# How to get rid of mealies and beatles in the home?



## funky1 (Jun 18, 2008)

Ow do,
Would LOVE some advice or any tips from anyone who has the same kind of problem as the following. The thing is, most of us have the odd escapee mealie or beatle around the home - par for the course of being a mealie feeding herper - but at the moment, it really seems our house is getting infested with them. I`m postive that they`re breeding somewhere, and I`ve even found lots of mealies, pupae and beatles under the floor boards!!! :gasp:
Just now, I found 12 beatles and 6 mealies around the edge of a single room. How the hell can I get rid of them? 
The obvious solution would be to stop feeding mealies - but it`s not really an option tbh. I`ve ordered an organic bug trab off e-bay that catches things when you place their fave food in the centre (anyone any idea what beatles and mealies adore? - tried coaxing them with apple and carrots to no avail) and just ordering some sticky traps now - some for along the edges of rooms, and a few under floor boards.

The puzzling thing - in over a decade - is I`ve never had this problem before, so are they thriving due to the cold snap and therefore the central heating being on 24/7? There`s no food (you`d think) knocking about for them to etc...it`s never been mealies I`ve had to even consider worrying about breeding in the house before - the obvious concerns are roaches and crix - but nope, it`s the mealies big time. Has anyone any ideas AT ALL (all appreciated!) as to how I can eliminate them, or at least drastically reduce the numbers that are obviously around?

Cheers :2thumb:


----------



## lfields85 (Jan 7, 2010)

funky1 said:


> Ow do,
> Would LOVE some advice or any tips from anyone who has the same kind of problem as the following. The thing is, most of us have the odd escapee mealie or beatle around the home - par for the course of being a mealie feeding herper - but at the moment, it really seems our house is getting infested with them. I`m postive that they`re breeding somewhere, and I`ve even found lots of mealies, pupae and beatles under the floor boards!!! :gasp:
> Just now, I found 12 beatles and 6 mealies around the edge of a single room. How the hell can I get rid of them?
> The obvious solution would be to stop feeding mealies - but it`s not really an option tbh. I`ve ordered an organic bug trab off e-bay that catches things when you place their fave food in the centre (anyone any idea what beatles and mealies adore? - tried coaxing them with apple and carrots to no avail) and just ordering some sticky traps now - some for along the edges of rooms, and a few under floor boards.
> ...


Hi 
i not entirely sure what they adore but i feed my mealies banana skin and they seem to really like it. I suppose you dont want banana skins lying all round your house :lol2:
Have you thought of hiring an exterminator or something?sorry my brains a bit fuzzy at the mo and cant think straight.Hope you sort the problem out soon


----------



## funky1 (Jun 18, 2008)

lfields85 said:


> Hi
> i not entirely sure what they adore but i feed my mealies banana skin and they seem to really like it. I suppose you dont want banana skins lying all round your house :lol2:
> Have you thought of hiring an exterminator or something?sorry my brains a bit fuzzy at the mo and cant think straight.Hope you sort the problem out soon


Tbh, I can only imagine an exterminator would go around the whole house spraying lots of chemicals - there`s no way I would allow that with the number of leos I have in the house really...plus the dog and kids. I know we can all go out for the day, but the leos can`t be moved unfortunately.

I`m thinking that the only viable option may be a tonne of sticky traps (already ordered 20!) placed along the edges of rooms, and a few under the floor boards.

I just can`t understand why they`re rampaging now - never had a problem before, either with a great number of escapees and certainly not them breeding in the house. I can only think that it`s got something to do with the CH being on permanently due to the cold snap, and this is allowing them to wander through the house along the warm pipes. With any luck, a combination of turning it off, spring coming and a plethora of sticky traps will sort them out. I`ve never known anything, or heard anything like it tbh.

Thanks for the tip about banana skins, I`m sure a few strategically placed ones inside the traps wouldn`t go amiss!  Thanks.


----------



## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

You best bet is trap, kill and hoover up as many as possible and don't let anymore get out, you'll end up breaking the cycle at some point! How exactly are the mealies getting out? I've had mine a while now for breeding and haven't lost one. They're in a small-ish plastic tub (without a lid) on top of a wardrobe, only bought down to fetch a few out for feeding then they go back up and they're left to their own devices. I seldom feed veggies as I haven't found they need it to thrive. Every now and again I'll sprinkle grated carrot over the top but that's about it, so there's not much chance of them getting out. I would guess they've had a boost in breeding during to it being warmer in the house, but remember they can breed some and live quite happily in a cold house, the room our mealie box is in often gets down to about 10C but they still thrive on that. I usually find if they go down to a really cold temp then they're warmed up quickly again, there's a sudden 'boom' of eggs/pupae/beatles.


