Starting a mealworm farm was soooo easy. Now i sell mealworms to my buddies with chickens. Originally it was just to have free food for my leopard geckos. Now it's a whole side hustle.
So easy that when I released a few in my lizards tank, they dug into the damn styrofoam I had on the bottom of his tank and have survived for months under the styrofoam layer eating nothing but moss and styrofoam I didn't even intend to start a colony, it was entirely inadvertent and I never realized that these little guys can consume just about anything! I wonder if their bodies can break down microplastics and clean up our mess... I'm starting to think that alternating the species into my crop soil every 3-4 years to purify the soil of unwanted micros is feasible!? I think I've discovered another use for the little buggers that might have a huge positive impact on the environment!
Thank you for this clear video! I was overthinking on how to design a tub that can separate adults from babies but thanks for assuring us we don’t need to overthink! Glad to know they lay tons of eggs that will more than replace any worms the beetles cannibalize hehe
This time a month ago I never thought I'd find myself searching "breeding mealworms" yet here I am 😂 I bought mealworm online for my garden birds, the birds loved them so I bought some more, and some more and yup, some more! So I had the idea of breeding and ended up on your video. Wish me luck, I'm gonna give this a go 😳 not sure how I'm gonna deal with the beatles, cross that bridge if I ever get to it. Thanks for the amazing advice
If you put the worms in a freezer, it slows down their metabolism. Basically, they'll stay worms for longer (not an expert tho, but i wish you luck and hope it helps!)
@@pandoamessi4079 thanks for the advice 😊 I go thru so many mealies they don't live long enough to go into the fridge which was the main reason why I decided to allow the last order of mealies to turn into beetles. All of my mealies are now a colony of happy, humping beetles 😅 I might just end up with a big enough supply where I can fridge them. Very interesting hobbie the entire process has amazed me. Who knew keeping bugs could be so much fun ❤
I'm so grateful for your videos! For a very long time I've been dreaming about keeping tarantulas, but I realise it will unlikely to happen due to the work required to keeping the live feed. I'll be checking your roaches video, though it would be the least appealing choice for me. These guides are super cool though, and I can see how easy it is. Maybe if I had many tarantulas it would be worth the effort of keeping live feed. Thank you for your work, I appreciate it!
This is a very good tutorial in my county there is no dedicated bait shop come fishing season stores like Walmart in the nearby state parks have limited stock and it seems they are always out of this thing or the other. I’m thinking I’ll have an interesting side gig come spring, I bought the last two or three containers at my nearby Walmart and they are still breeding to this day so I had to call a lot of my storage system!
I feed the robins and mocking birds in my back yard. They have their own bowl they can grab them out of. And if I'm outside, I keep a container of them so when they fly down and “ask” ( chirp at me or walk up to me ) for some I have some to throw on the patio for them to eat.
You are a beautiful man! I am up to my neck in work- too many animals, and feeling burned out. I got a shipment of Vermont meal worms ahead of schedule. Their arrival was another wrench in my cog. But I think I got this❤
great video, thank you!! I am just now starting to get beetles in the last couple weeks but wasn't sure why I had so many dead pupae. I just moved all the pupae into my beetle box and am hopeful for more success going forward! My ducks thank you :)
Straight to the point and relevant information! Nice video! 👍 I'll do a mealworms farm to feed my razorback turtle. Is it safe to feed my turtle with the beetles?
Update!! 3 months after comimg across your video and copying your set up all my mealworms are now a happy colony of beetles who are breeding away like their lives depend on it. Haven't come across any mealworm babies but I know eventually they will start appearing. Just about to switch the colony into a new container and leave the eggs to hatch and grow. The only issue I came across with the beetles was feeding them carrot, there must've been a strong pesticide used as after washing and peeling a day after feeding them I found loads of beetles unable to walk, twitching just generally acting odd before dying so I switched to frozen veg which seems to have done the trick. Many thanks for the simple yet effective video showing how to start a colony, I've become super fond of my 6 legged critters who knew beetles could be so interesting and cool. Thanks again for the advice ❤
Thank you for actually telling me what they eat. I kept watching videos and people were trying to get me to buy their special made food. I am trying to figure out how to feed them for either very cheap or free with free being the main goal.
