What to Feed Meal Worms

Common mealworms, or Tenebrio Molitor, are one of the most frequently raised feeder insects. The small worms are easy to grow and harvest in a home environment, and are readily used by reptile and small animal enthusiasts, fisherman and those who feed wild birds. Raising mealworms requires a cool habitat, usually a refrigerator at 45 to 50 degrees. Remove stored adult mealworms from the cool environment at feeding time. Allow them to warm to room temperature for effective digestion of their food.

  1. Dry Foods

    • Place the mealworms in a container filled with dry bedding. Choose wheat bran, dry oatmeal cereal mix for babies or uncooked old-fashioned (not instant) oatmeal. Purchase these items at a grocery store, or in bulk at a restaurant or baking supplier. Choose high-protein poultry feed without antibiotics for dry food. The course ground meal is available at farm supply retailers.

      Fill a plastic tub with 2 inches of dry food. Allow the adult mealworms to consume the dry food once per week. Some mealworm providers allow young growing worms to live with the food sources in the cool environment 24 hours a day. Leave off the lid to the storage container during feeding time to allow air circulation. The mealworms will not escape, since they cannot climb smooth surfaces.

    Moisture

    • Providing a source of moisture is essential for all living creatures. Place a small piece of moist fruit in the feeding habitat. Use apple, banana peels, melon, carrot or potato. Place one-fourth of an apple in the feeding container per 1,000 mealworms. Provide small pieces of kale for added nutrition, since the vegetable is high in calcium. Choose moist foods that are not soggy. Excessive moisture will promote mold growth. Leave old and decaying moist foods in the environment since they may contain mealworm eggs that will help re-populate the mealworm environment.

      Adding water to a crumpled paper towel, just until moist, will also hydrate mealworms. Lay the moist towel in their environment, and replace when it has dried out.

    Additives

    • Some mealworm growers prefer to add extra nutrition to the mealworm diet. Transferring additives such as calcium powder on to the mealworm's predator adds extra nutrition to their diet. Commercially sold mealworms may be labeled as "gut-loaded" if they have been fed extra additives. Feeding calcium gut-loaded mealworms to reptiles helps them receive the extra calcium they require, without coating the worms manually during reptile feeding time.