Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2012 23:01:24 GMT 1
I have decided to breed mealworms as a food source for my ants. I got a tub of mealworms from the pet shop and put them in a plastic tank of oats. I give them carrot as well. I may add other grains too, in the future.
As some of you may remember, I don't kill animals, so I will wait until the beetles die before feeding them to my ants. The only problem is is could soon have an overpopulation problem on my hands.
|
|
|
Post by Myrm on Jul 6, 2012 8:25:43 GMT 1
As some of you may remember, I don't kill animals, so I will wait until the beetles die before feeding them to my ants. The only problem is is could soon have an overpopulation problem on my hands. Though a vary noble cause I don't think the breeding of creatures for the purposes of feeding your ants is a very good one in these circumstances. If you are waiting for the mealworms to turn into bettles and then die of old age before you feed them to your ants, then yes, you could either end up with a huge population of bettles on your hands or some vary hungry ants - or both. Perhaps you ought to look at some alternative method of providing food for your ants.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2012 11:36:53 GMT 1
As some of you may remember, I don't kill animals, so I will wait until the beetles die before feeding them to my ants. The only problem is is could soon have an overpopulation problem on my hands. Though a vary noble cause I don't think the breeding of creatures for the purposes of feeding your ants is a very good one in these circumstances. If you are waiting for the mealworms to turn into bettles and then die of old age before you feed them to your ants, then yes, you could either end up with a huge population of bettles on your hands or some vary hungry ants - or both. Perhaps you ought to look at some alternative method of providing food for your ants. At the moment I'm feeding my ants whatever dead invertebrates I can find outside. I will continue to do this, though I do not feel this provides enough food. This breeding project should provide the extra food I feel the ants need. In the event of overpopulation I have some ideas. For example, hatching the beetles in a container with no grain. In those conditions I no not expect they would lay, as there wouldn't be enough food there for the next generation. Failing that, I guess I could give some to my sister for her bearded dragon.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2012 18:07:05 GMT 1
Mealworms are pretty cannibalistic in captivity, so you should have no shortage of half-eaten corpses to offer to your ants. Keep in mind that freshness is important.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2012 19:41:17 GMT 1
Mealworms are pretty cannibalistic in captivity, so you should have no shortage of half-eaten corpses to offer to your ants. Keep in mind that freshness is important. Really? I didn't notice that when I kept them before.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2012 0:32:52 GMT 1
I give mine plenty of vegetables, but they'll still nibble on larvae which are in the middle of molting, and pupae seem to be in the most danger. I keep pupae in a separate container, releasing them into the culture once they eclose. Tenebrio molitor are very prolific. Even when killing the larvae and feeding them out to my six different colonies, I end up with a thousand more than I intend to keep. Twice a year, I feed all but about 200 of them to my chickens. I think you'll need to be careful about how much room you give your culture, else your ripe-old-age strategy might lead to overpopulation.
|
|
|
Post by greenanole on Jul 7, 2012 0:59:14 GMT 1
I might need to do this because I have 3 queens in test tubes and will probably need food sooner or later. I just don't have time to go outside and find insects. But I do know the location of some big grubs.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2012 14:55:19 GMT 1
I give mine plenty of vegetables, but they'll still nibble on larvae which are in the middle of molting, and pupae seem to be in the most danger. I keep pupae in a separate container, releasing them into the culture once they eclose. Tenebrio molitor are very prolific. Even when killing the larvae and feeding them out to my six different colonies, I end up with a thousand more than I intend to keep. Twice a year, I feed all but about 200 of them to my chickens. I think you'll need to be careful about how much room you give your culture, else your ripe-old-age strategy might lead to overpopulation. Thanks for the tips. Mine like carrots. I also have a separate container for pupae. Are you suggesting that population control can be achieved by limiting space? If so, that could come in very handy. I could keep the beetles in another separate container, a small one, so they think they don't have much room. The substrate with the eggs and babies could then be moved into the main container, and fresh substrate could be added to the beetle container.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2012 16:14:13 GMT 1
I think the mealworms need a certain depth of food-substrate to thrive, and too broad of a container will simply give them too much food for your purposes.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2012 17:25:14 GMT 1
From experience with my colonies which are nearly 3 years old they are like BSF said, Hugely cannabalistic if they don't get their food, And I must admit feeding the beetles to your ants won't be brilliant, my ants Never Liked Tenebrio Molitor adults, stick to the mealworms - Although I don't think Mealworms are the Best food if your not prepared to kill them, I'd try breeding crickets - although these are harder you get many deaths and the bodies stay soft and juicy for the ants.
1-2cm of substrate of Oats Or Bran Is perfect, I'd stick to oats though.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2012 1:31:58 GMT 1
Thanks. I'll see how it goes.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2012 9:21:06 GMT 1
Good Luck Billy, Hope whatever you choose to breed and Rear do well!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2012 16:27:08 GMT 1
Yes the space limitation trick works for anything, except slugs >-<!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2012 21:52:35 GMT 1
If mealworms overpopulate too much, I'd suggest breeding a different insect. I'm not sure if ants will eat woodlouses, but you should give it a go.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2012 22:07:35 GMT 1
Yes the space limitation trick works for anything, except slugs >-<! Great, I'll use that then if the population becomes a problem. All is well as of yet though. I'll see how many are in the next generation. At present I'm keeping them in one of these, and I have the pupae in the tub the mealworms came in.
|
|