My main issue is that the carrots still make thr oats mold even when i have really good ventilation. Im having to completely replace the oats every 4 to 6 weeks since part of them mold and the rest stale and get hard.
I've mixed vermiculite with my oats to help prevent excess moisture, lmk if this is a bad idea, also a small fan or breeze can help influence ventilation. It may be getting stagnant.
Thanks dude! I have a dubia colony for my critters and wanna try mealworms again to have another consistent staple always on hand. The first time I didn't know I was supposed to separate them WOOPS! 😅 I'm an overthinker so you saved me a mental spiral or 10 🙏
Thank you. I started raising poultry for the first time this year, ducks in fact. They love mealworms, but it's costing £10 per week on those alone (plus other feed), and I want them to breed more females (currently mostly males) as from next Spring. So I started to wonder if it was possible to raise my own mealworms. Actually sounds very likely. I suppose I could replace some of the oatmeal with wild grass seed? Trying to keep costs down as much as possible.
not wanting to "necro" this video's chat, but do you need to frequently clean out the oatmeal / bran substrate? Or can you just keep reusing it (if it didn't get wet from like orange juice)?
I’m weird, I know, but I’m considering keeping some mealworms as pets, and so I’m planning to create a naturalistic environment for them. A few questions: (1) Do you think a dry sand substrate would work well for them (or maybe moist potting soil?) ... and have a separate feeding area/dish? (2) some people mention that smell is an issue. How often would you recommend cleaning to reduce smell? (3) How long do the adult beetles live, approx.? BONUS QUESTION: I’m thinking of starting with a very small population ... what do you think of the following names for my mealworms (baby pet beetles): George, Paul, John, and Ringo? 😃
That sounds awesome! I feel like my roach colonies are my pets at this point. Names are great. Beatles is a good band haha. Now smell only occurs from old substrate they don’t smell themselves really. You could use a special mix substrate I think sand alone wouldn’t be good. Peat mixed with play sand at 70/30 ratio would be good.
What is the best way to keep them warm enough if you don’t have a reptile room and just a normal 70 degree house. I want to farm them for my chickens. Can a heat lamp or maybe a chicken brooder heater work? Or will they still breed in normal house temps?
How long do the mealworms last if they aren't refrigerated? Keeping them cool keeps them in their mealworm state so they last longer and don't pupate. Do you transfer them to a fridge at all or I guess you have enough reptiles to feed so you don't have to
Hi chief I have actually started with 100 mealworms Should i feed the mealworms before they turn into pupae Or should i not feed the mealworms until they turn into puape and after that when they emerge as darklings bettles then feed the beetles ?
Im scared of insects… and as soon as i saw that they evolve into beetles, i dont think its an option for me anymore 😂 theres a pupa thingy in my container from petco im getting rid of that immediately
Im getting a leopard gecko soon and im planning on breeding so I don't have to constantly rebuy mealworms, how much do I need to buy at the beginning? I know you said 500 but is that too much for one? And how long do they take to start laying eggs? Great video btw thank you
Forgot to ask you a question. I have a few Anoles hanging around my deck. How many mealworms will one of these guy's eat and how often do they require feeding. lol. We also have blue striped skink's here as well. Thank you from Greenville, NC
If u use a 3 layer plastic shelf,beetles on top cut rectangle and hot glue screen. Eggs fall to next bin with mealworms then hand pick larva ,place in bottom bin. New beetles are white then brown then turn black..place into top container.
May I ask what is the material u used to mesh the middle drawer.. I keep looking for the exact thing at stores with mo luck.. I just want to make sure I have suitable holes.
FTR, ideal 'conditions' for mealworm farming is really important for fast growth and premier breeding conditions. 74 deg. to 81 deg. w/ approximately 40% to 50% humidity levels is ideal, out of direct sunlight. Will they breed in 'not so perfect' conditions? Yes, 100% absolutely! Nearly as good / fast? Not even close. A lot of people get caught up in mealworms only being for birds, fish, reptiles... I dry mine out, add them to salad, energy bars, blend as an added ingredient. Mealworms is one of the best things in the world to consume, believe it or not. Extremely high source of protein and an excellent healthy fat source. Want a badass energy bar? I should patent my recipe :)
I’m looking into getting a bearded dragon. But we also have some chickens. How fast do they lay eggs and how fast do the eggs hatch? Cause I’m worried I may get too many. I don’t know many people who need the meal worms for any other pets.
