What feed a mealworm colony?

[wvherper]

i just need to know what to feed a colony to keep them healthy enough for lg's.And how to start and tell the difeerencs in beetles and all the other things ive heard about.Thnax in advance

[Blu Mongoose]

It may be outdated, but I always cut potatos in half for their moisture and fed them cornmeal. I'm sure others may have something better in mind. Mine always did well though.

[MarkS]

When I had my mealworms going, I filled a sweaterbox half full of unmedicated chicken feed. Added the mealworms, let the mealworms turn into beetles and start laying eggs for the next generations. I used potatos cut in half for moisture. You want to watch the potatos in the beginning because with not many worms, they can cause the feed to start to mold. However once the colony is going strong, the potatos won't last long enough to cause mold problems. You can pick up a 50lb bag of chicken feed real cheap at a feed store. Do not cover the sweaterbox because they can cause a lot of condensation build up once the colony takes off.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

I currently use rolled oats but I need to get some chicken feed to mix in. I don't even use veggies very often anymore, I'd be goin through 5 lbs a week if I did lol I just mist the top every day and give em fruits or veggies every so often

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

One question, why feed your iggies insects? I don't believe they need insects

[Jay_Bunny]

I believe they are feeding the mealworms to Leopard geckos, or lg's.

As for feeding mealworms, I feed mine a mixture of things. They are fed uncooked oatmeal, cornflakes, bran flakes, cherrios, and fruit and veggies for moisture.

That diet seems to keep them pretty healthy and they get tons of nutrients from it. I started out with 100 mealworms and now have 8 beetles and 9 pupae. I've heard that bigger beetles are females. Here is the lifespan of a mealworm.

Eggs: 3-4 weeks
Worms: 8-10 weeks
Pupae: 1-3 weeks (from my experience 1-2 weeks)
Adult: 3-4 weeks