Guest Author - Denise Lacazette

Raising food for your exotic pet can save you money and end those last minute trips to the pet store. Raising mealworms is inexpensive, fun, and easy to do. Mealworm farming is also educational.

There are a few supplies you will need to start raising mealworms: container with ventilated lid, piece of thin wood, food/bedding, and starter mealworms.

I used a 10 gallon aquarium with mesh lid to start raising mealworms. The drawback to using the aquarium is that the worms do not like a lot of light so you have to keep it in a dark room. The good thing about the aquarium is that you can see the various stages of worm development and monitor the bedding and food to make any necessary adjustments. The container can be anything from a plastic tub and lid with holes punched in the lid, galvanized bucket or tub with screen, etc.

The piece of thin wood should only be big enough to lay a few pieces of vegetable or fruit on. You can also use a piece of thin metal in place of the wood. The vegetables and fruit placed on the wood provide all the water the mealworms need.

The food and bedding that the mealworms will spend the majority of their time in (and eating) can be comprised of various things: wheat bran, crushed wheat flakes, oatmeal, graham flour, chicken mash, corn bran, whole wheat flour, powdered milk, and brewer’s yeast. The ratio should be 10:1 (grains:other). (Even though in the wild mealworms are scavengers that clean up leaves, feces, and other organic matter you want to avoid pesticide and bacterial contamination by providing them with grain mix to ensure your pet’s health).

The starter mealworms can be purchased from your local pet store or on the internet. You should purchase the smaller mealworms to ensure they are viable for reproduction. Some large mealworms are given hormones so they cannot become adult beetles.

Setting up

Remove the lid from the container. Fill the container with grain mixture. Add purchased mealworms. Lay wood/metal on top of grain/mealworm mix. Add sliced/chopped fruit or vegetables on wood. Replace lid.

Maintenance

Check daily whether or not fruit/vegetables need replacing. Do not allow the fruit/vegetables to dry out or rot. When grain resembles sand or dust add more grain mix.

Lifecycle

First is the larval stage (what we call mealworms). The larva will become pupa. A beetle will emerge from the cocoon. The female beetles will then lay eggs that the larva hatches out of.

Adults should be kept in a separate container (same setup) so they do not eat the eggs; the second container should have enough space so they do not eat each other. You should not harvest mealworms for your pet until the second generation has hatched so you have enough to continue breeding. If you become overwhelmed with too many mealworms you can freeze or dehydrate them. You can also place small mealworms in little covered, ventilated containers (with grain mixture) in the refrigerator for several weeks to slow down growth. If you are really into exotic things other than pets, you can always cook the excess mealworms up for yourself.

Raising your own mealworms can be an easy, inexpensive, satisfying way to provide food for your exotic pet.