Live mealworms, beetles, breeding box, high-quality organic mealworms Large or small 1000 count

LIVE DELIVERY, FAST SHIPPING! of your mealworms. Pet food for Bearded Dragons, Frogs, Turtles, Lizards, some Snakes, Fish, Chickens, and Birds.

Starting your own mealworm farm is easy. If you have hungry reptiles or fish to feed, Chickens and chicks needing a delicious snack full of protein, etc. breeding your own mealworms is an excellent way to save some cash and ensure your pets are getting proper nutrition. Mealworms are actually darkling beetles in the larval stage, so breeding them involves allowing the beetles to mature and reproduce.

We have designed an easy-to-use starter kit with everything you need to get your mealworm farm rolling and feeding straight away! Our kit includes: 

- 3 plastic containers: One 82L one 54L, one 28L with lid. All 3 slot into each other to making it a very clean and effective system for containing the mealworm cycle.

- 10kg of substrate high protein wheat-bran.

- 20 adult beetles

- 1000 hatchling mealworms

-1000 large mealworms

3 plastic containers: One 82L for the worms to grow and to be used as feed. One 54L to catch the hatchling worms which is emptied into the 82L every 2-4 weeks, one 28L with Lid which holds the beetles and eggs with tiny holes for the hatchling mealworms to fall into the 54L box below as they escape the adult beetles. All 3 slot into each other to making it a very clean a effective system for the mealworm cycle. 

- 10kg of substrate high protein wheat-bran. This layered in the 28L box and the 54L box and changed only when emptying the hatchling mealworms into the 82L box every 2-4 weeks. 

- 20 adult beetles ready to start breeding and laying eggs right away!

- 1000 hatchling mealworms.

-1000 large mealworms to start feeding to your pets right away!

These systems are easy to store and user friendly, and you can start feeding your pets upon arrival!

You can also buy the mealworms and young beetles separately.

 The number of mealworms you buy for your starter stock depends on how many animals you aim to feed. If you need to use the meal worms to start feeding the animals right away, aim for 5,000 or so to begin with. It takes a few months for the mealworms to grow to full size, so this population will get depleted at first. Consider also buy beetles so you can start breeding straight away.

Mealworms reproduce best when they're kept at a steady temperature of 70 to 75 °F (21 to 24 °C). Choose a place in your home where you can keep the temperature consistent. The area should be clean and free of chemicals that could contaminate the colony.

• A heated garage or basement would be the optimal place to keep your mealworms.
• You can buy a heater to use near the containers to keep the temperature steady for your mealworms.
• If you keep the mealworms too chilly, they won't reproduce.
• Mealworms prefer a little bit of humidity in their environment—just make sure it isn't too humid, or else fungi might begin to grow. You can get a humidity meter online to help maintain a good balance.

Line the first breeding box with 2 to 3 inches (5.1 to 7.6 cm) of substrate, place your starter stock and mealworms in the 54L plastic container. Line the 2nd 28L box with 2 to 3 inches (5.1 to 7.6 cm) of substrate, place your starter stock of beetles in the bin. Slice up an apple, a carrot, or a potato (no veg or fruit that will rot or get mouldy) and place the slices on top of the substrate, to provide moisture for the mealworms and beetles. Put the lid on top of the bin. The beetles will begin eating the substrate and reproducing. The mealworms may pull the food under the substrate to eat it, which is completely normal. After 2 - 4 weeks dump the contents from the 54L plastic container into the 82L box, line the 54L with 2 to 3 inches (5.1 to 7.6 cm) of substrate again and repeat this process, it's that easy!

The mealworms, which are the larvae of the darkling beetle, will need 10 or more weeks to go through their life cycle and reproduce to make new mealworms. They will change from larvae to pupae, then from pupae to mature beetles. The beetles will copulate and lay eggs in the substrate, which hatch 1 to 4 weeks later. While you wait for this process to take place, check the bin every day and take care of the mealworms in the following ways:

• Change out the cut vegetables if they appear to get moldy.
• Keep the temperature stable at 70 to 75 °F (21 to 24 °C).
• Remove dead mealworms or beetles and discard them.

• You can store mealworms in the refrigerator to make them keep longer if you want to set some aside for feeding your pets.

The bi-product of the Beatles and larva is called frass, this is an amazing fertiliser and can be mixed into you potting soil for plants, thrown into your compost, or used in your garden!