MealWorm Question.

Gexie has NEVER eaten MealWorms for us but I finally figured out how to "trick" him into it. Gex likes soft white wax worms and he has learned to eat from our hands. Well I took a bigger MealWorm that was freshly shed so it was soft and white and he ate it!! It took him like 6 tries the first time though, he missed everytime and bite me, ouch! So everybody gets MealWorms lately. I bought 500 from Pet Co the other day when I was there and cleaned them out tonite restocking Gexies MealWorm dish. They smelled SO bad! Seriously, I have a headache and feel like sticking air freshener up my nose! Thats why I cleaned them out. I dumped them onto a paper plate and washed out their cup. I removed all the dead ones and anything else not edible and found all the ones in shed and peeled their skin off and gave them to Gexie. He just LOVES freshly shed buggies. So anyways even though I did clean everything out I would still like it to be cleaner. What is that stuff they put in with the MealWorms??? They look like shavings that they live in and eat. What is that and where can I find it??

Chances are it is Bran. You can also use Oats (as in Oatmeal - not flavored though) Get yourself a bigger container and put them in the Oats or Bran and add a piece of potato (carrot works too) for liquid for the mealies and you're good to go.

My Leos don't care for mealies either, but they will eat supers, go figure. They prefer crickets, and the occasional roach.

Do you keep your mealies in the fridge?

No I don't keep them in the fridge once they are home. I figure that these are cold blooded critters and I didn't want them eating chilled food. Half the time that seems to kill them to. (The bugs I mean.) I have the worst luck lately finding live WaxWorms out of the fridge from anywhere. I think I've wasted $15.00 bucks so far to get them home and then their dead. You could try what I did Cat, trick them. lol Gexies full grown now so every other day he still gets fat juicy crickets and then I just keep the Mealies in there for snacks but as it turns out I think he just uses them for entertainment, like there his t.v. or something. lmbo He will still take them out of my hand though.

Roaches I would like to do but check this out! My Fiancee is the big bug guy now but he HATES Roaches and refuses to go there yet. lol I told him, especially for his baby Spiders, when its winter and harder to find large food hes going to have to turn to Roaches but he just hasn't yet. Thank you SO much Dand. I actually have plain oatmeal and I will do that. I asked that for better quality food for the babies. I didn't think they liked stinky food!

I currently use Wheat Bran for my mealies. I just got my order of Pro Gut Load from Pro Geckos and I will be using that for my mealie bedding.

Mine eats them, but I don't think he enjoys them. He would much rather like my silkies. I use the gutload on www.cricketfood.com Awesome service and stuff.

Mealworm Care
Mealworms should be stored in a much colder environment than room temperature. Recommended temperature is 45-50ºF for housing mealworms. Average refrigerator temperature is usually sufficient and will greatly increase the amount of time mealworms can be kept. Mealworms should be kept in a plastic shoebox size container with two inches of bedding material. You can provide water for your mealworms by removing them from the refrigerator, allowing them to warm up for an hour and then placing thin slices of potatoes, fruits or Cricket Water on top of the bedding for them to consume. After a couple of hours remove the excess water source and return the container back to the refrigerator. They will not need much nourishment because the cooler temperatures keep them in a hibernated state.
Even though mealworms are kept in a slight state of hibernation they will still grow and shed their skin. Minor cleaning of shells is recommended and will keep the excess shells out of your pet’s environment. Taking care of your feeder insects will help keep them healthy and in turn will lead to a healthier pet.

I use a mixture of bran or oats and the gutload from Cody at Progeckos.com to house mine in......they keep for weeks, and never get smelly.

They were bought from the Pet Store, thats why they were smelly. I doubt Pet Co ever changes. I cleaned them out though, Thanks again Dand! Thats the one thing I have heard about is their metabolisms slowing down in the fridge.

Originally Posted by Leighanne

Thank you SO much Dand. I actually have plain oatmeal and I will do that. I asked that for better quality food for the babies. I didn't think they liked stinky food!

Kristin,

You're welcome. Glad to help.

My mealies and super worms are in Oats. I gut load them with a variety of foods to keep them healthy so that my critters remain healthy. Same goes for the 3 varieties of roaches and crickets I also feed to my Leos, Beardies, Skink, spiders, centipedes and scorpions. The healthier the food the better off the animals will be in the long run. (You are what you eat)

chicken feed mixed with oatmeal works well too! I keep mine at room temp in a plastic critter keeper and put fresh fruits, greens and veggies in a couple times a week, they are even reproducing! Same for Super worms...