Great video. I have had my mealworm farm for about a year and I’ve spent time cleaning what I believe was Pooh from my original mealworms. Using unprocessed bran as a medium I would sift the Pooh that the bran and worms would not fall through. You didn’t mention it as a requirement. Do I stop doing this. Now that my farm is established I’m worried it will be eggs that I sift out.
After I sift a bin, I keep the frass for a couple months. I sift it every couple weeks and have always found tiny worms. Just keep sifting until you don't have any more worms. I don't know if it is neccassary, but I leave a handfull of oats and a carrot or stalk of celery. You can sell the frass or use it in your garden as a fertilizer (NPk222) Don't forget to where a mask. Some people develop allergies from the dust.
I started a mealworm farm a couple months ago. Mealworms are turning to pupae, pupae are turning to beatles, but have had no eggs hatching; beatles container has a mesh screen bottom so eggs fall into separate container with cornmeal, but I've yet to see any little mealworms mealworms...any ideas?
It does take a while for the eggs to hatch they will be super tiny as well. Once you have beetles pretty much will be a month or two before you see baby worms
Is using oat meal a must? I normally buy mealworms for my leopard gecko but I’m debating breeding them for a little side hustle. I’ve just been using a soil kinda thing for my current mealworms is that okay to use?
OMG you're the best!!! What if we just want to occasionally bring some home from Petsmart? Can you pls make a video on how to store and care for those? I was told to put them in the fridge again so they remain "dormant". Can you please make a video on this option? How/when would these be "gut-loaded"?
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Thank you! I've been binge-watching all your videos. Best channel to learn how to care for bearded dragons. I just recently got a baby bearded dragon and want to give him the best life possible!
I’ve got loads of pupae that I’ve transferred to another tub but they don’t get to the beetle stage they just go dark brown and black and die! But I gut load the worms before they turn to the pupae
When you say replace the food every 2-3 days do you mean just add new food? Or do you have to separate the worms from the food? And replace it with new food?
Yeah I’m trying to slow down it’s hard because I spoke like this all my life didn’t think to change till I started making videos haha. But I will get better
I've heard they have wings which are used as a mating ritual, if the enclosure gets too crowded and they can't get food they use the wings to jump and not fly. I may be wrong though!
I'm having trouble with mites in my meal worm bins. Have you had any issues or ideas on how to get rid of them? I used oats as the base and baked it in the oven first to ensure it was mite free to start with but eventually the mites showed up.
I put a bead of vaseline about an inch from the inner top. I sprinkled organic green pea flour in the substrate. The green or yellow pea flour kills the newly hatched mites and the adults get stuck in the vaseline. Voila! No more mites
Hi, I have very small baby mealworms. I got all the beetles out of the container. What vegetables do you feed the babies with? I think carrots are too hard for them, they are very tiny
So how do you change the oat substrate when there are tons of mealworms in there? Do you just pick the bigger ones out of the bin and throw the rest away?
Now that is a great question and usually I have a sifter like screen mesh kitchen strainer and just pour it through that and it will catch most mealworms and all the oats usually go through the sifter
I got started on my own mealworm farm a month ago for my gecko and im gonna grow them to adult beetles. Unfortunately i didnt have any oatmeal. So i came up with an idea to Crush a loaf of bread into coarse pieces as substrate.
Thank you for the video. Honestly i was overthinking it. I did seperste the pupaes from mealworm and adults. I accidently squished an egg trying to tranfer adults to bigger bin😂. They are all ruthless cannabals..some adult bettles were eaten. Im starting small. 15-30 adult bettles and puppaes each. Mixed two diffrent mealworms from diffrent areas. Im breeding for my future 200+ Jumping spider slings and 6 adult Jumpers atm.
I want to ask if the oatmeal needs to be in the blender, or it's not so important, because when i put the blendered oatmeal there is something like dust and it sticks onto the worm's body and is this a problem like they can't breathe or something else.
I was told that oatmeal has micro mites that eat the bugs that come out of grains, and those will eat and kill the mealworms.. aren’t we supposed to heat the oatmeal in the toaster oven for a while to kill those mites and any bug eggs in the grain?
