# Mealworm Problems



## fubar (Sep 9, 2009)

Hi Guys,

I have been really successful with my mealworm breeding, establishing a large colony, but the colony seems to have dwindled and there is the start of a damp 'clay' aroung the edges. Whe i look at the 'clay' its really fine and seems to alive with very small larvae. 

Is this good, as in loads of tiny mealies, or bad in terms of another bug breeding in there. There is also a growing smell in there, an ideas?

Should i mix the substrate up? The subsrate is entirely a mix of various 'value' cereals, which i just top up as we go.

Any ideas?


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

if they are pale and worm shaped they`re mealies,
if they`re like walking dust you`ve got mites.

if you`ve got a smell from the cereal sounds like you might have a bit of mould and mites.
might be time to start a new colony?


----------



## kimbosreptileworld (Jan 18, 2008)

there should be no smell, i have had a colony for around 5 months now and no smell, i feed dry foods 24/7 and fresh veg, carrot or cabbage once a week, put veg in first thing in the morning whats not been eaten by the end of the day remove. 

Darren


----------



## REDDEV1L (Nov 27, 2008)

I think its mites...Mainly because baby mealies wouldn't congregate on the edges like you describe.
Here's a pic of a hatchling mealworm... (That's a standard needle) and a mealy egg 
















I had a similar problem with mites, and it was due to me being 'considerate' to any baby mealies....I was leaving the veg in the tub, even when it dissapeared under the bran...This was causing the bran to get damp and proved to be a breeding ground for mites.

What I did was scooped as much of the moving fluff out as I could (then chucked it in the bin), then sieved the whole colony through a cheapy kitchen sieve...put what didnt go through into a new tub with fresh bran/cereals..Then I sieved everything that went through the first sieve, through a tea strainer...hoping the mites and mite eggs went through and the mealy eggs didnt. I kept what didn't go through the tea strainer in a seperate tub.
I then left both "colonies" in the garage for a few months to dry out and kill any mites left. Obviously still feeding veg to the main colony but being stingy with the other tub.

It worked reasonably well, ie when I brought them back in (After sieving again) they were fine and the sievings exploded with minute mealies after being inside a while.

Never had mites in my mealies again, although have in my roaches, morios and morio beetles.. :lol2:
The key is to remove ALL uneaten veg when you add fresh and if you feed them orange, apple, pear etc then put this ontop of the egg crate, that way it doesnt wet the bran/cereals etc.


----------



## Gertrude (Sep 15, 2009)

thanks guys, really constructive advice and much appreciated. I have had the colony running successfully for a long while now, but hadn't taken out the veg, that was obviously my mistake here.

Once again, many thanks for your accurate and helpful responses.


----------



## fubar (Sep 9, 2009)

Just realised I was logged on as my other half's account, Gertrude, but I'm sure she shared my sentiments!:lol2:


----------

