# How to Breed Mealworms



## olliesarea

Hi,
I first began breeding Mealworms a few months ago, when I bought my first tub of adults. I did not think it would be so simple to breed, so I would just like to share with you guys my methods of breeding, feel free to reply with any questions or ideas to improve my post. thanks!

To start off your breeding colony, you can simply purchase a tub of regular size mealworms (make sure you don't get Giant mealworms as they would have probably been treated with a hormone that prevents them pupating) for about £3. Now you will need to wait 2-3 weeks for the worms to pupate, while your waiting, make sure you replace any substrate (I use weetabix and occaisonally some cheerios) that the worms turn into waste. Try to remove as much waste as you can. every 3 days or so feed them fresh vegetables such as carrot peelings or lettuce and cabbage. remove it after it dries out as it makes a smell.

















As soon as you see a pupae (nickname Alien) in the Mealworm tub, take it out and put it in another tub (as the mealworms will eat them) with weetabix, keep doing this for about 2-3 weeks, by then the remaining aliens that form can be left in the mealworm tub if you wish, as the rest of the mealworms won't be interested in eating, but morphing themselves. 
Aliens will remain aliens for about 2 weeks on average, you can tell when one is about to hatch, as you will see brown legs form underneath. Be alert at this time as you want to move the beetles just after they hatch as they will feed off other aliens. 

New Alien:









Alien Tub:
















Alien about to hatch:
















Newly hatched Beetle:









Give the beetles the same substrate as the worms, about 2 inches, but make sure it is finely crumbled, so they will be able to lay eggs easily, also the baby mealworms when they hatch will be able to move around in it easily. 
A female beetle will lay on average around 200 eggs. it can be up to 300, but it depends on temperatures. I keep all my livefoods at room temperature, but when my worm colony is bigger, i will consider heat lamps/mats. 

My beetles laying:
















There are several methods of egg laying at this stage, 
I will tell you 2 of them, and you can decide what to do. 
1. you can do this method if you have a lot of substrate available and are willing to do this every few days: ok, if your beetles are kept in a container with small holes/slits in the lid (like mine), then every few days (after you notice eggs being laid) simply tip the container upside down (gently) over the top of another bigger container, and give it shake until all the substrate you can get through has gone through. this method means that a. the beetles tub doesn't get overcrowded with eggs and b. the beetles won't be tempted to eat the eggs. now replace the substrate in the beetle container and repeat this every few days for about a month. after the month you should be able to see tiny mealworms wriggling about in the container you have been shaking the substrate into. 

2. in this method all you do is simply leave the beetles in a big container for a month (remove them when they die). any that are still alive after the month you might want ot take out. now you should be able to see mini worms wriggling around. you might want to top up the substrate a bit. 

What ever method you used, the big container that is now full of mini mealworms will become your main colony for the future. remember to start feeding the midgets on fresh veg every few days. a few months later and they should be full size. one complete cycle. now you can begin feeding a few off to your reptiles/birds whilst the rest are getting to the stage of pupating. WARNING: this time round it will require a lot more time to transfer the aliens and beetles. unless you have decided just to keep them all together and let them do there stuff, thats fine, you should still have an outcome form the numbers you now have. Make sure you have still been feeding your reptile while you have been breeding! have a backup tub of worms for feeding whilst you are going through your first cycle of breeding. I breed my mealworms to feed my Leopard gecko:










I hope this tutorial helps and remember, feel free to reply with any questions or PM me!
Thanks!
Ollie


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## Juzza12

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/feeder/143883-mealworm-life-cycle.html already been done, nice thought to post a guide though


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## olliesarea

*thanks*

thanks


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## olliesarea

*Update*

I have now got several hundred beetles that are all currently laying eggs, it can take up to 7 days before a female beetle begins laying. Hopefully soon I will have an even bigger colony. :2thumb:


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## -Austin

I prefer this to the other guide so cheers:Na_Na_Na_Na:

Will be using this but with bran just because crushing weetabix isn't appealing to me:devil:


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## olliesarea

Yeah I am going to switch to Bran soon, cheaper and easier, I think the Mealworms like it more as well. Crushing weetabix can be a pain... :devil:


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## freekygeeky

Juzza12 said:


> http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/feeder/143883-mealworm-life-cycle.html already been done, nice thought to post a guide though


giggle..


