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Meal worms are easy to raise. I raise mine in buckets that I modified and cut a hole in the lid and screened. I use wheat bran that I buy at the farm supply store to bed them in....this is also what they feed on. I give them a lettuce leaf once a week for their water. This keeps the bedding from gettin damp. I started out a few years ago with 30 mealworms that I bought to get started with. I do not buy bait anymore I raise my own.
What does a meal worm turn into?Or do they just stay meal worms?
They turn into a black beetle bug....the bugs lay eggs in the wheat bran and then they die.Quote:
Originally Posted by azslabber
I might have to get me some of them.Is there anything special that you have to do to them?Just leave them in the wheat bran and a little water,lettuce weekly,any clean up of the bin?
Fill the bucket half full of wheat bran.....add about 25 to 30 worms. Just toss in a lettuce leaf once a week. Every 6 months clean out the bucket as all of the waste material will be at the bottom....clean that out and put your old bran and worms back in and top off the bran. The worms will pupate and turn into a white coccon and then turn into bugs, lay eggs for more worms...then the bugs die and the whole process starts over.
Can you keep them inside the house?Here in Arizona NOTHING stays alive outside.I mean without any stink.I imagine not,but just don't want to be surprised.I found 100 large mealworms for $6.95.
I keep mine outside under a open shed during the summer and inside my shop in the winter.
I ordered some.If they end up stinkin the house up,I'll just use them up fishing.
Double post.
Word of advice: don't get the giant ones. If the ones you got are longer than 1", they won't work. They are the same species as a regular mealworm, Tenebrio molitar. The giant ones have been treated with a hormone that prevents them from turning into beetles. They will never become adults, and thus never reproduce. You want normal small mealworms.Quote:
Originally Posted by azslabber
If you want something bigger, try superworms, Zophobas morio. They take pretty much the same care as mealworms, with one major difference. Superworms are cannibalistic, so in order for them to turn into beetles, you will need to remove them from the container once they get big enough and put them in individual cups. The flat tackle boxes with compartments also work, as long as they have air holes. Otherwise the other superworms will eat them when they pupate. Once they change into beetles, they can be added back into the culture.
You can tell the difference just by looking at them. Mealworms are gold all over, superworms have a dark head and tail:
http://www.nyworms.com/images/mealworm4.jpg
http://www.nyworms.com/images/Superworm.JPG
Size comparison:
http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/NIN1885.jpg
Regular mealworms max out at about 1", superworms at 2". You can buy both from pet stores like Petco, where they are sold as food for pet lizards. Either way, they won't stink up your house unless the bedding gets too moist and gets moldy
Thanks shoemoo.Good info there.
how would you rate meal worms vs minnows for crappie?
Would definately rather have minnows. I raise the meal worms for bream fishing , but I have caught some crappie with them while I was bream fishing.Quote:
Originally Posted by dwaw
it'd be interesting to rig up with a meal worm on the bottom hook and a minnow on the top hook. i fish a narrow lake that has both crappie and gills with lots on blowdowns and beaver dams and steep banks.
Let us know how that works out.I'm interested
i will
What is the gestation time and how many new worms can I expect to see in that time? What is the time frame for maturity? Thanks for the info.
If you start now with say 100 mealworms it take about 3 months for a good supply so be patient I feed mine Banana peels twice a week. It's worth the wait..
Always wanted to do this now I think I am going to venture into it. This is informative.
going to give that a try
I'm interested also ---- where's a good place to get (order) them to start?
Glad to read the info. I have been looking to get into raising bait for a long time and it looks like this is going to be the year I do it.:fish
we raised them as well for a while and as soon as I have my shop built we are going to start raising them again they are very easy we used a magic bullet to grind up chicken feed to almost a powder and fed them and I bought my first batch from fluker farms which they sale them very cheap!
if anyone has any questions about raising them you can inbox me and I will be glad to help you in any way I can
I have been playing with raising a small batch of red worms the last few weeks. Well, tonight the wife tells me to use our empty raised flower beds on the back patio to start raising reds and European reds in. I think I may make a section for these little guys also. Thank you for the information. I will be inboxing you with some questions here in a few days. Thanks again, Bobo
on a farm i used to have i started with 100 super worms(when only 5 turned into beetles and only a few eggs came from them) and 50 normal meal worms. In the end when i started having bad dreams about Beatles and meal worms (I would find them crawling in my room out of their container) so i fed them to my chickens. They enjoyed them but i didn't see any or the super worms left.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shoemoo
I know that this makes me sound like an even bigger wuss, but do they bite fingers? As a child one of my fishin' buddies talked me into putting a 2" centipede on my hook - said they don't bite. I still remember it well.