Meal worms

[zig zag]

I'm interested also ---- where's a good place to get (order) them to start?

[BoarBuster]

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.

[fishingarkansas]

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!

[fishingarkansas]

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

[Bobo Greybeard]

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

[BSfisher]

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.

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:





Size comparison:



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

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.

[jim4065]

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.