mealworms not making beetles

[preacher]

Problem..I have bred mealworms through 10+ cycles with no problems until now. They morph into 1st stage and then end up dying, no beetles.

Set up in tubs.
I remove when morph into pupa and put in small container. Daily
I remove beetles (daily) and place in new tub with bran mixture.
Have done this through at least 10 cycles no problem, this tub is just not making beetles. Same location, food, temps ect.

Any ideas??

 

[snakegirl]

Normally if something like this happens i look at the food first, Well bedding, Wheat bran? what are you using did you check to make sure they didn't Add anything new? what are you feeding them? some feed stores will add Other kinds of vitamins and such to enhance the animal eating the food. this is good for livestock, but can stop mealworms from breeding and make them become sterile. Or even kill them. Any photos of what your set up looks like? are they dieing with shed stuck on them, At what size do they indeed die at or do they die no matter what size? Do they move or stay curled up?

Until your 100% sure there is not anything added to your bedding or food for livestock, Hold off on feeding these mealworms to your reptiles.

 

[preacher]

I am using the bran out of a bag I bought from the start, added small amount of chicken mash. Use carrots for moisture. The exact same from day one.

The worms are growing to adult and morphing to pupa and then just not morphing to beetles. They are alive and wiggling when I move them but never change or even start to shed.

They are in 12 quart sterlite tubs (7) and a new one is started about every 2 weeks when the oldest one is fed out.

Pupa is removed daily from oldest and beetles removed from pupa daily for new start.

This has only happened to this oldest tub.

 

[snakegirl]

chicken mash check it now, they add meds to that. and its a HUGE reason why i don't use it, if its for laying hens they add Medication to almost all bags. even if it doesn't say because it might just be a small almost to have in it, that does make mealworms sterile. they might have now gotten so much Chicken mash in there system its Now to long of line. i would Check the mash and just not use it.

 

[preacher]

Will check it, thank you.

 

[Bellalee]

Definatly check that.. or just change it, because there is no reason why this isn't working you are doing everything right. Are you also giving them moisture??

 

[snakegirl]

i have used chicken mash before, they will almost all of some dose of Medication, it just matters on how much. however over time no matter how little it might be it can become to much for a long line of mealworms. I would just stick to your wheat bran.

 

[Kristi23]

Try getting some more mealworms from a different source to outcross with. I'm not sure how often you should do that, but you've been inbreeding for quite awhile now. I don't know if it will help, but it's worth a try. I plan on buying a small amount every 6 months or so. I also started out with worms from 3 different places.

 

[preacher]

Thanks for the commets and helps. They are getting moister. I have pulled everything but the bran and i did order a new start from a different company today. Time will tell.

Thank you

 

[Kristi23]

Good luck!