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crazyboy
02-04-04, 04:36 PM
i would like to know how to breed malies and criz.

for the mealies:
how do you house them?
could you post pics?
How long does it take for them to become moths and breed?
How many should i start out with?
could you tell me anything i else i need to know

for crix:
Could you post pics of the housing.
how do you keep them from jumping all over the place?
could you tell me all about the other stuff i need to know.

thanks

ChristinaM
02-04-04, 10:53 PM
Originally posted by crazyboy
i would like to know how to breed malies and criz.

for the mealies:

How long does it take for them to become moths and breed?


thanks

Ummmm,

Mealworms, if your's become moth's, there's something wrong :rolleyes:

Mealworms pupate into little black beetles.

Here's a good link on mealies : http://www.drgecko.com/mealworms/index.html

crazyboy
02-05-04, 04:11 PM
lol i didn't know. but thanks. anyone know bout the crix?

crazyboy
02-05-04, 04:26 PM
also how do you guys house your mealies? could you post pics. I was wondering if you put them in rubbermaid containers how where would you put a screen in it if you want to stack them? because if you put it on the side they could just crawl out. Also what size rubbermaids should i use for a breeding colony? where should i purchase my mealies from to start with/

crazyboy
02-06-04, 04:25 PM
can you leave the eggs? in with the beatles after they have laid them or do you then have to change them to yet anotherbin? thanks

Linds
02-06-04, 04:42 PM
I keep my mealies in a substrate of white bran, red bran, oat bran, rolled oats, rye flakes, spirulina fish flakes, quinoa, and a fwe other things, and provide them with a variety of fruits, veggies, and greens. I house them in shoebox rubbermaids and other similar sized containers, with the exception of the pupating container which is smaller. What I do is leave the beetles in one container for a few weeks, then switch them to another and allow the eggs to hatch and worms grow in the other container. I have 4 containers I rotate between right now. The frequency you rotate will depend on how many worms you need. You should remove the aliens (pupae) from the worm containers and let them pupate in to beetles elsewhere (pupating container), because the worms have a tendency to eat both pupae and beetles. You want the containers to be very well ventilated because the substrate has the potential to get moldy if there isn't enough. I don't even use lids with mine. If you wanted to stack them, you could just put two pieces of wood to allow a gap between the each container, or something along those lines. Make sure whereever you choose to purchase your mealies from, that they have healthy worms. Again, the amount you start with will vary on how many animals you want to feed. If you wer only feeding a few leos for instance, I would suggest starting with 50-100 beetles. Anyways, a lot of it is something you need to get a feel with as it progresses, to fit your own needs. Good luck ;)

Matt_K
02-06-04, 04:42 PM
i leave my mealies in a rubbermaid with rolled oats etc. I put a couple peices of corkbark in there for the beetles to lay the eggs on.. I let my mealies pupate and turn into beetles in the same container and have no problems, i always have new mealies in there when i check..

drewlowe
02-06-04, 04:47 PM
I place my mealies in rubbermaid bins with thier substrate (rolled oats, various brans, evaporated milk, spirlona (sp), and veggies (for moisture.

I used to seperate them but i don't bother anymore because i have 3 seperate tubs going, with no problems. In fact 2 of the tubs started growing a little more than i wanted so i have their temps in the mid 70's, but i'm still waiting for the mealie babies to appear in my 3rd container.


As far as seperating the eggs, You can't even see the eggs so you wouldn't be able to seperate them.

crazyboy
02-08-04, 07:48 PM
ok so i can leave all three stages in the same container? could i use those 3 drawer rubbermaid systems? thanks

Linds
02-08-04, 08:37 PM
You can give it a try. I used to leave mine all in the same bin, and it worked fine for a while, then eventually I was down to hardly anything anymore. I kept trying, but months and months wouldn't even give me a few feedings worth. So I tried seperating them and my colony kicked right back in to full gear, and now I'm producing waaaaay more than I could ever need! :p Seperating is big pain in butt, but my colonies seem to require it now :rolleyes:

crazyboy
02-09-04, 02:39 PM
ok thanks

spidergecko
02-09-04, 03:09 PM
Lindsay's idea is really good if you need LOTS of mealworms. I house all my mealworms together but I don't harvest them so frequently anymore. When I did, I found that housing them together lead to fewer worms. These days, I strain out the "dust" from the container once every 6 months and move it to another container. This "dust" container is full of eggs. You don't even know there is anything in it until you put a carrot or potato in there and in a few hours, it's covered with tiny mealies. I only use the mealies when I run out of crickets and am too lazy to buy more.

I don't breed crickets because unless you need a lot of crickets all the time, it is more time/cost effective to just buy them.

crazyboy
02-10-04, 04:06 PM
how would you set it up if i only used 2 rubbermaids. i mean how would you divide the mealworms? pupating and beetles in one and worms/eggs in the other? also how long does it take for the mealies to turn into beetles?

crazyboy
02-10-04, 05:22 PM
And they can't get out of a rubbermaid that is 4 inches high right?

Linds
02-10-04, 07:43 PM
The containers I use are about 4" high. The pupating container I keep the pupae (aliens) is just the small size deli cup and I keep it resting inside the container that has the mealies in it.

As for how long the cycle will take, it all depends on temperature. Supposedly the average is 1 month from the time they hatch to beetle. However, I am starting to believe that the eggs can almost hibernate or something similar... in my one container of worms, I am still having new mealies hatch, even though there hasn't been any beetles for at least 3 months.

crazyboy
02-10-04, 08:03 PM
ok thanks ill just experiment and see what works best for me. the temps are about 77 degrees farenheight.

Linds
02-10-04, 09:34 PM
That's the best way to do it ;) Best of luck.