# how to breed mealies



## blue-saphire (Oct 22, 2007)

am not alowed crix in the house so they die off quickly in the out house, though got some mealies today and am allowed to keep them in the house. though the pet shop near us charges £1 per 25g! so reuctantly bought £1.50 worth and off i went. Though am wanting to know how to breed them also i am feeding them on oranges to try revitalise them as they looked dead, is it orite to feed them nutrabol/pur calcium ??


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## ViRMiN (Aug 6, 2007)

If you keep them warm, they'll turn into weird looking things that eventually mutate into beetles. These'll breed and you'll end up with more mealies. For food, I use weetabix and tropic fish flakes (only got the flakes today, so it's really just weetabix!). Works for me!

Oh, and I keep them in large food tubs, not the little tubs they come in from the pet shop. If you need live food, try Rick:

Ricks Livefood - Crickets, Locusts, Roaches - Ricks Livefood - Crickets, Locusts, Roaches

I'm sure your mum'll help you out with ordering, as you'll need a debit/credit card.


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## blue-saphire (Oct 22, 2007)

wierd looking things you say please explain.
theres a few in the tub which are black and arnt moving are them em, or are they just dead?


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## ViRMiN (Aug 6, 2007)

Any black mealies are dead yes... I've no pics of the alien-like creatures that is the interim stage between mealie and beetle but, will search now...


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## ViRMiN (Aug 6, 2007)

These are them, the mealworm pupae:


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## gwinni (Oct 8, 2007)

Ew yuk yuk i h8 them freaky horrible wee things!i picked 1 up wen i 1st seen em wi ma fingers coz i usually like beasties but th way it moved freaked me out!bad alien babies!Tho u can feed em ma leos like em!


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## ViRMiN (Aug 6, 2007)

Aye, if you keep hold of them, they'll eventually transform into the darkling beetle! Keep them, and leave them to do their "thang", and they'll lay eggs, and hey-presto, more mealies! : victory:

I've got several tubs on the go, bit of a production line, which keeps me with livefood to feed with during those pesky postal strikes!


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## blue-saphire (Oct 22, 2007)

might leave them in the tub together then as they changeto the thing in the pic, i will seperate them. how many young can on beetle have?


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## ViRMiN (Aug 6, 2007)

I'm constantly promoting puapae into my beetle tub, and once I notice a lack of pupae or dead beetles, I tip the contents back into a mealie tub, so I can't comment on new mealies, sorry :|


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## blue-saphire (Oct 22, 2007)

o well thanks anyways, these mealies i have look medium size from knowing that how long would you estimatethe cycle will take providing the right warmth and food.


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