3 tier meal worm breeding method

How to breed meal worms using the 3 tier method

What you will need (every thing listed is inclueded in the kit i am selling on ebay)

The top trey is cut out and meshed so the beetle eggs will filter down into the lower trey. This stops the eggs from being eaten by the beetles.

1- secure 3 tier unit
2-mealworms
3-oats
4-tweezers
5-gloves

Setting up the tower
If you are not using one of the kits im selling on ebay you will need to cut out the bottom of the top trey and replace it with a strong mesh and use a glue gun to secure the mesh.

If you are using a kit just pour some oats in the top and middle treys for sub strait and food. also add a moisture source. This can be a vegetable or fruit like apple or tomato, you can also use bug gel.


Beetles go in the top draw

 Each female beetle will lay around 500 eggs! Eggs hatch after 4 to 10 days depending on temperature.

Mealworms in the middle

The mealworms will pupa within 3 weeks if given enoth food and warm temperature.

Pupa at the bottom

Pupa will take around 5 to 10 days to complete metamorphosis and become a beetle!.

Now your set up is ready. When you have enoth beetles laying you will have mealworms in no time. They are very hard to spot when just hatched but can be seen with the naked eye. They will grow very fast when fed a good diet.

This set up and easily supply all the mealworms 1 to 3 bearded dragons need.

You can also selectively breed your own type of mealworm beetles as is is not uncommon to get a beetle that's extra large or small or differently coloured.

You can alternatively rotate the middle and bottom trays every 2 weeks for more mealworms! Just keep the pupa in another container till they hatch.

Guide on how to easily pupae morio worms (Zophobas Morio) (Lots of beetles)

Zophobas Morio

Intro

To get Zophobas morio larva known as superworms or morio worms to pupae, They have to be separated from each other before they begin the process. They also have to be at least 2 months old.

The process takes around 3-4 weeks to complete metamorphosis from adult larva to beetle once separated.

Below is a cheap and easy way to do it.

What you will need

1-Tape (any tape will do)

2-tweezers (optinal)

3-plant seeding trey (must be deep) 

4-adult morio worms.

The process

The holes must be patched on the inside and taped over on the outside both longways and width ways to secure the planting tray.

 Put each worm in there own pod. Feeding is not needed as they have all the energy they need to complete metamorphosis at this size.

When done each worm should be secure in its own pod. i have only done 8 but it is very easy to scale up this system to produce 100s or more!

After 5 days

some of the worms are starting to curl up, this is how we know its ready to pupa and will look like a white alien in a few more days.

2 Weeks 

The worms will be mostly pupa.

they darken and there legs and eyes become highlighted as they near the beetle stage of there life cycle.

When they have pupated they have to be put in a more secure container as beetles might be able to climb out of your trey! 

3 weeks+

Your beetles will start hatching.

They will be light colored for a week or so before turning black.

Mealworm diet (what do mealworms eat) (mealworm diet)

DIET
The diet of a mealworm beetle is wide and varied and they are not fussy eaters requiring a specific diet. Darkling beetle and mealworm diet can be broken down in to 3 sections. Carbohydrates protein and moisture.

Carbohydrates- Bread oats and nuts are recommended as the main source of carbs for the insects. They should also be fed vegetables for extra carbs and micro nutrients.

Protein- The most overlooked part of any insect diet is protein. Many insect keepers make the mistake of giving no protein source whatsoever, this mistake leads to cannibalism and egg eating as well as less egg production and laying.
I would recommend dry or wet cat or dog food. If the food is dry it will need to be crushed first. You can also use nuts, soybeans and or milk powder.

Moisture- Insects can get all of there moisture from vegetables. I would recommend cucumber as the best source for this but almost every vegetable can be used but you should avoid citrus and acidic fruits. You could also mist to keep the insects more healthy. Bug gel could also be used but can be expensive. Bug gel will eliminate food moulding.

Mealworm and darkling beetle life cycle

LIFE CYCLE
The Tenebrio molitor beetle has 4 life cycle stages. The time spent in the egg, larva and pupa can vary widely depending to diet humidity and temperature.

Egg- The egg stage lasts between 4 and 20 days. If the eggs are kept in the fridge or at temperatures below 10c the eggs will remain dormant and will not develop until temperatures rise.

Larva- 4 weeks or longer. The larva stage is the longest stage of the beetles life cycle. The time spent in this stage is mainly dependent on diet and temperature. The larva are known as mealworms.

Pupa- Pupa look like white aliens and are immobile while they complete metamorphous. The pupa can wriggle. It can take as little as 6 days for pupa to hatch into beetles depending on temperature and the diet they ate in the larva stage. Pupa should9 be removed from larva and beetles to avoid being eaten.

Beetle- The beetle stage can last up to 8 weeks and not much longer. The beetles sole concern is eating and mating. They are most active at night. Each female beetle can lay serval 100 eggs in over the 8 weeks they live.