----------



## funky1 (Jun 18, 2008)

LoveForLizards said:


> You best bet is trap, kill and hoover up as many as possible and don't let anymore get out, you'll end up breaking the cycle at some point! How exactly are the mealies getting out? I've had mine a while now for breeding and haven't lost one. They're in a small-ish plastic tub (without a lid) on top of a wardrobe, only bought down to fetch a few out for feeding then they go back up and they're left to their own devices. I seldom feed veggies as I haven't found they need it to thrive. Every now and again I'll sprinkle grated carrot over the top but that's about it, so there's not much chance of them getting out. I would guess they've had a boost in breeding during to it being warmer in the house, but remember they can breed some and live quite happily in a cold house, the room our mealie box is in often gets down to about 10C but they still thrive on that. I usually find if they go down to a really cold temp then they're warmed up quickly again, there's a sudden 'boom' of eggs/pupae/beatles.


I`ve kept and bred leos for so long now (mealies too at various points) and never had anything like this (although I don`t want anyone to think I`m walking on mealies or anything! We`re not infested as in they`re under the fridge or owt, but keep finding them, and beatles, daily in certain rooms in the house - and not even always where the leos are kept! :gasp. They`re not getting out of the tubs they`re kept in, they`re actually finding ways out of all the vivs (last count I had 17 vivs and an in-numerate numbers of tubs/rubs!), though I can only assume they`re either finding the slightest gap inbetween the glass, or the vents as there are no holes or anything in any of the vivs. Although the odd mealie also escapes out of the mealie dishes (as there always is!), the vast majority of mealies are content in the bowls, and struggle to get out of even those. 

It`s just baffling me as they`re obv finding it quite snug - somewhere - in the house; now I`ve always thought they needed decent amounts of veg/organic material to thrive - but for there to be a fair amount of beatles too, they must be doing quite well somewhere.

Anyroad, thanks for the advice and tips - ordered 20 odd sticky traps, and a `puzzle` trap that you put their fave food in off e-bay (god send that place!) and gonna shove some ant killer (or something like it) under the floor boards, with any luck even if it doesn`t kill them straight off, they`ll pass it on to the others when it comes to breeding, and we`ll get there eventually!


----------



## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

another idea might be to increase the heat in the house. mealies do well in colder temps, but dont survive long in hot temps.


----------



## funky1 (Jun 18, 2008)

trw said:


> another idea might be to increase the heat in the house. mealies do well in colder temps, but dont survive long in hot temps.


:gasp: don`t say that - I`ve turned all the heating off on purpose, in the total belief it was the opposite!!!!


----------



## REDDEV1L (Nov 27, 2008)

Im not sure how the beetles/aliens would do in a cold house but any actual worms would just slow down / go into a hibernation-like state (Which is how you can keep em in the fridge to make em last longer)

However, I did notice a big drop in the amount of baby worms hatching when I moved my colony into the garage for a few weeks, this is the reason i've only got about 20 full-grown worms at the moment so its possible no heating for a while might slow em down a bit


----------



## funky1 (Jun 18, 2008)

Well I`ve just got 2 bottles of ant dust to go under the floor boards - hopefully that`ll at least get rid of the beetles, and nulify the breeding. Hopefully, it`s just a question of breaking the cycle.

I think this though, is a bit of a warning not only to myself, but to others as well. Crickets, locust and roaches - always been paraniod about them getting loose and breeding, but mealies just weren`t thought of like that (and they should have been). It`s a lesson learnt though - esp as I`m now starting to believe that all they need to flourish could be warmth and food - and considering the amount of wood in the average house build, and the belief they`ll eat wood, it`s no wonder they`re doing well. Argh!


----------



## funky1 (Jun 18, 2008)

Well, ant powder is working REALLY well so far. I put a good coverage under select floor boards, and along the skirting of certain rooms (under the carpet), and have collected 6 dead beetles that have made it to the middle of rooms and dropped down dead. Also haven`t seen a single `healthy` mealie or beetle since I put the stuff down - job`s a good `un so far


----------



## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Mealworms are related to species that live in birdnests, feeding on assorted waste- they can eat practically anything organic, even carpet dust. I'd say the heat definitely gave them a breeding boost, but you seem to have them under control now.


----------



## SeanEK4 (Dec 1, 2009)

how on earth do your mealies escape?

mine seem so thick, and dont seem to be able to climb anything?

Sean


----------



## swift_wraith (Jan 4, 2009)

mine constantly get out from between the glass panes in the viv (my glass goes down to the viv floor - bad planning on my part) so today i popped to b&q and bought some door insulation strips. its self adhesive and i just layed a strip between the glass panes and so far it appears to be working a treat.


----------



## lgscas0708 (Oct 12, 2009)

hi all,
weve just started our own mealie colony and ive noticed a small hole in the corner of the plastic tub i was keeping the old substrate and eggs in, im not sure but think some may have escaped and was just wondering IF we were to find any mealies around the house or under carpet ect. would they be able to survive our house is currently 13 degrees and at a high 17 atm 

any info regarding this would be great,

PS did you get yours sorted bud?


----------

