Old mealies?

[kyahbean]

I usually feed Puzzle crickets, but sometimes it's nice to be able to do the mealworms because they are lower maintenance and less smelly. But I've noticed he will only eat them within the first week or so of me bringing them home.

I keep them in a little rectangular pyrex dish with a plastic top with holes in it. I use oats for bedding and baby carrots for water. The first few days they are in there, they munch the heck out of the carrots and they are lively and Puzzle will eat them like there's no tomorrow. But then after like a week or a bit more, they get lethargic, and there aren't any places in the carrots where they are eating, and Puzzle doesn't seem interested in them. Which is weird, because he hasn't eaten in like a week and usually he's crazy hungry. I'm guessing if I had some crickets to put in there he'd be all over those.

Are the mealworms just....old? How long are they supposed to live? Is there something else I could be doing to extend the life of them? The smallest amount I can buy them in is 50 and it takes Puzzle at least a few weeks to go through that many...

 

[g3ckosr4me]

When i get mealies i use potatoes to water them and they last about 1-1/2 months or so and mine eat them no problem, but my normal female blue refuses to eat them. The first time I fed her them she ate them like crazy now she wont touch them

 

[VampyricAngelX]

Gut load them and then store them in the fridge. Then when you need them, just take them out to warm up. It sounds like the ones that don't move around so much and don't eat are about to turn into pupae, or at least the ones I have do that.

 

[kyahbean]

When i get mealies i use potatoes to water them and they last about 1-1/2 months or so and mine eat them no problem, but my normal female blue refuses to eat them. The first time I fed her them she ate them like crazy now she wont touch them

Yeah, Puzzle likes them sometimes. I've heard some people say their fat tails won't touch mealies, maybe Puzzle is developing tastes or something LOL.

I will try the fridge thing, and just put a few out in the pyrex the day I know I will feed him.