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Is there a way to stop mealworms pupating

AlienFirefox

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G'day all
I was wondering if theres a way to stop mealworms from pupating. I am trying to get 20 or so mealworms in a seperate container to just eat gut load to feed to my axies problem is they pupate like normal. Is there a chemical or something I can use so they eat the gut Load without pupating?
 

Munfy

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they will pipate if under alot of stress id say your best but is to give them a good sized container and little light, this is just speculation but I can't imagine that they would pupate if the didnt already have energy stored even as pupa they should still move and produce a feeding response and from personal observation they seem to actualy be more easily digested
 

AlienFirefox

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Thanks. I have done that with my Culture already, and I was thinking about putting some in the fridge, but the problem is that they don't seem to eat much when they're in the fridge.
 
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Munfy

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They eat almost nothing when refridgerated because it slows there body down so much, you can always try to find the worms that have just shed as this usually means they are well fed, and i do belive you can get chemicly treated worms that will pupate less often but they may be hard to come by.
 

Coastal Groovin

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Why wouldn't you let them morph and start you own culture. Much cheaper and all you need is a plastic show box with a bunch of holes in the lid. An inch of Oatmeal or wheat germ and a potatoe cut in half place cut side down. Plenty of white ones mean they are getting plenty of moisture from their potatoes and carrots you would add. I like sweet potatoes or yams. Better source of vitamins.
 

psychotic

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I have my mealworms in plastic drawers. My boyfriend bought 50 mealworms but didn't use them all and they turned into pupa. So I let them turn into beetles and put them in the plastic drawers with oatmeal, giving them fresh carrots every couple of days. Within a couple of months I had very tiny baby worms. Very hard to see but if you lift the carrot there is usually some stuck to it eating.

Anyway, I've moved the first batch of babies to the second drawer and put the adults in the top. It's been about two months and my first batch of babies are just now starting to pupate.

I'm on my third generation of mealworms now. The original beetles have started dying off. But I'll soon have new beetles.

Very cheap to keep Darkling Beetles (adult mealworms). Didn't have to buy anything special as I already have the stuff needed in my house. Plastic drawers (can use plastic shoe boxes) oats and carrots.
 

AlienFirefox

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@Coastal Groovin I have 2 Mealworm Cultures in opposite cycles one is bettle while other is Mealworm and a Superworm Culture. The thing is im trying to find a way to have them eat Gut Load for a couple of weeks and not Pupate so they can be fed to my Axies without pupating first.

@Phychotic yes I have I used Unprocessed Bran for my Cultures I have ALOT of mealworms and they Pupate to quickly and thats my problem I need to have a way to stop a couple of Dozen from pupating.
 

Zhinigami

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well try some superworms then? they are geneticly enchanced so that they wont pupate and they are also more meat (bigger) on them. you cant make cultures of them thought since they dont reproduce.
 
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