OP what was wrong with my pics, hehe


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## olliesarea

Yeah sorry I did not notice your guide until after I had posted, I like it though:2thumb:. I was just looking at your site, I have sent you a PM asking if you could give me any tips for breeding Leopard Gecko's.:2thumb:


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## SLB1989

Great thread olliesarea 
I was just about to post lots of questions but all have been answered here.
Btw do you have to serperate out all the different stages, mealworms, papua, beetles?


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## olliesarea

SLB1989 said:


> Great thread olliesarea
> Btw do you have to serperate out all the different stages, mealworms, papua, beetles?


Thanks!
No, this is not necessary, but better results will occur if that method is used. But when your starting off with one tub of mealworms, I would recommend it :2thumb: However, once your colony is a little bigger, try and avoid sorting them, as it will take a very, very long time.
When leaving them all together, make sure to feed them the correct amounts of fresh veg  , it will help to put them off eating each other in pupae/beetle stage, but you still will get the odd one or two. You should learn pretty quickly what that amount of veg is, depending on the amount of mealworms you have. I know one guy who has been quite successful with keeping them together and just leaving them to do there stuff. I seem to remember he used a heat mat though, a mat/bulb will simply quicken the whole process. 
Hope this helps! 
Just Ask if you have any other questions!
Ollie

btw, a good Veg that works for me is Lettuce, but it is quite pricey, cabbage is a cheaper alternative, but it not valued by the worms as much as lettuce. I also find that carrot peelings will work, but they don't always manage to finish eating before they dry out.


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## george0

would the tubs i get from the pet shop be too small to keep them in for breeding\/?: victory:


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## olliesarea

george0 said:


> would the tubs i get from the pet shop be too small to keep them in for breeding\/?: victory:


You would have to spread them out over several tubs, but a bigger container is recommended. :2thumb: Good Luck!


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## Fried_frog

How often do you guys feed your mealies?

I got 250g today and put then in my tub with oats and bran, then i put some small bits of carrot on top.

A couple of hours later, the carrot pieces are nowhere to be seen! Greedy buggers.

Shall i wait a day to put more in or just put more in when i notice they've eaten it all?


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## olliesarea

Fried_frog said:


> How often do you guys feed your mealies?
> 
> I got 250g today and put then in my tub with oats and bran, then i put some small bits of carrot on top.
> 
> A couple of hours later, the carrot pieces are nowhere to be seen! Greedy buggers.
> 
> Shall i wait a day to put more in or just put more in when i notice they've eaten it all?


I would wait a day, chances are they were just hungry from being delivered/not fed at the pet shop. If you give them more straight away, they would probably only eat a bit of it, and leave the rest to dry out.


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## olliesarea

*On holiday*

I'm in france at the moment, I been here since the 15th, I'll be back on tuesday  
I just wanted to say that I left my container of eggs at home, when i get back, I should have a lot of small mealworms  can't wait.


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## Joshh

should i use All-bran or w.e it's called, and i'm feeding mine apples is that ok?


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## olliesarea

Joshh said:


> should i use All-bran or w.e it's called, and i'm feeding mine apples is that ok?


Yes apples is good, as is all-bran. :2thumb:


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## aceboidz

I think i might try this, good one ollie


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## Austin Allegro

Isn't all this a bit smelly?


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## REDDEV1L

A well looked after colony shouldn't smell at all.
Unfortunately at the moment mine stinks. I had a problem with mites which appear to have caused the downfall of hundreds of aliens (Tip: Don't think you're doing the babies a favour by leaving veg in there) Also alot of my beetles are coming to the end of their lifecycle. The above, added to the fact i keep them under my bed and there isn't a great deal of airflow under there, has led to a stinky colony 

(P.S - From my experience it isn't worth the risk of keeping the frass from the beetles on the off-chance it contains eggs. Keeping a tub full of frass was the source of my mites...millions of em...Won't be doing that again!)


