Shipping Mealworms/Superworms question

Hello all,

I live in the Windy City (Chicago for those who don't know j/k). I have never bought mealworms or superworms online but am in the process of doing so. Are there problems with shipping in the colder months? I'm assuming heat packs and stuff will be added so the insects won't die but I just wanted to know what you guys do for food in the winter? Especially those who live in the harsh midwest.

Greg

Greg, I get my feeders from Bugco. As long as you can be home to get the package there should be no problems.

Da Bears

well i store my mealworms in my garage. I live in NY so.......People store their mealies in the fridge so I think mealworms should be fine.

I buy my mealies from www.nyworms.com and they have done a very good job with them...
Usually with mealies what you have to worry about is warmer weather, in which case they have been great about shipping them and holding them at my local post office. I haven't recieved an order in winter, but they email and state that the weather is too cold or hot, and that they will have them hold at the post office. If you are worried, they are a good place to get them from.

you should not be too worried about receiving worms in winter, never had any winter worm DOA's that i can recall...... we keep ours refrigerated when holding as it is, they keep much longer and it slows their life cycle. supers are kept at room temps though.

we use a gutloaded bedding and allow them to warm for about a half hour to an hour prior to feeding them to our herps so they have various opportunities to feed on the yummy goodness of the gutload

brief exposure when shipping worms to temps below 40-35 do not seem to harm them at all, and usually most suppliers use heating elements when expecting more extreme conditions. crickets are the ones more likely to be affected. we see a few DOA cricket orders every year, no matter the supplier.... a shifted heat pack, dud heat pack, blizzard, delay..... always seem to run into a few boxes of deceased crix.

not saying this is common however, we do order quite a bit so our odds encountering such an incident are greatly increased.

all the places mentioned thus far are very good sources, reptilefood.com is also very reliable. if feeding small groups of animals, producing your own may be a viable option as well!

Crix aren't a problem for me. I don't buy that many since I use mealies and superworms as their staple. If I do buy crix, I get them at a local reptile swap. Superworm shipping was the issue for me since everyone says the cold can kill them. Thanks for the replies, I will look around and see from whom I order from.

Greg

Some places allow you to pay a couple of dollars extra and they will throw in a heat pack. I just ordered some superworms but I didn't do so, because my husband is at home to receive them. It got down in the 20s last night and he said the package was super cold when he got it, we will see if the worms are ok when I get home. *fingers crossed*