How to Feed Powder Worms

Mealworms are widely used to feed birds, chickens, fish, reptiles, rodents and other pets. If you have a lot of mealworms in your home, it makes a lot of sense to raise mealworms yourself. Feeding mealworms will not cost as much as you think, and you also do not take much time to take care of.

Table of Contents

Prepare

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Concentration of materials: ^{[1] X Research source}

Dry oats or cornmeal
Organic humidifiers are not easy to mold. Carrots are the best ingredient for this, but you can also use other vegetables and fruits like chopped potatoes or apples.
Three perforated plastic boxes on the lid.
Some pieces of cardboard like egg cartons or toilet paper rolls.
Powdery mildew, also known as beetle larvae. You can start raising about 500 -1000 animals.

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Spread a layer of oat/cornmeal about 2.5cm thick on the bottom of each plastic container. This will be the substrate and food for mealworms in different stages of development.

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Put a few slices of vegetables in each box. You can use any fruit or vegetable, such as celery, lettuce, potato or apple. Carrots seem to take longer to mold than other vegetables. ^{[2] X Research Source} If you decide to use another humidifier, be sure to change it regularly.

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Deeply pour the dough into one of the boxes. Some mealworm owners like to add a few slices of bread, ground cereal, or dry dog food to the mix.

Take care of

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Periodic maintenance of deep culture boxes. Some people like to check in daily, some only check once a week. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Remove bits of rotting fruit and vegetables, insect remains, or patches of mold from the oatmeal at the bottom of the container.
Add more vegetables and oatmeal if needed and turn the base coat to prevent mold.

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Keep an eye out for the pupae in the powder worm feeding box. Depending on the temperature and age of the mealworm when you buy it, the pupal stage can take a week to several months. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Maturity is indicated by the gradual deepening of color at all stages of the insect’s life cycle.
Newly formed pupae are very pale white and look more like tiny curled bugs than stinging caterpillars.
You may notice the mealybugs shedding several times before they pupate. This is normal.

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Separate the pupae as soon as you spot them. You can use tweezers to pull it out if you are afraid of your hands. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

The pupae do not move much and do not need to eat. Humidity doesn’t hurt, but the pupae don’t consume the moisture source in the box either.
It is important to separate the pupae from the larvae and adults as they are defenseless and at risk of being eaten before they have a chance to hatch.
The pupal stage lasts about 1 to several weeks depending on the ambient temperature. You will know the pupae are about to hatch when they begin to darken.

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Continue to check both boxes regularly to monitor the development stages of the mealworm’s life cycle. This is even more necessary when you have more insects at different stages of development.

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Remove the adult beetles from the pupa immediately. They will start eating other nymphs if you don’t remove them quickly.

Place the adult beetles in a separate box that qualifies as a mealworm feeding box. It’s not too much to add a little more oats, because that way the bugs have more shelter.

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Regularly check the adult beetle housing for eggs. The more adults there are, the more eggs there will be. Usually you will find eggs on the bottom of the box.

You don’t have to remove the eggs, but it’s a sign to let you know that more larvae (mealworms) are coming soon.
Adult female beetles lay about 500 eggs at a time.
The eggs will hatch within 4-19 days, depending on the ambient temperature.

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Take the mealworms out of the adult larva and put them in the larva after they hatch. Females lay a lot of eggs at once, so you’ll have plenty to do with each litter of their young.

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Continue to care for the litter box daily or weekly. This includes changing food and moisture sources, separating insects according to their metamorphosis stages, removing dead ones, and turning the substrate regularly.

If you see mealworms starting to multiply to the point where your pet can’t eat them all, you can either cook the insects to eat, or put some of the insects in the freezer for humane removal. Do not release them into the wild (the mealworms are not native to North America). You can also feed the pupae to adult bugs or put leftover mealworms in a bird feeder in your garden.

Advice

Don’t put too many dough worms in one box.
Remember that mealworms will not move around much during the day, as they are nocturnal. If you see them lethargic in the morning, do not rush to throw them away because you think they are dead.
If you only keep a small number of mealworms, you can use a smaller container, such as the Kritter Keeper box.
You don’t need to clean the litter box too often.
Keep the culture boxes cool. Powdery mildew likes cool temperatures.
Do not forget to replace the old moldy food in the feeding box.
In order for the rice worms to pupate, you must keep them in separate boxes.
Powdery mildew grows best in an environment with a temperature of about 24-27 degrees Celsius, but a temperature between 24-27 degrees Celsius is also good.
You can use these guidelines to grow rice worms, but don’t put them in the fridge. Rice caterpillars are tropical animals and prefer room temperature.
The mealworms stored in the refrigerator will develop slowly. If you want to feed your pets mealworms instead of adults, you should store mealworms in the refrigerator.
You need to feed them some protein, such as other insects.

Steps

Prepare

Take care of

Advice

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