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## aceboidz

REDDEV1L said:


> A well looked after colony shouldn't smell at all.
> Unfortunately at the moment mine stinks. I had a problem with mites which appear to have caused the downfall of hundreds of aliens (Tip: Don't think you're doing the babies a favour by leaving veg in there) Also alot of my beetles are coming to the end of their lifecycle. The above, added to the fact i keep them under my bed and there isn't a great deal of airflow under there, has led to a stinky colony
> 
> (P.S - From my experience it isn't worth the risk of keeping the frass from the beetles on the off-chance it contains eggs. Keeping a tub full of frass was the source of my mites...millions of em...Won't be doing that again!)


Frass?


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## LiamRatSnake

I keep mine in a 9 litre RUB and leave em too it. While my little'uns are growing up, I add a new box of mealies every month (I'll reduce this when my babies grow up) or so and anticipate there will always be a constant supply of decent sized worms, my babies (literally thousands) are coming on in leaps and bounds, I'm so proud of them lol I check them every day:flrt:. I use whatever's in the cupboard, oats, wheatabix, bran, cereals ect as well as fresh foods (what ever's past it's best in the fridge, but never off) and I even added rabbit food and other stuff I have lying around. They can smell, but I leave the lid off for a while and allow it to dry out a little, although I found one on the curtain the other day after doing this.


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## REDDEV1L

aceboidz said:


> Frass?


Debris or excrement produced by insects. :2thumb:


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## aceboidz

REDDEV1L said:


> Debris or excrement produced by insects. :2thumb:


 
I read that you could keep it, wont be though after hearing your experience ; )


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## JayThomas

Great tutorial. Thank you.

I have started my own colony, and thought i'd check out yours to see if i'm doing ok. I do, do some things diffrently like - i use plain dry oats (50p a kilo. ) for bedding, and my mealies dont seem to burrow that much... some do, but most seem to group together around the edges of the tank. 

I decided to try something new with them by putting a sheet of cardboard over about 1/3 of the tank. They seem to love this. 90% of them (i have 600-800 ish) rest between the card and the substrate. I have never seen it advised or in a tutorial or anything but it works great for me, and they seem more "comfortable" in theyr environment now.


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## koolkid

Your mealworms are probably going to pupate soon that's why they were on the top of the substrate.


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## 123dragon

i have also found that if you put a peice of card on the surface they lie underthat instead of burrowing and i also have a couple small cardboard boxes in their draw cause in soft and if i ever get a odd wrong sized cricket or anything then the mealworm draw is were they go to live out their life until they die of old age


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## silverdun

Coming in a little late, just wanted to say this is great info. I breed mealworms too, including the Morio worms, not sure they are all treated as got mine for £2 in regular pet shop & they bred just as well as mini and regular :thumb:

Mine also appreciate cover, both the worms and the beetles. the "alien" stage don't need any food, I lay mine seperately on kitchen roll in a tub with no lid, and take them out into the beetle colony after 24hrs of hatching.

Really enjoying reading everyone's tips


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## olliesarea

It's good to still see replies over 2 years after I posted this, thanks for all the feedback!

I haven't been on here in a long, long time :blush:


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## sharonoliver1982

*mealworm breeding*

thanks for this usefull info going to give it a try:2thumb:


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## Tigeir

*Tigeir*

Hi olliesarea,
fantastic thread, I've an unused propagater and was thinking of using it to breed mealworms in, any idea as to what temperature I should set it at? After all I don't want to cook the wee things.
Tigeir


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## Smigsy

How does everybody remove the frass? With roaches it's easy but having baby and adult mealworms mixed with bran/oats and frass seems like a pain.


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## Richard Hanson

Great post


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## Crazmanian

Currently trying to breed myself some too. Good post:2thumb:


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## Richard Hanson

Crazmanian said:


> Currently trying to breed myself some too. Good post:2thumb:


What are you breeding them for?


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## Crazmanian

For my Leo's at the min. Plus beardies when i get them.


