somewhere on pc, I did a how to on my website but the sites down atm. But basically -
Put an inch or two of rolled oats into a kritter keeper (or tub etc). I use both normal and quick cooking. (Bran has little nutritional value and is not good for fish) Put egg carton on the oats leaving a gap at one end, this is where you will add the food. Just pretend this is shiny and new, I just took pictures with my phone.
Place cardboard with holes over the egg carton and put more egg carton on top of the cardboard. Add as many layers as will fit, ending with cardboard. I then put a brown paper bag on the very top. Usually there are enough worms in the bag and on the top cardboard that I don't need to look any lower. There are always a large number of pupae in the bags too, I think the worms go in there when they've done feeding and are ready to pupate. I put some of the pupae back in the bag and feed the rest to the fish, frogs and lizards. It doesn't take many beetles to lay enough eggs.
I feed the worms most veggie scraps, but carrots are the staple diet as the beta carotene is important to avoid vitamin A deficiency. (Not sure if this applies to tarantulas)
I only clean them out every year or so, I usually just add more oats.
I never separate the stages btw, but no doubt I would get better yields doing so, it's easier to just have more colonies imo.
This works well to keep crickets too, and the wood roaches we use here breed okay in these set ups, but I had better yields using a more natural set ups with peat, bark and leaves, you just have to trap them to get a good amount.

 

[Joogvanhedel]

Find a good pet shop for birds, they have there for sure. Costs almost nothing, is not worth the trouble to grow. Way too much hassle, for way too little money. i don't use a lit, just a plastic container.. Here in the Netherlands i pay 8 euro for 1 kilogram (thousands of mealworms), i only get for 1 euro, and it last several months... for the rest i do it the same as The Grym Reaper

 

[Fade]

I’d pull them out once a week or so to feed

I read somewhere that you should take the worms out for 24 hours weekly so they can eat. Should I do that, or is it okay to just take the bin out to just replace the carrots/potato then put right back in? Thanks

 

[Dannica]

I read somewhere that you should take the worms out for 24 hours weekly so they can eat. Should I do that, or is it okay to just take the bin out to just replace the carrots/potato then put right back in? Thanks

I’ve always left them out for a couple hours, maybe 6-7 until it seemed like most of the food was eaten. There were times they’d be out longer, and it always seemed fine

 

[cold blood]

I read somewhere that you should take the worms out for 24 hours weekly so they can eat.

If they are refrigerated, they are dormant, and you do not need to feed them....much of the above info is great if you are breeding them, for one t just buy a 50 count at the pet store and leave them in the fridge...it will be 2-3 bucks...not worth buying them online. Dormant animals do not require food while in a state of torpor. They can last in the fridge for nearly 6 months in the container they come in and require zero maintanence. If the mealworms are too big, just dice them and offer an appropriately sized piece.

nom nom (Nhandu chromatus)

• cold blood
• Aug 17, 2017
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