❤❤ i love your videos please pin this you are the best keep making videos you are the best🎉
Thank you very much 😁
This might be a stupid question but will flavored oatmeal work
Starting a mealworm farm was soooo easy. Now i sell mealworms to my buddies with chickens. Originally it was just to have free food for my leopard geckos. Now it's a whole side hustle.
That’s what I love to hear! Yup it’s very easy and you can definitely make it a side hustle congrats on your success!
What's the going rate for live mealworms?
So easy that when I released a few in my lizards tank, they dug into the damn styrofoam I had on the bottom of his tank and have survived for months under the styrofoam layer eating nothing but moss and styrofoam I didn't even intend to start a colony, it was entirely inadvertent and I never realized that these little guys can consume just about anything! I wonder if their bodies can break down microplastics and clean up our mess... I'm starting to think that alternating the species into my crop soil every 3-4 years to purify the soil of unwanted micros is feasible!? I think I've discovered another use for the little buggers that might have a huge positive impact on the environment!
@@CriminalonCrimeit might be dangerous for your gecko to eat worms with styrofoam in them, just make sure it’s safe 😀👍
@@ChiefSweetsUniverseis it possible to spend no money on food for an leopard gecko if I breed multiple type of insects?
Thank you for a short, simple and non babaling video. This was great information and easy to understand
I’m glad you enjoyed thank you
Thank you for this clear video! I was overthinking on how to design a tub that can separate adults from babies but thanks for assuring us we don’t need to overthink! Glad to know they lay tons of eggs that will more than replace any worms the beetles cannibalize hehe
This time a month ago I never thought I'd find myself searching "breeding mealworms" yet here I am 😂 I bought mealworm online for my garden birds, the birds loved them so I bought some more, and some more and yup, some more! So I had the idea of breeding and ended up on your video. Wish me luck, I'm gonna give this a go 😳 not sure how I'm gonna deal with the beatles, cross that bridge if I ever get to it. Thanks for the amazing advice
If you put the worms in a freezer, it slows down their metabolism. Basically, they'll stay worms for longer (not an expert tho, but i wish you luck and hope it helps!)
@@pandoamessi4079 thanks for the advice 😊 I go thru so many mealies they don't live long enough to go into the fridge which was the main reason why I decided to allow the last order of mealies to turn into beetles. All of my mealies are now a colony of happy, humping beetles 😅 I might just end up with a big enough supply where I can fridge them. Very interesting hobbie the entire process has amazed me. Who knew keeping bugs could be so much fun ❤
Thank you so much for teaching me how to make a mealworm farm! I feed them to my jumping spider Pumpkin!!🙏🧡
Happy to help
I'm so grateful for your videos! For a very long time I've been dreaming about keeping tarantulas, but I realise it will unlikely to happen due to the work required to keeping the live feed. I'll be checking your roaches video, though it would be the least appealing choice for me. These guides are super cool though, and I can see how easy it is. Maybe if I had many tarantulas it would be worth the effort of keeping live feed. Thank you for your work, I appreciate it!
Happy to help!
Bro, thank you. Made my life a hell of a lot easier after watching this 😊
Happy to help!
So basically once you see the mealworms in the "beetle bin" you transfer them to the mealworm container and vice versa with the pupae. Great info 😊
Yes and the pupae is really the only thing that you have to take care of. Cause the worms and the beetles will eat those
@@ChiefSweetsUniversebeing the middle child sure is difficult
This is a very good tutorial in my county there is no dedicated bait shop come fishing season stores like Walmart in the nearby state parks have limited stock and it seems they are always out of this thing or the other. I’m thinking I’ll have an interesting side gig come spring, I bought the last two or three containers at my nearby Walmart and they are still breeding to this day so I had to call a lot of my storage system!
I feed the robins and mocking birds in my back yard. They have their own bowl they can grab them out of. And if I'm outside, I keep a container of them so when they fly down and “ask” ( chirp at me or walk up to me ) for some I have some to throw on the patio for them to eat.
This is exactly what I was looking for. Your videos are so helpful. Thank you very much.
Happy to help
Thank you ! Helps more than you know when it comes to fathering reptiles on a budget
Happy to help
Going to save this video, just got my supplies and this was much easier and clearly than some of the longer videos! Great job explaining.
