# Mealworm advice



## Dan5 (Apr 14, 2010)

Recently I have been buying mealworms that turn to beetles pretty quick which is a bit annoying, I have one and a half boxes of mealworm beetles now with another on the turn, can they be used for feeding anything? If not what's the best way to get rid of them? Is it a bad idea to throw them in the garden?

Thanks


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## Haggis (Jun 7, 2010)

Other people do feed them to their dragons etc

throw them in a plastic box with a load of wheatbix and some potato slices and leave them to breed


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Haggis said:


> Other people do feed them to their dragons etc
> 
> throw them in a plastic box with a load of wheatbix and some potato slices and leave them to breed


 :2thumb:

My frogs and toads love eating the beetles. I tend to try to use them when they are newly metamorphosed and fairly soft- but tbh, the frogs don't seem to care either way. And they are dead easy to breed.


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## Repidge (Jun 17, 2010)

no point in throwing them away, my reptiles seem to like them more than the larvie. Its really easy to breed them 2 and it saves you having to buy any more or just wasting the beetles that you already have.


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## Haggis (Jun 7, 2010)

yeah or give me the beetles lol


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## ptsmith (Aug 17, 2010)

personally, i do not feed them to my dragon once they have gone black as there is little nutritional value in them unless your breeding them then nutritonal values are elevated.

however, the exoskeletons on the 'black beetles' is still quite tough and undigestible and can cause impaction for the beardie.


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## ptsmith (Aug 17, 2010)

and keeping them refrigerated slows the process down as well...


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## richard hardwick (Jan 2, 2010)

how long to they take to breed ?


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## Haggis (Jun 7, 2010)

from what i understand

2 weeks to go from adult mealworm to Larvae
10 - 14 days to go to beetle

around 6 months to get to adult size


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## richard hardwick (Jan 2, 2010)

so approx 6 mths before i see any new mealworms


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## Gman1980 (Aug 27, 2010)

not at all.

As said above, If you have adult beetles, then put them in a decent sized RUB with oats. Put in a few bits of carrot. U were gonna throw them in the bin anyway so close the lid, leave it ventilated and forget about it for a few weeks ( u obv have to stick the odd carrott in tho or they will die)

Theres a guy on youtube whos had a colony going for 13 years, check his video out. Hes only ever bought 100 mealworms and has a constant supply of 1000s

The beetles breed like wild fire, you will notice new mealworms within a month.

Better still, u only have to clean the colony once a year, its a piece of piss. Give it a month or so to get up and running, and u will never have to buy a single mealworm ever again.


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