Mealworm Breeding For 1

[Ringo]

I was wondering if it would be worth my efforts to breed mealworms for one leopard gecko. I can purchase 50 small or 25 large for like $2.00 at a local petstore. Im not really sure how quick 1 leopard would go through that many mealworms. I dont want thousands of mealworms that I cant do anything with because the gecko isnt eating them quick enough.

[Flagg]

Leopard geckos eat quite alot of mealworms, in my opinion it would be worth it. Mealworms are quite easy to breed. You can keep extras in the fridge and they will last longer, just give them time to gutload first before feeding refrigerated

Store bought meal worms really need to be fed/gut loaded for a day or 2 first anyway. If you raise your own at least you know they have been fed a better diet their whole lives and are much more nutritious.

[Ringo]

I was kinda thinking about raising my own mealworms since they are easy to breed. At least thats what I hear and based on the articles Ive read they seem to be easy. My biggest problem is having room for all of this stuff. Ive heard alot of people say that you have to seperate the 3 stages ( worms, pupa, and beetles) in seperate containers but I have also heard that you can just leave them in one large container and not seperate them. I guess what im really wondering is if i can just seperate the worms and the pupa and then keep the beetles and the worms together in one container when they morph. So basically just have 2 containers one for worms and one for the pupa. Because if I seperate the beetles into their own container will they not lay eggs and end up with worms in that container anyway. What do you all suggest. My last question is what is the best substrate feed to use that is very easy to sift through for cleaning. Ive seen oatmeal used alot but I would think it would be hard to get all the worms out during cleaning time and how much does it cost cause I dont have alot of money. Sorry this post was so long I didnt realize I had so many questions for this. Thanks everyone for taking your time to help me out since I seem to always have a question about something. Im just addicted to the site.

[MarkS]

breeding mealworms is ridiculously easy and very low maintenece. However, it can take a while before your colony really takes off. Get a couple of plastic tubs, and a bag of unmedicated chicken feed. (a 50 lb bag only costs a few bucks and it'll take a very long time to use it all up) Put a few inches of feed on one of the tubs and add 100 worms. Use potatos or oranges cut in half for a water source. Leave the covers off of the plastic tubs, the biggest problem you'll have at first is the potatos getting the chicken feed moldy, this wont be a problem later because once you're colony is going well, they'll eat the potatos and oranges too fast for them to start molding. Your original worms will pupate and then turn into beetles and lay eggs. After the beetles have been in there for a few weeks, remove them and set them up in the second tub, otherwise they could eat the baby worms. It'll be a while before you see worms of any size in your first tub.

[Ringo]

Still have some more questions hope you dont mind. Is there anyway that I could make a cheap dry gutload substrate. That way all of the worms will be constantly gutloaded instead of having to take out a few specifically for gutloading. I was thinking of crushing up dry dog food and tropical fish flakes. We have potatos just about every night so I will always have peelings to use and I can get apples for free from the school my mom teaches at for moisture. My other question is can I feed the leopard gecko the beetles produced after they breed and how can you tell if they have layed their eggs or not. Im affraid I will put the beetles in their own container before they lay their eggs and I assume that wouldnt be good. Cause I figure eventually I will have several beetles ready to lay eggs so it would be hard to figure out which beetles to take out and which ones to leave for egg laying.

Recap of the questions:

1. Ingredients for a cheap gutloading substrate.

2. Feeder Beetles.

3. When to put beetles in own container

[MarkS]

I lot of people use powdered rodent chow for a gut load

For moisture, I wouldn't use just the peelings, I used a whole potato cut in half. Not much moisture in just the peelings. An Orange cut in half also works well, carrots not so good. I think they must be too tough for the worms to chew. Celery also worked well if you split it down the middle lengthwise to expose the juicy insides.

When I had Leo's they wouldn't touch the beetles. I just collected all of the beetles and moved them to a different container every 2-4 weeks (or whenever I remembered to do it)

[Ringo]

How many clutches of eggs will the beetles produce or do they just lay first set and die? Is there anything else I can use the beetles for after they are done reproducing or just keep them for fun so to speak lol. Im not a big insect lover but meallies dont seem to bad. Oh ya and one more thing about the beetles. I was looking at a pic and it looked like they have wings so can they fly and will they fly. Thats all I need is a big swarm of beetles flying around my room lol.

[Flagg]

The beetles only live for about 4-6 weeks or so, and I think they lay the whole time. You can't see the eggs, you can't really see the tiny hatched larva until they grow for a while.

I use a mix of chicken grower mash and wheat bran.

I currently have 3 sterilite shoebox tubs, so it doesn't take up too much space. I keep mine covered though, I cut out most of the lid and glued on window screening. I had a major problem with grain moths when they were uncovered.

I haven't tried feeding the beetles to my leos yet, but the tarantulas seem to love them. When the pupa start molting into beetles I have noticed I have a LOT of deformed ones, so those go to the tarantulas right away.

[Jay_Bunny]

I keep my beetles in cups with about an inch of substrate. As soon as I move, I'm getting a drawer system for them. It doesn't take them long to produce eggs. Its waiting for the worms to grow to the appropriate size that takes so long.

As for a dry gutload mix. I feed oatmeal, crushed bran flakes, crushed corn flakes, fruit and veggie peelings from when I feed my sugar gliders, left over bearded dragon food from when I had a bearded dragon (have a whole jar of the stuff) and crushed cherrios. My mealworms grow very well on it, and I now have two small containers of baby worms currently growing up.