Happy to help!
You are a beautiful man! I am up to my neck in work- too many animals, and feeling burned out. I got a shipment of Vermont meal worms ahead of schedule. Their arrival was another wrench in my cog. But I think I got this❤
great video, thank you!! I am just now starting to get beetles in the last couple weeks but wasn't sure why I had so many dead pupae. I just moved all the pupae into my beetle box and am hopeful for more success going forward! My ducks thank you :)
Happy to help! Yes the worms will eat those pupae fast!
Straight to the point and relevant information! Nice video! 👍
I'll do a mealworms farm to feed my razorback turtle. Is it safe to feed my turtle with the beetles?
Thank you I appreciate it. You can but as a occasional treat.
Update!!
3 months after comimg across your video and copying your set up all my mealworms are now a happy colony of beetles who are breeding away like their lives depend on it. Haven't come across any mealworm babies but I know eventually they will start appearing. Just about to switch the colony into a new container and leave the eggs to hatch and grow. The only issue I came across with the beetles was feeding them carrot, there must've been a strong pesticide used as after washing and peeling a day after feeding them I found loads of beetles unable to walk, twitching just generally acting odd before dying so I switched to frozen veg which seems to have done the trick.
Many thanks for the simple yet effective video showing how to start a colony, I've become super fond of my 6 legged critters who knew beetles could be so interesting and cool. Thanks again for the advice ❤
how long does it take for the beetles to mate and lay eggs?
and then for the eggs to hatch and have baby mealworms?
curious, just starting out.
Thank you for actually telling me what they eat. I kept watching videos and people were trying to get me to buy their special made food. I am trying to figure out how to feed them for either very cheap or free with free being the main goal.
Great way to always have bait for fishing 👍
That too!
Dude. Thank you. Meal worm madness.
Happy to help
My main issue is that the carrots still make thr oats mold even when i have really good ventilation. Im having to completely replace the oats every 4 to 6 weeks since part of them mold and the rest stale and get hard.
Use whole carrots. They don’t have the juicy outside. I only have to replace oats like once a year.
I've mixed vermiculite with my oats to help prevent excess moisture, lmk if this is a bad idea, also a small fan or breeze can help influence ventilation. It may be getting stagnant.
I use a small temp/humidity sensor that monitors this. Govee makes a decent one and can give you daily to monthly readings on the app
Sounds like you live in high humidity or need more ventilation to both.
Put your food items on the egg carton. Keep them out of the substrate and it won't mold.
Thanks dude! I have a dubia colony for my critters and wanna try mealworms again to have another consistent staple always on hand. The first time I didn't know I was supposed to separate them WOOPS! 😅 I'm an overthinker so you saved me a mental spiral or 10 🙏
Happy to help! Yeah definitely seperate the pupae and you will be golden
You're awesome. Always appreciate your help.
Thank you happy to help
Celery is really good for the food too
You are so encouraging buddy! Thanks man
Very helpful tutorial for my ants food. Thanks!
Happy to help
Hey man just wondering if I should be concerned about inbreeding I just started a cricket colony and now want to start a mealworm colony
I haven’t really ran into that issue but you can get new breeders once a year
thx man @@ChiefSweetsUniverse 👍
Thank you.
I started raising poultry for the first time this year, ducks in fact. They love mealworms, but it's costing £10 per week on those alone (plus other feed), and I want them to breed more females (currently mostly males) as from next Spring.
So I started to wonder if it was possible to raise my own mealworms. Actually sounds very likely.
I suppose I could replace some of the oatmeal with wild grass seed? Trying to keep costs down as much as possible.
Thanks I started breeding meal worms and I keep them as pets there cool to look at
They are pretty neat
Fantastic video! Thanks--Greetings from Greenville, NC.
Thank you!
not wanting to "necro" this video's chat, but do you need to frequently clean out the oatmeal / bran substrate? Or can you just keep reusing it (if it didn't get wet from like orange juice)?
