Feeding Zilla! Does anyone raise their own meal worms?

Zigzag03`

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My Zilla is a 10yo YBS in a 275gal tank all to herself. She's healthy, feeds and basks regularly, and is as happy as I know how to make her. Her diet consists of meal worms, which she loves, along with sticks and dots of store bought turtle food.

Here's my problem. Meal worms can be hard to get, so I've been buying in bulk. I keep them in a small aquarium with a medium of wheat germ and oatmeal, and I hydrate them with cucumber every couple days. My problem began when I started using the wheat germ, which grows little worms into big ones in short order. Since I've started with it, I'm plagued with little moths. Their eggs must come in the stuff. When I get a new batch of worms, I dump the old, clean the tank, set up the wg and oatmeal fresh, add back the remaining old worms (hand picked from the old stuff) plus the new batch. Within 24 hours I've got little moths, lots of them! I never had this issue when I was just using oatmeal alone, so I'm assuming its the wheat germ. I freeze the stuff when I get it, then I microwave it before using it, but it clearly doesn't seem to help.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me, besides discontinuing the wheat germ? The worms love it, and grow much faster than they did in just the oatmeal. But the moth issue is a problem. To kill the moths, btw, the traps you can buy simply attract and kill the males, so the females don't breed, but since I'm apparently introducing a new crop every time I redo the worm tank, that solution won't help.

Thanks, zz03
 

Tom

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The moths are coming from the environment, not the wheat germ. They just colonize the tub because it suits their needs.

Switch to roaches. Much better food source than meal worms. Much easier to propagate too. Get a colony of dubia going and you'll never have to buy insects again.
 

Zigzag03`

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Thank you Tom I will look into this.

Edit: Not going to tell my wife yet! She's not crazy about the worms!
 

Len B

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I've been raising meal worms on a small scale for many years. I feed them old fashion oats and sometimes I add purina layena chicken mash. I use potatoes slices for moisture. This is what it looked like today when I went to feed them.Picture 003.jpgI cut some potatoes and spread the pieces around on the surfacePicture 005.jpgThem added the old fashion oatsPicture 008.jpgThe container I believe is a sweater box. I made a screen top to keep other bugs from getting in.Picture 009.jpgTo keep it from drying out to quick and moisture build up at a minimum, found a simple piece of cardboard works fine.Picture 010.jpgBeen using this same container for over 15 years. @Tom is right about the roaches. When I had more bug eaters I raised them and always had more than I needed.
 

Zigzag03`

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I'm not sure about roaches, from, let us say, a very local political standpoint. Do you raise the worms in your house, or an out building? Here in FL I've been cautioned that they won't tolerate temps outside in this summer climate.
 

Len B

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I'm not sure about roaches, from, let us say, a very local political standpoint. Do you raise the worms in your house, or an out building? Here in FL I've been cautioned that they won't tolerate temps outside in this summer climate.
Inside the house at room temperature.
 

DoubleD1996!

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My Zilla is a 10yo YBS in a 275gal tank all to herself. She's healthy, feeds and basks regularly, and is as happy as I know how to make her. Her diet consists of meal worms, which she loves, along with sticks and dots of store bought turtle food.

Here's my problem. Meal worms can be hard to get, so I've been buying in bulk. I keep them in a small aquarium with a medium of wheat germ and oatmeal, and I hydrate them with cucumber every couple days. My problem began when I started using the wheat germ, which grows little worms into big ones in short order. Since I've started with it, I'm plagued with little moths. Their eggs must come in the stuff. When I get a new batch of worms, I dump the old, clean the tank, set up the wg and oatmeal fresh, add back the remaining old worms (hand picked from the old stuff) plus the new batch. Within 24 hours I've got little moths, lots of them! I never had this issue when I was just using oatmeal alone, so I'm assuming its the wheat germ. I freeze the stuff when I get it, then I microwave it before using it, but it clearly doesn't seem to help.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me, besides discontinuing the wheat germ? The worms love it, and grow much faster than they did in just the oatmeal. But the moth issue is a problem. To kill the moths, btw, the traps you can buy simply attract and kill the males, so the females don't breed, but since I'm apparently introducing a new crop every time I redo the worm tank, that solution won't help.

Thanks, zz03
I breed mealworms. They grow and reproduce fast. I actually keep mine in the attic on wheat bran and use water polymer crystal or potatoes for hydration. Works great.
 

dd33

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We got carried away raising mealworms to feed our chickens a few years ago. You can get 50 pound bags of wheat bran from Tractor Supply for cheap. Baking it in the oven helps keep unwanted bugs down.
 

sue white

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I grow mine in a small rubbermaid container in cornmeal with a little flour added so it keeps the meal from getting too packed.Potatoes sliced and added on top. I keep the lid ajar to circulate air. .Just remember too much moisture will sour the bottom growing medium in the bin.Tight lid,too cool storage and too many taters = a no-no Been doing it this way for years.
 
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