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## AnnieM

My mealies substrate is going all mouldy around the edges of the tub so I'm sure it is all the way through too. I know that babies are laid in the bottom so didn't want to just chuck it, but what can I do? I don't want to lose all my mealies. I use muesli, cornflakes, crushed weetabix, then carrot, apple, broccoli, cucumber, whatever is available really, every other day.


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## Crazmanian

AnnieM said:


> My mealies substrate is going all mouldy around the edges of the tub so I'm sure it is all the way through too. I know that babies are laid in the bottom so didn't want to just chuck it, but what can I do? I don't want to lose all my mealies. I use muesli, cornflakes, crushed weetabix, then carrot, apple, broccoli, cucumber, whatever is available really, every other day.


I had this problem early in to my attempt at breeding i switched to a bigger plastic container and havent had any problem so far fingers crossed.

How big is your tub?


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## Oxide

Crazmanian said:


> I had this problem early in to my attempt at breeding i switched to a bigger plastic container and havent had any problem so far fingers crossed.
> 
> How big is your tub?


When i had my actual mealies i got the odd occasion of it getting damnp and sticky round the edges so i scraped it all of the sides and left my top off for a while,worked a treat.

As i started to take the aliens out to start breeding a while later i popped in 2 slices of cucumber and next day i noticed small things moving on them.

On closer inspection it looked like mites and it could not be anything else,the oats looked damp also.

So i got rid of the lot and i didnt want mites being passed on.

I currently have a tub of of beetles and waiting for eggs and baby's and i have found lettuce the best thing to use as it does not go mouldy, it just dries up, but just dont put to much in as the more damp the substrate the more chance of mites : victory:


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## AnnieM

My box is about 14" x 8" x 5" deep approx. I think I'm going to change to a bigger tub and change the whole substrate. I only use one tub for the whole process and basically just leave them to it, is that wrong? I have lots of aliens and beetles in there. I may try a faunarium for the better ventilation as although my lid is full of holes it still condensates badly so I have to take the lid off. I put bread crusts in there and try to put the veg on there but they always drag it under so I think that's going damp and mouldy under there too, I do have a fish around and remove anything unsavoury!
On the upside my roaches are doing fantastic! Lol


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## beccaj91

We have recently got a three tier drawer set for our mealies in an attemp to breed them. its lovely and dry we are using oats and i have to say smells quite nice in there its only new though ha. so far in my beetle draw theres around 20 only had set up arpund two week so we are quite proud. got loads of aliens waiting to hatch. i just wanted to ask has everyone found once you manage to get your beetles do they breed pretty easy? Just had a look at mine and arpund 10 are under one egg box all seems well guess i just gotta be patient


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## thebeardiemaster

Hi.
thankyou for this thread.
few questions if at all possible for you to answer?

do you put the beetles in container like pics on a heat mat if so at what temp?

once you siv all substrate and egg laying from container, leaving beetles in, do you need to provide heat for the eggs to hatch into worms if so at what temps?

i will realy appreciate a reply,

Many thanks
Dale


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## smiling paul

thebeardiemaster said:


> Hi.
> thankyou for this thread.
> few questions if at all possible for you to answer?
> 
> do you put the beetles in container like pics on a heat mat if so at what temp?
> 
> once you siv all substrate and egg laying from container, leaving beetles in, do you need to provide heat for the eggs to hatch into worms if so at what temps?
> 
> i will realy appreciate a reply,
> 
> Many thanks
> Dale


i started breeding mealies and all i do for heat is leave the tub on top of my viv. i got a load of mealies online and put them in a glass tank, there is now loooooooaaaaaaaddddddssss of aliens so im guessing the temps are fine.

I have read that if you keep them in low temps (below 19c) then they go into hibernation and dont go through their various phases. The same if you keep them to hot (above 25c), and i think i seem to remember reading that it makes them insertile but that might be crix. They do still go through there phases in cold conditions but it takes months to do so. To the point you forget about them.


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## jen1302

we have done ours in 3 stages mealies, aliens an 6 beatles per cricket tub to get a few colonies up an running for our 5 beardies an 4 tarantulas


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## Baseballfanatic2

Great thread. Here is my how to breed mealworms article also.


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