Yeah you can change it out every 6 months forgot to mention that
I’m weird, I know, but I’m considering keeping some mealworms as pets, and so I’m planning to create a naturalistic environment for them. A few questions: (1) Do you think a dry sand substrate would work well for them (or maybe moist potting soil?) ... and have a separate feeding area/dish? (2) some people mention that smell is an issue. How often would you recommend cleaning to reduce smell? (3) How long do the adult beetles live, approx.? BONUS QUESTION: I’m thinking of starting with a very small population ... what do you think of the following names for my mealworms (baby pet beetles): George, Paul, John, and Ringo? 😃
That sounds awesome! I feel like my roach colonies are my pets at this point. Names are great. Beatles is a good band haha. Now smell only occurs from old substrate they don’t smell themselves really. You could use a special mix substrate I think sand alone wouldn’t be good. Peat mixed with play sand at 70/30 ratio would be good.
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Great, thanks! I’ll try that. 😄
What is the best way to keep them warm enough if you don’t have a reptile room and just a normal 70 degree house. I want to farm them for my chickens. Can a heat lamp or maybe a chicken brooder heater work? Or will they still breed in normal house temps?
Do pupa need fruit in their container? Or any moisture like spray from a spray bottle?
I started doing this but there orange beetles cause they just came out of the tub! What do I do with them still put them in the bucket?
How long do the mealworms last if they aren't refrigerated? Keeping them cool keeps them in their mealworm state so they last longer and don't pupate. Do you transfer them to a fridge at all or I guess you have enough reptiles to feed so you don't have to
They last pretty long in the mealworm state I’d say about a maybe two months. I don’t refrigerate any of mine
Very helpful video! Thank you!
Happy to help!
u too cute to be out here making maggot 💀
Hi chief
I have actually started with 100 mealworms
Should i feed the mealworms before they turn into pupae
Or should i not feed the mealworms until they turn into puape and after that when they emerge as darklings bettles then feed the beetles ?
hahah it's like "do it and that's it, duh" and it really is like that. I'm excited.
Great video! I have whole oats. It looks like a big grain of rice. Will that be good for bedding?
How do I separate the beetles? I also noticed that you had some beetles in the same bucket as worms?
Im scared of insects… and as soon as i saw that they evolve into beetles, i dont think its an option for me anymore 😂 theres a pupa thingy in my container from petco im getting rid of that immediately
What's the timeline from worm to pupae to beetle to egg back to worm?
That’s a good question mine will take about two months.
Can you use millworms casting ths same way you use worm casting for isopods ?
Ye
Thanks for the info brother! I started my farm !
Let’s go!
Cool vid,what temperature to make the pupae at?
How much is the depth of the substrate
New sub! Looking to start work farm for my chickens
Im getting a leopard gecko soon and im planning on breeding so I don't have to constantly rebuy mealworms, how much do I need to buy at the beginning? I know you said 500 but is that too much for one? And how long do they take to start laying eggs? Great video btw thank you
thank you thank you thank you!!!!! your video was awesome!!!
Your welcome happy to help
So one bin for beetles and one for worms and pupa?
Do the bins ever get placed in the fridge? or left at room temperature? Thanks!
Does it matter if the have light or dark?
They do like it darker
Can you eat the beetles aswell?
You’re not meant to eat either-
@@OlivatorXL Could you please elaborate as to why? I've heard the worms are healthy and in my opinion they taste alright.
@@winterbirdwb8554 are you talking about humans eating them?
@@OlivatorXL Yes.
@@winterbirdwb8554 what that’s weird man they’re meant for animals…
Forgot to ask you a question. I have a few Anoles hanging around my deck. How many mealworms will one of these guy's eat and how often do they require feeding. lol. We also have blue striped skink's here as well.
Thank you from Greenville, NC
So do the beetles go to the bottom of the container to lay the eggs ?Im confused on where they lay them
Yes they lay them on the bottom
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse thanks
If u use a 3 layer plastic shelf,beetles on top cut rectangle and hot glue screen. Eggs fall to next bin with mealworms then hand pick larva ,place in bottom bin. New beetles are white then brown then turn black..place into top container.
the eggs vaporise, you breathe them in, and they hatch in your lungs
@@cvspvr good to know lol
May I ask what is the material u used to mesh the middle drawer.. I keep looking for the exact thing at stores with mo luck.. I just want to make sure I have suitable holes.
Sorry my bad it’s aluminum screen you can find it at Home Depot or lowes for windows
What is the substrate depth needed ?
2-3 inches
FTR, ideal 'conditions' for mealworm farming is really important for fast growth and premier breeding conditions.
