Hi
I know mealworms can be kept in the fridge but last time I bought some and kept them in the fridge I probably lost half of them because they turned black and died. Is the fridge too cold? I have a set up that bred me plenty for last season and I didn't need to refrigerate them but now I'm not feeding the for a couple of months I'd like to keep my excess for spring when I start my birds breeding diet again. Is there a temp the fridge needs to be at?
Cheers
Dazz
Mealworms in fridge
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E Orix
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- Posts: 2740
- Joined: 29 May 2009, 23:30
- Location: Howlong on NSW/Vic Border 30km from Albury
- Location: Howlong NSW
There are earlier posts re keeping Mealworms in a refrigerator.
As long as they do not freeze they can be refrigerated, BUT you need to follow some steps.
Just leaving them in a refrigerator they will just dehydrate and starve to death.
Store them in an air tight container with some bran. Every 10/14 days(approx.) you must remove them from
the refrigerator and put then in a slightly warmer place, remove the lid and put some carrot in with them and replace the lid.
Let them eat the carrot etc which will give them moisture and energy. They need about 4+ days.
After that make sure the lid is air tight and put them back in the refrigerator. This process can be repeated over and over,
you may have a couple die but there rest will be ready to be fed out.
All of the big breeders refrigerate them, it will also slow them down from Pupating
As long as they do not freeze they can be refrigerated, BUT you need to follow some steps.
Just leaving them in a refrigerator they will just dehydrate and starve to death.
Store them in an air tight container with some bran. Every 10/14 days(approx.) you must remove them from
the refrigerator and put then in a slightly warmer place, remove the lid and put some carrot in with them and replace the lid.
Let them eat the carrot etc which will give them moisture and energy. They need about 4+ days.
After that make sure the lid is air tight and put them back in the refrigerator. This process can be repeated over and over,
you may have a couple die but there rest will be ready to be fed out.
All of the big breeders refrigerate them, it will also slow them down from Pupating
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paintedfiretail
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- Posts: 86
- Joined: 18 Jun 2015, 16:18
- Location: canberra
dazzab wrote:Hi
I know mealworms can be kept in the fridge but last time I bought some and kept them in the fridge I probably lost half of them because they turned black and died. Is the fridge too cold? I have a set up that bred me plenty for last season and I didn't need to refrigerate them but now I'm not feeding the for a couple of months I'd like to keep my excess for spring when I start my birds breeding diet again. Is there a temp the fridge needs to be at?
Cheers
Dazz
Hi dazzab I run my fridge at 6 degrees c this is solely used for birds and in fridge compartment just have greens and mealworms ,you also might need to look at bringing them out of the fridge every 10 days or so for one day then putting them back, do not let the bran get too moist or fouled with mealworm castings. My containers lids have 2mm holes in them and a couple of layers of paper toweling to soak up any moisture. ps if you are using a family house fridge it is not recommended to go below 4 degrees c .
Hope this help in any way