Accidental Mealworm colony

[Andee]

So i sent a neighbor out to buy me feeders while i was down with the vaccine. I needed some supers. Just something to tide me over until my.next shipment came. Well they grabbed me mealworms. Lots of water and small amounts fed twice a day. Anyway everyone did just fine with them especially since i got some wax worms too as a soft bodied insect. However.... i apparently have a mealworm colony now from not feeding off fast enough. Not complaining much, its a low maintenance feeder that i can feed off at small amounts for variety. But geeze not expecting this

 

[MissSkittles]

I intentionally breed them for my geckos and can say it’s very easy to be overcome with them. Every now & then I toss some outside for the wild lizards and birds.

 

[Andee]

I intentionally breed them for my geckos and can say it’s very easy to be overcome with them. Every now & then I toss some outside for the wild lizards and birds.

I have friends with chickens and a lot of neighborhood birds lmfao

 

[Lindasjackson]

I used to have a colony 20 years ago when I first had chams. All I could get to feed them was meal worms and crickets and the occasional wax worm.

 

[jamest0o0]

Have you seen the naturally bred giant mealworm strain? Kyle on roachcrossing has them(though he's like impossible to do business with lol).

 

[Andee]

I have just seen them honestly, and i used to order from Kyle when i just started getting into it because of Ryker. Right now i think hes on his summer schedule which is always wonky

 

[jamest0o0]

I have just seen them honestly, and i used to order from Kyle when i just started getting into it because of Ryker. Right now i think hes on his summer schedule which is always wonky

You've seen them in person?

 

[Andee]

Oh lord no! I just was looking on roach crossing again today lol

 

[Andee]

With the insanity of trying to figure out my first few colonies again.

I have decided on these following
Giant canyon isopods-(already have a few on order) one of my fav species for their voracious appetites, breeding speed, growth speed, size, softness, and hardiness

Ivory headed roaches- one of the ones i have always been eager to work with and i think had the very beginnings of a colony before the massive collapse. Soft bodied, hardy, tend to breed in consistent strong numbers, good eaters, diggers, would work well when paired with the GC (i think)

Snails- ah my babies, im about to get you back. Almost all chams love these as an option, they are also super low maintenance and easy to breed once humidity gets figured out

Mealworms- i have no choice here i just accept my fate <3

I want one more roach species later down the line before i start looking at possibly adding more to this list, but im not sure if i should go with some like a blaptica species or something like javanica

 

[Kaizen]

Have you seen the naturally bred giant mealworm strain? Kyle on roachcrossing has them(though he's like impossible to do business with lol).

Not to hijack, but James…I got giant caves!

 

[jamest0o0]

With the insanity of trying to figure out my first few colonies again.

I have decided on these following
Giant canyon isopods-(already have a few on order) one of my fav species for their voracious appetites, breeding speed, growth speed, size, softness, and hardiness

Ivory headed roaches- one of the ones i have always been eager to work with and i think had the very beginnings of a colony before the massive collapse. Soft bodied, hardy, tend to breed in consistent strong numbers, good eaters, diggers, would work well when paired with the GC (i think)

Snails- ah my babies, im about to get you back. Almost all chams love these as an option, they are also super low maintenance and easy to breed once humidity gets figured out

Mealworms- i have no choice here i just accept my fate <3

I want one more roach species later down the line before i start looking at possibly adding more to this list, but im not sure if i should go with some like a blaptica species or something like javanica

I currently have a pretty large ivory colony. They're great composers, just keep them in a warm tub with a lot of substrate and they eat anything I throw in lol.

Would like to try those giant mealworms if I can ever get some.

 

[jamest0o0]

Not to hijack, but James…I got giant caves!

That's one species I never had luck with. There seems to be different bloodlines of them, some will eat each other(experienced this), others crash for apparently no reason. I'm thinking the ones that do best in captivity are some sort of hybrid, but totally guessing. How are yours doing??

 

[Andee]

There are giant cave hybrids that do really well, but giant caves that are pure lineage need a lot of specialized care.

If i can get my hands on some of the giant mealworms, i will send some your way James.

 

[ERKleRose]

While not either species you’re looking at, it’s always nice to have red runners!

 

[Andee]

How bad are red runners at escaping, last i checked the world was terrified of them escaping and infesting. But im pretty sure they are a high humidity species? I havent researched their care in a few years so forgive my ignorance <3

Edit:

Ah nvm i was thinking lobsters what happened there. Gotta get my head in the game. Lol red runners might be a good choice for the geckos and for the chams too

 

[ERKleRose]

They are fast and a bit bigger than crickets, so hard to catch if you don’t have good reflexes, but I keep mine in a tall bin and am careful when picking out the ones I need. My chams absolutely LOVED them and they’re super easy to keep! I don’t have any heat on them and just recently switched them to bioactive, but they bred for me like crazy in a sterile tub! Granted, I’m in Houston, so there’s natural high heat and humidity. I’m sure James will have better care specs for you, though. Side note- if there’s any way to transport your snails across state lines, I’d pay top dollar for some!

 

[Andee]

They are fast and a bit bigger than crickets, so hard to catch if you don’t have good reflexes, but I keep mine in a tall bin and am careful when picking out the ones I need. My chams absolutely LOVED them and they’re super easy to keep! I don’t have any heat on them and just recently switched them to bioactive, but they bred for me like crazy in a sterile tub! Granted, I’m in Houston, so there’s natural high heat and humidity. I’m sure James will have better care specs for you, though. Side note- if there’s any way to transport your snails across state lines, I’d pay top dollar for some!

Ive shipped snails before. There's a species i am getting that won't be a problem to ship across state lines. <3 its just one of those ones that you pay a LOT for a starter colony. So worth though

 

[ERKleRose]

Let me know once you have enough offspring to start selling some off!

 

[Andee]

Let me know once you have enough offspring to start selling some off!

I am currently double checking usda guidelines cause i know they'd been updated recently

 

[ERKleRose]

Thank you so much, getting some would be AMAZING!!!