Those mealworms again - help

[goblinsly]

Since you have a new phone....did you install the program associated with it ( like PC Suite for Nokia, etc. ) ? Otherwise it wont work.
My guys seem to be ok, i only check them every few days...Yeah small pupae are bad, cause they mostly dont survive and even if they do, they probably dont give as much "children". But ohwell...

 

[EnookiMacek]

There was no install program added..So I'm assuming that it is not needed..
This is the phone: http://www.esato.com/phones/Samsung-Galaxy+Xcover+GT-S5690-832
Btw: Did the mesh system work? I'm gonna give it a go sometime soon..

 

[goblinsly]

http://www.samsung.com/us/article/how-to-transfer-media-to-your-android-phone#Method

Here are instructions, under "method 2".

Havent tried the mesh system yet. Went to a few shops, got a few strange looks, didnt get the mesh i was looking for. Right now i barely have time to feed the critters, college exams coming..

 

[EnookiMacek]

Yes yes I know!! Still haven't posted the pictures ..It's a busy time..I'll post them after the two upcoming exams :wink: ..

But I have to say that I actually wasted a few batches..One container full of babies had to be destroyed because of the mold (I didn't like the health hazard in my bedroom, otherwise I would have waited them out to grow and transfer them into another bin).. And one container with my newest colony (+ the little mealies) had to be destroyed because I had a critter infestation going on in there..But I still have a well-sized colony and three containers full of mealies.. So yeah a word of advice - change the vegetables regularly and preheat the oats before putting anything in them..

But I am quite excited about trying out the mesh system (no more transferring by hand!!).
And I'm also thinking about getting a new mouth to feed

 

[goblinsly]

Yeah mold sucks, i recently had to throw away a small container of small superworms and eggs due to some malfunction in watering system ( well to be honest, it wasnt really a malfunction, it was a full scale disaster ).

I have an exam coming in the beginning of july, then i will have more time till beginning of september. Ahh college...

I still dont have the proper mesh. It has to be as big as possible ( talking about the holes ) but small enough to prevent mealworm bettles from going through it. Why as big as possible ? because that way its easier for small mealies to fall through and also its possible for some bigger mealies to fall through ( lets say some worm has been hiding for 3 months and is quite big. 1 wrong step and BAM, hes through the mesh :mrgreen: ). I have lots of ideas how to set up the bettles bin. There will be oats all around, pieces of bread, cartons, wood, watersource, place for veggys...and i will also put different cups inside, small cups filled with variety of substances. For instance in 1 will be flour, in 1 dirt, in 1 something else, soo incase someone doesnt want to lay in oatmeal, he can lay somewhere else. Its gonna be great, 5 star hotel for mealies !

 

[drstevo]

Sorry for the anomalous comment generally,
I have a few mealworms and looking to breed them. What is the best way to do this considering I only have about 50-70 of them? How long does it take for them to turn into beetles? and then again, what is the best substance to keep the mealworms in?

kind regards,
Stevo.

 

[EnookiMacek]

Hm...You will need a bit of luck to change that into a colony because they usually nibble on each other and you can miss a few pupae (that will then get eaten) and usually 1/5 of the pupae just die during the transformation :? ..But the best way I'd say would be to check on them regularly (twice a day maybe) and take out the pupae that you see.. The same goes for the pupa container.. Take the beetles out regularly or they will start eating the pupae..

I keep mine in oats.. But you do have some room to experiment on that topic.. For example: I heard that some keep them in baby food..Or just do a mix of something..

The important thing is to provide them with a source of water.. I just use vegetables.. Lots of them (but your best bet is to give them carrots - they have a lower risk of getting moldy than potatoes and still provide a good water source plus the beetles love them).. But change them regularly to avoid mold.

As mentioned in this topic you should also preheat the oats before putting in the mealies or beetles (of course first let the oats cool down before putting in anything).

The mealworms will turn into pupae randomly (some sooner, some later) but the pupae should take from 7 - 14 days to evolve into beetles.