74 deg. to 81 deg. w/ approximately 40% to 50% humidity levels is ideal, out of direct sunlight.
Will they breed in 'not so perfect' conditions? Yes, 100% absolutely! Nearly as good / fast? Not even close.
A lot of people get caught up in mealworms only being for birds, fish, reptiles...
I dry mine out, add them to salad, energy bars, blend as an added ingredient.
Mealworms is one of the best things in the world to consume, believe it or not.
Extremely high source of protein and an excellent healthy fat source.
Want a badass energy bar? I should patent my recipe :)
Can you use wheat bran as bedding?
Oh yeah that works
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Great content! Easy to understand and to the point 👍
Thanks for the advice
Happy to help
I’m looking into getting a bearded dragon. But we also have some chickens. How fast do they lay eggs and how fast do the eggs hatch? Cause I’m worried I may get too many. I don’t know many people who need the meal worms for any other pets.
bro your videos are so dam helpful
Thank you that means a lot
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse no orovlamjsnszk problem
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse how treat tail rot
Bro your the best :)
I found a gecko in a Ross on a Halloween costume so this is very helpful for my gecko distribution system journey
Happy to help!
Great video. I have had my mealworm farm for about a year and I’ve spent time cleaning what I believe was Pooh from my original mealworms. Using unprocessed bran as a medium I would sift the Pooh that the bran and worms would not fall through. You didn’t mention it as a requirement. Do I stop doing this. Now that my farm is established I’m worried it will be eggs that I sift out.
After I sift a bin, I keep the frass for a couple months. I sift it every couple weeks and have always found tiny worms. Just keep sifting until you don't have any more worms. I don't know if it is neccassary, but I leave a handfull of oats and a carrot or stalk of celery. You can sell the frass or use it in your garden as a fertilizer (NPk222) Don't forget to where a mask. Some people develop allergies from the dust.
I started a mealworm farm a couple months ago. Mealworms are turning to pupae, pupae are turning to beatles, but have had no eggs hatching; beatles container has a mesh screen bottom so eggs fall into separate container with cornmeal, but I've yet to see any little mealworms mealworms...any ideas?
It does take a while for the eggs to hatch they will be super tiny as well. Once you have beetles pretty much will be a month or two before you see baby worms
This is the most helpful video
oh these are my pets !!! 🥳📣🎂😉
😁
Is using oat meal a must? I normally buy mealworms for my leopard gecko but I’m debating breeding them for a little side hustle. I’ve just been using a soil kinda thing for my current mealworms is that okay to use?
Oh yeah that’s ok as well. You can use many different substrates.
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse thank you. appreciate the helpful video
OMG you're the best!!! What if we just want to occasionally bring some home from Petsmart? Can you pls make a video on how to store and care for those? I was told to put them in the fridge again so they remain "dormant". Can you please make a video on this option? How/when would these be "gut-loaded"?
Will do that’s a great idea!
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Thank you! I've been binge-watching all your videos. Best channel to learn how to care for bearded dragons. I just recently got a baby bearded dragon and want to give him the best life possible!
@@glorias.2930 happy to hear that glad I could help!
How often u have to change the oat meal?
About every 3-4 months
I’ve got loads of pupae that I’ve transferred to another tub but they don’t get to the beetle stage they just go dark brown and black and die! But I gut load the worms before they turn to the pupae
The pupae turns brown and then black before the beetle emerges. That's normal.
Can I start them with 100?
When you say replace the food every 2-3 days do you mean just add new food? Or do you have to separate the worms from the food? And replace it with new food?
Just the food like carrots for the worms
hi my question??????? is what do I feed them when I get them home from the pet shop thank you have a nice day 🌞 🧑🦳🦤🐟⚖️😁😷
I always have problems with white mites.
I don't know where they come from.
Interesting video, but it would be better if you spoke at a more normal speed. 00:35
Yeah I’m trying to slow down it’s hard because I spoke like this all my life didn’t think to change till I started making videos haha. But I will get better
Way to call yourself out nimrod
@@diemore ?
@@diemore I simply don't understand your comment
Wrong. I hate when people talk slow af. Most people speed up vids by .5 or so for this reason
fun fact: using crested gecko powder witha. small amount of water ( with bugs inside ) can actually cause baby mealworms to hatch after 2 days!
