MealWorms

12 Jul 2009, 19:55

Hey mick do you find the heating light to help with there cycle

12 Jul 2009, 20:12

seems to work well. keeps them real active. also helps to keep a bit of humidity in the containers.
lost a couple of colonies last winter due to the cold, fingers crossed it doesnt happen this year

12 Jul 2009, 20:25

at the moment i have got 4 colonies going. but i ight belooking at getting them in bulk soon so i can sell them with the automatic feeders i get also then use some for myself aswell

regalado95 · 13 Jul 2009, 02:40

Good Luck have my finger cross

21 Dec 2009, 08:48

I checked out the Pisces site as I was going to order some mini mealies,

order on the net, delivered to the house....great!

but they dont sell to the public, and I dont want to go through the rigmarole of registering as a business just to order mealworms.

21 Dec 2009, 11:58

I always keep a corner of my aviary floor covered in husks and leaf matter and have my watering system on auto during summer so the water overflows to the edge of there.
So I think they are breeding themselves with just a little assistance from me.

It works all year round in my climate.

Isn't life hard for some of us.
LML

21 Dec 2009, 13:58

bluebutterfly213 wrote:I checked out the Pisces site as I was going to order some mini mealies,
order on the net, delivered to the house....great!
but they dont sell to the public, and I dont want to go through the rigmarole of registering as a business just to order mealworms.

You dont know anyone who owns a shop do you.As i have no ABN but get mine sent to my wifes work,and pay by credit card.Also they may have said the minimun order is somthing like $75 bucks.Thats aroung 2 kilos of worms,WHich may last you a couple of months.

21 Dec 2009, 14:25

gomer wrote:Thats aroung 2 kilos of worms,WHich may last you a couple of months.

with only a pair of ruddies and a pair of orange breasts both of whom I have never seen eat any, 2 kg could last me 2 years!

21 Dec 2009, 15:46

the finch club here has a deal with Powells stockfeeds on large orders.

Hopefully the cordons will soon be satisfied... ;)

22 Dec 2009, 08:16

During the breeding season we breed and use inexcess of 5kg of MealWorms per week so we have to breed our own.
To breed that many is easy but it takes time and it's a bit of a pain.
If you only want a few then the best way is to breed them yourself.
For a smallish collection of 40 birds I would set up 5 or 6 colonies.
Buy the plastic lidded bins about 600mm x 400mm x 400mm(smaller if space is limited)Drill about 20+ 1/8th holes in the lid for ventilation
Put around 150mm of Bran then a piece of Hessian then another 100mm Bran and then two or three pieces of hessian (no bran)Then put your Worms or Beetles in and 60+ days young worms will appear.The top layers of hessian is where you collect the worms. The only food they require is carrot placed on top and this provides their total moisture.You can get away with less boxes but by having more you can rest the harvesting of the worms and rotate the boxes.
We seperate the eggs from the laying Beetles but for smaller quantities the above method would be fine.
Allyson from Bugs and Things (W.A) will freight to the eastern states for around $45 per KG
She has good quality clean Worms if you do not wish to breed your own.