Mealworm Life Cycle

[freekygeeky]

Well, so many people keep asking me, pm-ing and on this section, so i have taken the time to take some (not so brillaint) pics!!
Hope this helps..

I breed my own mealworms, they are kept in plastic contains with lids they allways escape!! (my kitten loves them!) They are fed on (tesco value) porridge oats, (tesco value) cornflakes, and (tesco value) rice crispies. And bannana skins (from my cresties!). They love all veg!

Right...

A adult mealworm



A mealworm who has shed (this is an adult too)



''Alien'' Adult mealworms turn in to these, when i find these (in my breeding group) i take them out and put them in a seperate container (as they some times get eaten)



''Alien'' Dead. They will turn black and eventually go completely black, or completely brown.



''Alien'' Ready to turn in to a beetle. See the brown legs? They will start to wiggle more, then they will 'hatch'. This generally takes about a week.



New born beetle, when they hatch i leave them for a day or two to 'harden' up, otherwise i have noticed their wings get munched on in the large breeding group!





New - ish beetles will be light brown, these are in with the mealworms.



Adult beetles, you will see these breeding! All they do is run, breed and eat!!



After a while you will see babies, they are TINY and i mean small, a few mm... i couldnt take a pic of them!! TOOO tiny, but here is a half a cm one...



I just leave them too it... and yea... i hope that helps, thank you for looking, and any other questions, just ask!!

[ferretlad]

Do they need any form of heat to breed.

[freekygeeky]

they die if they get too hot, and go in some sort of hibernnation when cold, mine are at room temp and seem to do fine

Originally Posted by ferretlad

Do they need any form of heat to breed.

[Frilled13]

wow,good ghart. i have a succesful, mealworm farm myself

[chameleonpaul]

How long does it take for the babies to get to adult roughly ?
I heard it takes aaaaaggggggggeeeeeeeesssssssss.
Thanks lol

[freekygeeky]

Originally Posted by Frilled13

wow,good ghart. i have a succesful, mealworm farm myself

Originally Posted by chameleonpaul

How long does it take for the babies to get to adult roughly ?
I heard it takes aaaaaggggggggeeeeeeeesssssssss.
Thanks lol

i would guess at ages! but if you leave them too it give them food, then you will have a constant supply, once they have grown into an adutl... if that makes sense?

[hermanlover]

what do they eat if you dont mind me asking? may consider breeding these for my mice.

lee

[freekygeeky]

mine eat (they willl eat basically anything - inculding plastic bags...long story)

mine are fed on

tesco value oats (for porridge)
tesco value rice crispies
tesco value corn flakes
bannana skins (from my cresties)
tesco value bagged salad

good old tesco value eh?!

[JPReptiles]

What containers do you keep them in?
Can you post a pic so i can see what i will need?

John

[freekygeeky]

mine are in a plastic ontainer, like a lunch box, but i have a fish tank which i will be using soon, so i can do it on a hugeeeee scale i used to make enough babies... now i dont ... lol...

Originally Posted by Reptile world

What containers do you keep them in?
Can you post a pic so i can see what i will need?

John