# whole wheat flour for mealworms?



## TWreptiles (Dec 21, 2011)

i tried to blend my wheat bran so that i could easily sift out mealworms from their gutload/diet but it wouldn't work and the particles were not small enough

i read here >>http://www.geckosunlimited.com/community/feeders-food-nutrition/49403-feeder-insect-diets-gutload.html<< that whole wheat flour can be used as a diet for crickets locust and roaches but wondered if this would be alright for mealworms, i assume they are both the same part of wheat so have similar nutritional values???

has anyone done this, if so does it work?

(i just didn't want to kill off a load of mealies but i guess i can separate a few and try them on the whole wheat flour instead of wheat bran to see if they can even survive in it)


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## TWreptiles (Dec 21, 2011)

anyone?


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## CloudForest (Nov 27, 2013)

dont know the answer to that, i guess it would depend how refined it was, white refined flour is basically just sugar/carbs

regarding getting the mealworms out, try vibrating the box (fast shaking up and down, or tapping the bottom of the box repeatdly, you want everything to move, but not jump around), if you do it just right, the mealworms will end up on top of the substrate, I feed mine on oats and this method works well


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## jarich (Mar 23, 2012)

Maurice knows what he is talking about, so thats a good guide to use. As for the use of wheat flour over bran, its in some ways better. Bran has a lot of phytic acid in it, which can be problematic since it hinders absorption of things like calcium and iron especially. So using flour, which has more of the rest of the wheat in it rather than bran, will give you less of this. For my gut loads I substitute alfalfa for much of the wheat, but I dont raise mealworms so not sure how this substitute would work for them.


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## Dragon Farm (Aug 7, 2009)

I can see no reason why wholemeal flour wouldn't better than white flour for mealworms. Mealworms must be used in nature I would have thought to eat wholegrains, not just a refined part of them. There will be more nutrition in the wholegrain flour


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## TWreptiles (Dec 21, 2011)

thanks guys 

wholemeal flour and whole wheat are basically the same i think.
on another note, would it be sensible to only offer it as the diet instead of bedding and diet. i.e keep them in a bare plastic tub and put in as much flour each day as they will eat? or do they need the bedding as i have noticed they aren't that fond of light and burrow in the day and crawl around at night.

thanks, tom


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## Dragon Farm (Aug 7, 2009)

They are more comfortable when allowed to burrow amongst it. So you need a few centimeters of food to act as 'bedding'.

I think for the best diet offer a mix. So wholemeal flour, and oats for example would be good. Feed carrots or small pieces of potato for moisture on the surface.


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