Some specialist pet shops sell mealworms as live food for lizards etc. I buy mine from Field & Garden , in 1/2kg sacks. It's possible to rear your own, but it's a lengthy process

In general, mealworms are a safe food to feed to most reptiles and amphibians. Problems usually only occur when they make up a large portion of the diet. Mealworms have a hard exoskeleton that is difficult for some reptiles and amphibians to digest so it's best to avoid feeding them in large quantities or frequently. They are also high in fat and when fed often can lead to obesity.

Bran is commonly used but not recommended because it depletes calcium and is not high in protein. Game bird starter is a commonly recommended choice. Dry eggfood/nestling food has also been recommended. Be sure to add slices of fruit/vegetables for moisture such as potatoes, carrots, apples, broccoli, squash, cabbage, kiwi, banana, papaya ...

Your Mealworms will eat the oat or wheat bran or uncooked oatmeal bedding. We sell the bedding material used by us to grow our Superworms and Mealworms. See the Mealworms page for information. Additionally, they need a source of moisture and eat raw potato, carrot, apple, celery, melon rinds. We also feed a little high-protein chicken mash (not more than 20% of the bedding volume) to fatten them and increase their protein content.

Meal worms are not difficult to raise. Take a plastic container about 15x17x6-inches deep with a lid, and lay in a mix of wheat bran and non-medicated chicken feed for the bedding. Add a few sliced carrots, celery, lettuce or zucchini for food and then drop in some meal worms. They will cycle through to the bug form and will lay eggs in the bedding. The eggs hatch into tiny worms that grow to adults and then the cycle repeats itself.

The size varies weekly due to many factors. All of our mealworms are shipped fresh, never left over from one week to the next or packed days in advance. Some factors include weather, season, and amount ordered. The mealworms are always graded by size and should be of consistent size for the batch, not necessarily the same size weekly.

Put about 2500 or less per container and cover with 2-3" of wheat bran or 50-50 oat meal/corn meal. Place in refrigerator for 2-3 weeks. Take out of refrigerator and let them warm to room temperature. Feed one carrot for 24 hours. You can use lettuce, apples or any other vegetable, but we feed carrots at Grubco. Remove the carrot, and place back in refrigerator. Repeat this process every two to three weeks.

Yes and no. Many people use mealworms as feeders with no ill effects at all, especially with lizards. However, mealworms have hard chitinous shells and may cause digestive problems in large quantities. Moreover, mealworms have mandibles; at least one poster reports having seen mealworms literally eat their way out of a garter snake (yuck), and one maintainer lost some leopard frogs to internal injuries caused by "king" mealworms.

Serve them in a deep ceramic bowl so that the mealworms cannot crawl out. Mini is the preferred mealworm size among finches. Two recommended sources are Grubco and Rainbow Mealworms. It is the general opinion of the members of the forum that it is not necessary to cut the heads off the mealworms or to scald them in boiling water before serving.

No, but they are often confused with giant mealworms. Giant mealworms are treated with hormones to inhibit the larvae from pupating, therefore causing the giants to continue to feed and grow. Superworms, on the other hand, are the larvae of a beetle much larger than the common mealworm beetle. Superworms grow naturally to their one and a half to two inch size, over a period of many months.

Growing Mealworms in small quantities is both easy and fun. Just follow the easy instructions on our Mealworm page.

The so-called "Giant" Mealworms are created by spraying "common" Mealworms with an insect growth hormone to keep them growing instead of pupating as they would normally. Because of this, we feel that the "Giants" are a poor food choice for your Reptiles. However, we do highly recommend them as fishing bait!

Absolutely! Many Bluebird enthusiasts have been quite successful in attracting Bluebirds to backyards and nest box trails throughout the country by feeding mealworms. Learn more in our Live Bird Food section. In fact, most songbirds love mealworms!