Do I have to bake the oatmeal? I’ve been reading online..
No I never have never had a issue however some people do to make sure they don’t get grain mites
Some say the beetles fly, some say they dont. Im unsure. Whats your experience with this?
I’ve never seen one fly at all.
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Im probably just paranoid, but what species are your mealworms? I've read that ceartain species can rarely fly.
I've heard they have wings which are used as a mating ritual, if the enclosure gets too crowded and they can't get food they use the wings to jump and not fly. I may be wrong though!
No wings to fly it's impossible
I'm having trouble with mites in my meal worm bins. Have you had any issues or ideas on how to get rid of them? I used oats as the base and baked it in the oven first to ensure it was mite free to start with but eventually the mites showed up.
I put a bead of vaseline about an inch from the inner top. I sprinkled organic green pea flour in the substrate. The green or yellow pea flour kills the newly hatched mites and the adults get stuck in the vaseline. Voila! No more mites
@@cathyhanley8658 thank you - I pretty much did exactly as you stated after researching the mites and it worked really well. They are all gone now!
They are so nasty. I'm glad you had success.@@shaunneal9981
What’s the mesh screen size (tiny holes) that you used so the eggs can fall thru. Please and thank you.
Just basic window screen. Idk the size because I believe all window screen for houses are the same size.
The beetles can be fed as well? I've tried offering the beetles before and my reptiles weren't interested in them
Yeah they can but that is true most reptiles are like na don’t want it. My uromastyx like them though haha
Hi, I have very small baby mealworms. I got all the beetles out of the container. What vegetables do you feed the babies with? I think carrots are too hard for them, they are very tiny
They eat the oatmeal. The carrots are just for hydration.
Thank you so much I just got my first bearded dragon named spike and he loves meal worms thankyou
Happy to help!
How long it take?
Nice videos so far easy to understand ,
Thank you! I’m not a teacher but I think I’m getting better at teaching the more I make videos 😁
So how do you change the oat substrate when there are tons of mealworms in there? Do you just pick the bigger ones out of the bin and throw the rest away?
Now that is a great question and usually I have a sifter like screen mesh kitchen strainer and just pour it through that and it will catch most mealworms and all the oats usually go through the sifter
thanks lots brother ❤ I like your speak so much
Thank you
I got started on my own mealworm farm a month ago for my gecko and im gonna grow them to adult beetles.
Unfortunately i didnt have any oatmeal. So i came up with an idea to Crush a loaf of bread into coarse pieces as substrate.
You could also use top soil from Home Depot
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse yeah infact one time i used water on frass and all of a sudden. It turned into soil before my very eyes
can you use corn meal as a container bedding??
Yes 100% but I’m not a fan of it just cause it’s way more dusty
So one the baby mealworms hatch in the beetle box you just move them over to the mealworm box?
Yeah you can you can just also leave them if you want. The pupae is really the only things you want to move.
Thank you for the video. Honestly i was overthinking it. I did seperste the pupaes from mealworm and adults. I accidently squished an egg trying to tranfer adults to bigger bin😂. They are all ruthless cannabals..some adult bettles were eaten. Im starting small. 15-30 adult bettles and puppaes each. Mixed two diffrent mealworms from diffrent areas. Im breeding for my future 200+ Jumping spider slings and 6 adult Jumpers atm.
Happy to help! No worries everyone overthinks it as well. Yeah you’ll definitely have enough food breeding the mealworms
I want to ask if the oatmeal needs to be in the blender, or it's not so important, because when i put the blendered oatmeal there is something like dust and it sticks onto the worm's body and is this a problem like they can't breathe or something else.
Not too fine, more chunky eh
I was told that oatmeal has micro mites that eat the bugs that come out of grains, and those will eat and kill the mealworms.. aren’t we supposed to heat the oatmeal in the toaster oven for a while to kill those mites and any bug eggs in the grain?
Grain mites are a thing but I’ve never ever had them
Can the beatles be fed to chickens or are the worms better for them?
Yeah they can the chickens might not like em as much but they do eat them
Is humidity important ... If so how to keep humidity up and not have them die with 80 degree heat?
Do they need light at all?
They do not. So you can keep them in the dark
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse
Thank you.