Mealworm Gluttony...

[ToadMode]

So here's a new one for me... since my toad is just into soaking for the winter and not eating and my lizards are into crickets and phoenix worms, I decided to take the mealworms from the fridge and try the 3 drawer breeding method. That's the top drawer for beetles (with a screen cut into the bottom to allow eggs and baby worms to drop into drawer two). Drawer two, or the middle drawer is the mealworm collective. And the bottom drawer is where I put all the pupa's till they hatch and are moved to the top drawer.

So I am in the middle of month 2, getting eggs, few dozen beetles and the worms. Every day I do a check with my daughter and remove dead ones, pupa's and put in fresh carrots if need be. For the bedding I mixed high in vitamin's and minerals dog food and oats. I ground them up to a nice powder and they enjoy basking and burrowing in it.

However as of late I noticed some got really lethargic... lying around, barley moving... then today I noticed one actually split! Seems they like the food/bedding so much they are overeating to the point of literally popping.

Although this is the first one I've come across, I am wondering if anyone has seen this before?

[demon amphibians]

Have you noticed any small flies around your bin? Something sorta like fruit flys but smaller?

[ToadMode]

No, I go through it every day and make sure there's no mold or other pests in there. Everything is clean.

[demon amphibians]

just wondering there is a type of parasitic fly that can cause such symptoms.

[huey75]

It sounds like they're starting to go into the next stage pupae I don't see anything wrong in the picture if it's taking awhile the humidity might be low or ni I getting enough moisture. I have my beetles in a bin with a oat substrate and I just separate the beetles from the oats every 4 to 6 weeks add new oats in the beetles bin and move the oats worms and eggs elsewhere. I like this way because I have different age or size meals I do the same with my super worms. I feed fresh greens every 2 to 3 days. I thought about the screen method because I read the beetles would eat the eggs or worms I produce around 3-6k worms every 4-6 weeks.

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[Mmfh]

It is my understanding (I'm not an expert), that mealworms do not need moisture and I have bred them simply using wheat germ and oatmeal, then removing the dead adults and sifting for the tiny babies. Could the moisture from the carrots and such be causing a problem?

[huey75]

No meal worms do need the moisture they get it all from fresh greens. I'm not a expert but over the last year I've tried different things and keeping fresh greens ibe seen more meals produced faster growth rates and this is from me taking the clippings and unwanted portions when I fixed my dragons salads and feeding to my darkling beetles and worms.

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[JeffreH]

What kind of supplements are you adding to the gutload?

There is some speculation that some vitamins/minerals in excess may lead to increased mortality by interfering with the molting process. The influences of extra calcium ions or some other (unknown) nutrient might influence the hormone cascade necessary for ecdysis and development into subsequent life stages... this is only speculation though. The fact that you are having them "split" suggests there may be something going on that is preventing proper molting or throwing off the time when molting should take place.

I've not personally had an issue with it, but have also heard that substrate that is ground too fine can block the spiracles ('breathing holes') and cause the insects to essentially suffocate. I'm not sure I buy this one, because I think mealworms can handle pretty fine substrate without any issue, and by the picture your gutload looks like it would be just fine. An old friend, Ronnie Buck, informed me of this. He used to operate cricketfood.com and made some of most nutritious cricket and mealworm gutload around, so I still feel this is worth mentioning as I see him as a reliable source.

[Small Pet Feeders]

Looks like you've gutloaded your mealworms with a high protein and fat mix. I always have a difficult time growing mine to that size. I'm starting to wonder if I have the Mini Mealworm species in my breeding bins, because they usually don't get any longer than an inch or so with only the diameter of a rod of pencil lead. Did you notice similar sizes earlier on in your breeding project, or have they pretty steadily grown to that large size to begin with? Do the ones that crack open die? Or have you isolated them after noticing them splitting, to see what happens?

Also, it's always a good idea to give your mealworms or superworms some water crystals occasionally, but I find they absorb the majority of their moisture through eating fresh veggies.

You should give Dermestid Larva breeding a try, it's similar to Mealworms in my opinion, just using different nesting mediums and food. They make a great frog food and they come in handy with other breeding projects as a cleanup crew, especially roaches. I also like to use them to process out the dead insects, like your mealworms that may die, by putting the insects in a 5 gallon bucket with anything dead.

I look forward to hearing more about your breeding operation. I've heard of the 3 drawer method before, sounds like it's pretty successful for you :-)


-Dave
SmallPetFeeders.com