Mealworm Bugs?????

[PenelopeLove]

Hi.. I bought some mealworms a little while ago and now they've turned into little brown bugs!

Penelope has been quite unwell lately and had a few problems with digestion, which is why I stopped feeding the mealworms to her as they are too hard for her stomach to digest (even though she loves when they wiggle!).

Can these bugs be fed to her or are they hard to digest? I have had to force feed for the last 2 weeks and do not want to disrupt any of the progress she has made, but was wondering if I could introduce these?

 

[SarahcoadunatioZac]

From my understanding, they are hard to digest due to the shell. So a beetle would then have a thicker shell, and thus even harder to digest.

I may be wrong.

 

[PenelopeLove]

I was thinking the same thing as well, but thought I would see what others might say.. Thank you

 

[Moosma]

They are on their way to becoming mealworms again...
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/insects/beetles/mealworm/mealwormlifecycle.shtml
Life Cycle: The mealworm undergoes complete metamorphosis. The female darkling beetle lays hundreds of tiny, white, oval eggs, which hatch into tiny mealworms (the larval stage) - it takes from 4 to 19 days to hatch. Each mealworm eats a tremendous amount and grows a lot, molting (shedding its exoskeleton) many times as it grows. It then enters the pupal stage (this stage lasts from 2-3 weeks up to 9 months, if the pupal stage over-winters). The pupa does not eat and seems inactive, but it is transforming itself into an adult. After pupating, a white adult darkwing beetle emerges from the pupa -- it soon turns brown and then almost black. The adult lives for a few months. The entire life cycle takes about a year.
... and you are on your way to breeding them!

 

[PenelopeLove]

They are on their way to becoming mealworms again...
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/insects/beetles/mealworm/mealwormlifecycle.shtml
Life Cycle: The mealworm undergoes complete metamorphosis. The female darkling beetle lays hundreds of tiny, white, oval eggs, which hatch into tiny mealworms (the larval stage) - it takes from 4 to 19 days to hatch. Each mealworm eats a tremendous amount and grows a lot, molting (shedding its exoskeleton) many times as it grows. It then enters the pupal stage (this stage lasts from 2-3 weeks up to 9 months, if the pupal stage over-winters). The pupa does not eat and seems inactive, but it is transforming itself into an adult. After pupating, a white adult darkwing beetle emerges from the pupa -- it soon turns brown and then almost black. The adult lives for a few months. The entire life cycle takes about a year.
... and you are on your way to breeding them!

Oh my!.... might have to get a little mealworm box setup permanently lol!!! Thanks for the info!!!

 

[SarahcoadunatioZac]

Wow, great information. I personally don't bother breeding mine, they are just clean up crew. If they breed, they breed.

 

[PenelopeLove]

Wow, great information. I personally don't bother breeding mine, they are just clean up crew. If they breed, they breed.

yep.. me too.. if it happens it happens lol

 

[absolutbill]

Honestly it's as easy as breeding superworms. I have a stand of 4 plastic drawers (like you'd have in a dorm room), and use 2 boxes for each worm They are quiet, neat, and super easy to breed so I know that I always have at least 2 feeders on hand. I have dragons and a leopard gecko, so they get the majority of the worms, but my chams enjoy them once a week. With how cheap they are it's worth it to just breed them - plus the first time you watch the life cycle it's pretty cool.

 

[DavidBuchan]

My chams have eaten a couple of beetles, but they don't seem to like them as much as the worms. If Penelope has had digestive problems recently then probably best not feed them to her yet.

Breeding them is so easy it happens by accident if you just leave them to it. Might as well, but you'll have more mealworms than you know what to do with in just a couple of months.........

 

[pssh]

Many chameleon dont like them much, I've heard they are bitter. They are quite hard, so probably not a good idea for an already ill chameleon. Freshly molted mealworms might be a better choice if you still want to offer mealworms as treats.

Most of mine dont like them, but when my male veiled manages to escape, he heads straight to the mealworm tub to eat the beetles.