Q&A for How to Raise Mealworms

You might have too little food for all of them. You have to remember that all of the mealworms have to share the food. Try to see about how many you have then put in enough to feed 3/4 of them if they each had there own. The mealworms do not have a big stomach, but eating is mandatory to live.

Yes. The mealworms need to have small bits to nibble on. Otherwise, it's too hard for them to eat, the mealworms will not consume it before it rots.

Probably the remnants of the oatmeal. If it's dark-colored, it's either poop or dead skin.

It's normal to get a few larvae dying off along with the beetles. It's only a problem if none of your mealworms are thriving enough for harvest.

Yes, as long as you have a large enough population to have sufficient male and female worms.

Do not deny them food. If anything, the best thing to do is to gut load them right before you put them in to freeze dry. They give more nutrients this way.

That is a possibility. If you don't get the eggs out quickly enough, darkling beetles will eat their young. It also could be because they haven't been kept in proper conditions. Check the eggs for signs of munchie marks.

It depends on where you are keeping the worms. If it is a plastic container, it's safe to say you can keep them without a lid, as they can't grip the plastic.

They do eat bread -- and pretty much anything you give them. The black spots most likely means that they are getting ready to hatch.

Yes! My hermit crabs love mealworms. Just dry them or freeze them first so they can't burrow into the substrate.

They still survive and reproduce. They just may not reproduce as rapidly.

This depends on the humidity and temperature at which you keep your enclosure. Some worms shed more than others depending on how much they grow.

If their living space and food is smelly or rotten, or if they die, then yes. You can put a screen on top to make sure flies don't get in. (Get a screen small enough to block fruit flies.)

Typically, there is a system to drain the larva into a new container - but take them out immediately if they are together. You do not want them staying together for any amount of time, because the parents will eat their young.

You can buy them at any local pet store. Usually, you buy them in packs of fifty for two or three dollars.

They are white right when they hatch. As they dry out, they turn a dark black/brown color.

Some species are just naturally small in size. It depends on where you get them from.

If it doesn't move when you touch it.

Most hamsters like to eat mealworms. However, you should only feed three to four per week, as mealworms have high fat content.

Yes, definitely, just be sure to have a large enough container.

Your chickens will prefer them live, but you could use freeze-dried if you had to.

They are safe when in the larval stage. Check eBay and Amazon reviews on sellers that sell packaged meal worms snacks.

It will f you want more of them (they grow into beetles).

The mealworms could die from alcohol poisoning, as fermented apples contain alcohol.

Yes, they can be known to eat their own eggs.

You can use flavored oatmeal, plain is simply cheaper.

The eggs look small and white and are about as small as a grain of sand, so are hard to see.

They thrive better with a bed of cornmeal, oatmeal, or chicken feed. Fruit or veggies help with moisture, and they will eat apples, potatoes, carrots, and cucumbers.

They can, so it is best to cover any openings to their container.

If you take the beetle holding tub and drill the bottom of the unit with a 3/32" bit all over the entire bottom, about 1/2" in between each hole, the poop, eggs, and smaller bits of 'feed' will eventually fall through and can be relocated into separate bins. Remember to date the transfer on a piece of painter's tape so you know how long to expect to actually see any results. If the sifted parts are only a few days old and have built up in the holding bin, don't worry, just re-dump into the top bin and let them sort through the wheat bran again.