I am planning to have Fig do a scientific study, but first, I need to get a mealworm colony going, because I need a lot of mealworms to serve as food rewards. The store bought worms have been fed a hormone laced diet to prevent them from pupating into beetles.
I have been feeding my worms various foods to try and induce them out of the hormone treatment, to no avail. A few have managed to pupate, but no beetles emerged. Finally, by luck, I have discovered that mealworms can in-fact be induced out of their hormone stagnation if fed a high sugar diet, and kept warm.
I now have three beetles, and one has laid a ton of eggs. The beetles are very slow, docile critters, quite friendly things with a pleasing shape, color, and texture too. It makes me feel horrible to farm them for food rewards. But Fig absolutely loves them.
Thank goodness I was able to figure this out because they cost $2.00 for a tiny tub. Having a colony will save me a lot of money.
I have been feeding my worms various foods to try and induce them out of the hormone treatment, to no avail. A few have managed to pupate, but no beetles emerged. Finally, by luck, I have discovered that mealworms can in-fact be induced out of their hormone stagnation if fed a high sugar diet, and kept warm.
I now have three beetles, and one has laid a ton of eggs. The beetles are very slow, docile critters, quite friendly things with a pleasing shape, color, and texture too. It makes me feel horrible to farm them for food rewards. But Fig absolutely loves them.
Thank goodness I was able to figure this out because they cost $2.00 for a tiny tub. Having a colony will save me a lot of money.
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