How to Breed Mealworms for Reptiles

Mealworms are the larval stage of the darkling beetle and are a popular feeder insect for many different reptile pets. Many people choose to keep and breed their own mealworms instead of purchasing them from pet stores. Often pet owners worry about the nutritional value of the mealworms that can be purchased in pet stores. By breeding your own mealworms, you can save money and be certain that your reptiles receive high quality food.

Things You'll Need

  • 3 shallow plastic boxes with lids
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue gun (optional)
  • Mesh screen (optional)
  • Rolled oats
  • Potato or carrot
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Instructions

  1. Preparing the enclosure

    • 1

      Clean three shallow and smooth-sided plastic containers. Make sure containers are dry after cleaning.

    • 2

      Create small holes in your containers' lids for ventilation. You may use a small mesh screen in each lid instead. If you decide to do this, cut a square slightly smaller than the mesh screen into the lids, and use hot glue to fix the mesh tightly to the lid.

    • 3

      Place a substrate of rolled oats in the bottom of each container, approximately one inch deep. This will act as both bedding and a food source.

    Breeding mealworms

    • 4

      Purchase your initial breeding supply of meal worms, and place them in one of the plastic containers. Keep this container in a warm environment; ideally the temperature should remain between 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

    • 5

      Place thin slices of potato or carrot in each enclosure that contains your insects. This should provide them with adequate moisture.

    • 6

      Observe your meal worms, and move any that begin to pupate to the second container. Once the mealworms begin to turn into adult darkling beetles (usually three to four weeks after they pupate), move them to the third container.

    • 7

      Observe the adult beetles and remove hatchling mealworms as they appear. Place these in the first container. At this point you should have a separate container for each of the three life stages of your insects: mealworm, pupae and adult beetle. Continue to move the insects to the appropriate containers as they change stages.

    • 8

      Replace the potato or carrots as they dry out. Replace the rolled oat substrate no more than once a month.