- Joined
- Apr 26, 2022
- Messages
- 81
For my mealworm colony I keep the beetles and worms in Tupperware on a thin layer of dry topsoil with some egg carton pieces
I pick out and pupae and put them in a separate small container until they emerge as beetles and I wait for them to brown up a bit before introducing them to the beetles container. *note there isn't many beetles as I've been feeding off all my feeders. I have waayy too many of many varieties lol.
Your issues of mold could be multiple things. All easy to correct.
Number one; stay away from bran or oats as bedding. Bran is less likely to mold, but I found after so long from all the excrement, it starts to smell and with feeders that start out this small, the fewer sub changes, the better.
Number two; keep their substrate dry. It doesn't effect their breeding whatsoever and only increases your chances of mold.
Number three; keep their food simple. I stick to lettuce and carrots. They tend to dry up before they will mold. But I usually give fresh daily, picking out the uneaten stuff and feed it to a feeder that will consume it in their daily feeding.
I'm not sure what happened to your pupae in that pic where they're black, but I saw something about misting. Nothing needs to misted. Also if your using lids - I don't. I just make sure whatever their in has sides too high for them to get out.- make sure you lids are extremely well ventilated. The lids I use for my ants would work well and they're EXTREMELY cheap to make. I'll post a Pic, but you basically cut out a section of the lid and hot glue landscaping fabric (one roll can make hundreds of lids) over the opening.
I pick out and pupae and put them in a separate small container until they emerge as beetles and I wait for them to brown up a bit before introducing them to the beetles container. *note there isn't many beetles as I've been feeding off all my feeders. I have waayy too many of many varieties lol.
Your issues of mold could be multiple things. All easy to correct.
Number one; stay away from bran or oats as bedding. Bran is less likely to mold, but I found after so long from all the excrement, it starts to smell and with feeders that start out this small, the fewer sub changes, the better.
Number two; keep their substrate dry. It doesn't effect their breeding whatsoever and only increases your chances of mold.
Number three; keep their food simple. I stick to lettuce and carrots. They tend to dry up before they will mold. But I usually give fresh daily, picking out the uneaten stuff and feed it to a feeder that will consume it in their daily feeding.
I'm not sure what happened to your pupae in that pic where they're black, but I saw something about misting. Nothing needs to misted. Also if your using lids - I don't. I just make sure whatever their in has sides too high for them to get out.- make sure you lids are extremely well ventilated. The lids I use for my ants would work well and they're EXTREMELY cheap to make. I'll post a Pic, but you basically cut out a section of the lid and hot glue landscaping fabric (one roll can make hundreds of lids) over the opening.