Also: Don't forget to transfer the beetles every three weeks and don't forget to put veggies in the containers with the eggs..

Good luck! :wink:

 

[goblinsly]

Since you are a beginner i will make it simple ( oneeyedcat gave you perfect instructions though ). Keep the existing worms in lots of oats ( give them as much substrate as possible, soo they are less likely to atack eachother and pupae ). Everyday check for pupae and gently transfer them to a seperate container. Once they change into bettles transform them into a new container with fresh bedding ( oats, flour, dogfood, bread, mix it to ur liking ). One thing to notice is, give your bettles new vegs everyday. It seems that unlike worms who can survive without water for several months ( tested ! ), bettles die pretty fast without watersource ( they prolly use moisture for eggs, etc. ). Good luck !!

 

[EnookiMacek]

It's picture time finally!!

(this was actually my first batch )

And this was my attempt to show you how many of them there actually are but it failed miserably

And this is one of my smaller beetle colonies:

Sorry for the wait :roll: ..
Anyhow I've got three containers full of mealies (like the one on the picture).. And one colony that has to be transferred so make that four containers..On the first pic you can see that they started to pupate already but like I mentioned before I'm getting these really small pupae so I doubled the veg program and I think it stopped the pupae making a little bit..

I would have separated them to take the picture but as you can see I didn't mix the oats so separating them from the oats is quite difficult and time consuming..But I assure you that there are a lot more mealies in the oats ..

 

[goblinsly]

Well i be damned, i think your mealies live better then i do ! Very nice.
One of those days i will have to put my bettles into a fresh bedding, i think there is plenty of small worms in the old one.

 

[EnookiMacek]

Hey um I've been meaning to ask you some stuff about the supers..
I had 40 supers in cups and got 30 pupae out of it.. But for some odd reason 15 or so died over the past month..
So yeah now I'm left with 15 beetles..Ordered a new batch of supers so I can get the pupae going asap..

But I wanted to ask you: what is the minimum number of supers I should have pupate so that I can start a colony? (I have only one beardie and I have no intention of selling the supers at the moment so I don't need a lot of them)..

And also: Have you seen any of them mate? I never saw two mating but based on my experience with mealies I'd say they do mate but it's still weird I never saw it :| ..

Plus! : I'd love to see pics of your mealies and supers if you have time to post them ..

 

[goblinsly]

I had luck with supers in the past even when there were just 10 beetles. Infact, all supers i got right now have the same 10 parents ( well not the same, you know what i mean ... :mrgreen: ), and i have many supers. Supers are quite tricky. Sometimes they make tons of worms, another time they just dont do anything, or they and larvae just die. But yeah 10 is enough for a start, to practice andall. Cant say it would hurt to order another 100 or soo....maybe 10 is a bit low until you get a good colony going, beardos are quite hungry and many ppl use supers as staple or half staple. You will see, im not bald and i am not gray haired, but when i do get, i will lay half the blame on supers. But they are magnificent indeed !
I have seen them mate but that is only because i am a dirty naughty lurky pervert and keep staring at them. :lurk:

I will take some pics as soon as i can, currently i am renewing my apartment so in a week when its done i can begin studying for college exams in a beautiful environment.

 

[EnookiMacek]

I bought supers last week but I put only 20 into separate containers because the rest are still a bit small..And I'm not going to take my chances like I did the first time and half of my supers died before pupating :? ..

So now I've got exactly 8 beetles left since my first attempt :roll: ..Never saw them mate so I'm actually starting to doubt whether they actually are mating..But they seem to be enjoying themselves..They're very calm..I'm not used to beetles being that calm cause of my mealies..

 

[goblinsly]

Well its nice that they are calm, i guess. And as far as mating go, maybe they just have a problem with that gigantic female that is staring at them all the time. xD

 

[EnookiMacek]

That's mean!! XD

Plus I saw two mate five minutes after I posted that XD..