Just put this together today with the help of my handsome little assistant and we thought that some pics might help explain the whole tights thing .
1. What you will need:
1 Empty plastic biscuit tin 1 Bag of cheap 'Happy Shopper' type porrage oats Some fruit or veggies (just pick whatever fruit or veg contains the vits/minerals you want to boost in your pet). 1 Pair of cheap tights 1 Shallow plastic bowl 1 Stanley Knife 1 Tub of mealworms from the Rep store 1 Assistant / Pain in the a**e (optional)
2. Put the porrage oats into the plastic tub to a depth of approx 3cm. Place the shallow bowl on top of the oats and add the veggies. Add your mealworms to the oats.
3. Cut a hole in the lid of the tub with the Stanley knife to allow for good air circulation.
4. Cut the legs off the tights and put them to one side. Place the rest of the tights over the lid and tie the corners (like Grandpa's hankie at the beach) so that the mesh is loose enough to allow air circulation but tight enough to prevent invasion by parasitic wasps, mites, etc.
5. This is what you should end up with.
The mealworms will get all the water they need from the veggies so be sure to check them daily and replace them if they are drying out (no need to spray the colony with water). Providing that you don't harvest the colony too heavily it should keep going pretty much indefinately .
Great Sticky Stuff Paul! See what you mean now about the tights. We've got ours in a rub with holes drilled to ventilate, the tights seem better for letting air in but nothing else... will have to give it a go I think.
The good thing is that you can re-enact scenes from 'The Sweeney' with the legs from the tights when you've finished. Oscar was being the cop yelling "Guv" and "You're going down" at the top of his voice. I was the bank robber .
Ok. So we now have loads of adults of both sexes going at it like rabbits. They are currently in one of the see-through plastic punnets that you buy the mealworms in which is placed in the Gex vivarium to get the temps more favourable for bug breeding.
Lots of piggy back races going on . I'll post again when I have something new to tell. Gonna go give them some apple now.
About a week after the last post I moved the adults from the punnet in the gex viv into the red biscuit tub in the pictures above. Mating continued. The red plastic tub was kept at room temperature. The logic behind transfering them back to the red tub is that if food becomes scarce the adults will eat the eggs. Over the last few days the adults have been slowing down and today there is a degree of die-off beginning. The first eggs appear to be hatching at about the same time as the adults start to die. I'll post some pics when they are clearly visible.
Took a while for them to grow but here's a few pics:
Hopefully with such size difference and a mix of instars the colony should be self sustaining. As long as there is enough veg and oats being provided it should keep churning out mealies. The proof will be in whether it is still going after 3 generations but only time will tell.
The crix colony that I started up isn't going as well. Got them established and laying but none hatching as yet. Once I have some offspring I'll knock up a "how to" on that as well if it would be of use.
Wtg Paul... my mealie babies are now just about the size of the mini mealies you buy in the shops, and still buying normals and picking out aliens to breed, so figure eventually after first year or so should be self sustaining!! (one can hope)!
How to set up a meal worm colony.
Posted - 29/01/2009 : 16:16:51
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See what you mean now about the tights. We've got ours in a rub with holes drilled to ventilate, the tights seem better for letting air in but nothing else... will have to give it a go I think.
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