Thinking of starting your own mealworm colony?

I enjoy raising our own feeder insects because then I know what my hedgehogs food is eating and I know they are clean and disease free. It also provides my customers and hog parents a place to get feeder insects for their hedgies. 

Have you ever wondered what goes into raising your own feeder insects?  I want to show you how easy it is to start up a mealworm farm of your own! We also have dubia roaches here at Green Mountain Quillibusters, and I am happy to write a separate post on them another time.

A job planned out is a job half done. Don't skimp on making sure you have all your supplies gathered before you get started. Setting up a mealworm farm is super easy if you have everything ready. Our farm is minimal work and yields plenty of mealworms to support our herd as well as our customers. 

I like to keep our farm in a three drawer system. This helps me to sort the growing worms by size, as well as have a drawer exclusive to full grown beetles. This plastic storage container works great, is easy to clean, and isn't awful to look at either. 

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For bedding/food you will want to have at least 4 lbs of wheat bran to start. You may be able to find it at your local feed store, or online such as this one. 
​Using oatmeal, crushed cheerios, or even crushed kibble is also an option.
Once you have decided on a bedding/food option you will want to add 1" - 2" of it to the bottom of each drawer. Keep in mind mealworms are big eaters and this will need to be replenished often. 

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Now that you have your container and bedding, you are ready to add in your mealworms.
​When you are starting a mealworm farm you will need a good supply of mealworms to get it going.  I would recommend no less than 1000 to start.  Buying bulk mealworms online can be risky depending on the time of year. Winter months can be too cold for shipping, while alternatively summer months can be too warm. Check around your area to see if there are any local suppliers before going online. ​

If there is not a local, trusted business to purchase mealworms from in bulk, I suggest the following three suppliers.
​I have listed their location as well so you can choose the vendor that is closest to you.
www.reptiledeli.com (New York)
www.flukerfarms.com (Louisiana)
www.rainbowmealworms.net (California)

When your mealworms arrive it is time to put them into your farm!
So as not to over crowd the drawers I would split your worms up 50/50 and put them in the bottom two sections of your farm. This is personal preference but I like to reserve the top drawer for pupa and adult darkling beetles.
As your mealworms go through their lifecycle you can sort them by size as well as stage. When I find pupa or darkling beetles in either of the bottom two drawers, I move them to the top where they are able to mate and lay eggs.
When the eggs hatch the meal worms are very small and nearly impossible to sort out. I choose to leave the smallest mealworms in the top drawer until they have reached a larger size.  When they are around 1" I transfer them to one of the bottom two drawers.
I do this by removing the beetles and any pupa that remain then dump the mealworms, bedding and all, into one of the bottom drawers. This helps me feel confident I am not tossing any mealworms.
At this time you can clean the top drawer, replace the bedding, and return the darkling beetles as well as pupa to the top.
​And the cycle continues. 

An excellent resource to learn about the life cycle of the mealworm can be found here.
http://mealwormcare.org/life-cycle/
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We've established that our mealies will eat the bran or whichever bedding you chose, but what about water?

We don't want to offer them a water bowl since they will crawl in and drown. So we will offer them fruits and vegetables instead.
Potatoes are a common choice since they do not mold quickly and can last a while. Other water sources that I have found our colony likes are apples and carrots.
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The ideal breeding temperature for your colony is around 75°F so be sure to put it in a place that will stay warm. You will also want to make sure your farm is not in an area that is too humid because it can start to smell if it is too wet. 
To keep your colony clean and running smoothly, dead beetles and worms should be removed regularly. 

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Once your have an established colony, your farm will require minimal maintenance and will provide your insectivores plenty of yummy, protein filled treats! 
Thanks for reading and please leave any comments or questions you have below!