Please help with breeding mealworms

[J-Man]

I'm trying to breed mealworms and I'm wondering about how long until I notice NEW worms after I first start seeing beetles?

And, I heard that a female beetle can lay anywhere from 500 - 1000 eggs. I have about 10 or so beetles in my colony, does this mean I'm going to have thousands of beetles? Or is there a high death rate?

Thanks for any help.

[Zoe]

Hi!
You should start to see wee ones in a couple weeks.

You'll have lots, yup, but many do die and they take a long time to get big.

Zoe

[J-Man]

coolio. thanks

[Linds]

I'd definitely start with a lot more than 10 beetles. I would recommend starting with at least 50-100 if you only want a small colony. You will start seeing tiny little mealies in the substrate anywhere from 3 weeks to several or more months. For some reason all of mine took a few months to get started, as well as several other people I know. Just don't give up on them if you don't see them for a while ;)

[J-Man]

There's probably a very simple answer for this... but if each female lays 500 - 1000 then why would I need more than 10 for a SMALL colony? When I say small I mean SMALL. I only have 1 veiled cham and 2 juvi leos.

[Pixie]

Because many of the baby worms die I suspect either by drying out or being eaten by others.

Better to get more started and put them in the fridge when big enough for extras later than to run out and have to wait till another colony gets going.

Myself, I start a second colony going when I start using the worms from the first. That way when I've used up all the worms from the first colony, the second is ready for me.

To make your mealies grow faster, keep them in a warm area, 80-85°f. It takes 2 to 3 weeks to see the baby mealworms, you really have to look hard because at that stage they are barely thicker than a hair and between 1/8" and 1/4". At this point I add more veggies, I find the mealies grow faster with more veggies and more seem to survive.

Good luck,
Pixie

[RaVeNo888o]

i started with 100 mealies, some were dead,or have died, but i have like 50+ beatles right now..had them as beetles for about 2 weeks. and i see more pupa all the time

[drewlowe]

A few weeks back i finally seen some babies WOO HOO. I was beggining to think it wasn't going to work. It took mine close to 2 months after getting beetles for me to see the babies. Best advice is to be patient they will come LOL. Just as pixie said the babies are so tiny. I can barely see them (when thier that small).

[J-Man]

Yeah I was starting to get a LITTLE discouraged. But I'm thinking it should be fine. I can see 10+ beetles walking around above the substrate so I'm guessing there are about 15 - 20 total? Plus I have many pupae and still about 50 or so worms. I just bought another 250 mealies as well so I'll be tossing them in. Had them for a week or 2 and no signs of eggs or larvae. I do see them getting it on A LOT though.

Also, about how long does it take for the babies to grow up? I heard it takes a while.

[drewlowe]

You won't see the eggs... You really cant see them until they are about 1/4". It does take a few weeks maybe a little over a month for them to get bigger. It also depends on the temps they are kept at. I live in a basement and i don't supply my mealies with any heat at all (there around 72-75 sometimes down to the high 60's) so mine take a bit longer to mature.

[RepTylE]

You can never have too many mealies and if you do over produce you can always sell or give some away.
Feed them well and they will do their thing. Having a colony or two is a good idea especially if you are breeding small geckos since there will be mealies of all sizes including the all important small sizes .