drasar Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 I was thinking about putting a few Mealworms in with my Dubias as a sort of cleanup crew to eat some of the spilled or excess food, a half dozen maybe to start with..since the Dubs are live bearers I wasn't afraid of the Mealworms eating their eggs but was wondering if they might cause any other problems? I have between 50-100 Dubias and most are Adults or close to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crittergu Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 I tried it...worked very well. They are a good moisture gauge too. If things are a bit too moist they will climb out of the substrate onto eggcrates. If things get too dry they will do very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drasar Posted September 9, 2008 Author Share Posted September 9, 2008 Thanks..and what a quick reply..I'll drop a few in whith them then...would they also live together well with crickets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crittergu Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 never tried. I think crickets would need it too moist for the eggs to hatch...and mealworms/dubia would finish the eggs off pretty quickly. Unless you make a little egg laying container just for the crix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drasar Posted September 9, 2008 Author Share Posted September 9, 2008 Cool, I'll just stick to a few mealworms in with the Dubs and see how that works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 I would think the dubias would munch on the mealworms when there soft. (freshly molted) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drasar Posted September 19, 2008 Author Share Posted September 19, 2008 Not a problem if the Dubai eat the mealworms..I have tons of them..I just wanted to make sure the mealworms wouldn't harm the roaches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt K Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Keeping roaches from harm has often been one of my priorities too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drasar Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 I'd almost totally forgotten about this experiment till today...I was tendin' the critters this mornin' and when I lifted the dish that I put the veggies on in my Dubia Tank there were several small mealworms under it...I had put a few in with the roaches as a experiment..thought they might help to keep things cleaner..was like 4-6 and it was a long time ago..had just about forgotten about them. They seem to be doing alright and as my roaches are live bearers I figured they wouldn't hurt them..The DubiaTank has a topsoil substrate so I didn't know if they would prosper or not..they seem to be doing okay... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OBJ Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 My Eublaberus posticus got some Mealworms as an experiment because they are really bad wingbiters and I read in Orins handbook "Allpet Roaches, Care and Identification Handbook for the Pet and Feeder Cockroaches" that posticus will eat newly molted almost any type insect alive. So my hope was that the posticus would add to their diet and spare each other a little around their own molt. But the plan did not work out. The posticus were still chasing one another and the Mealworms were very active living the good life in the tank. There was only eggcases and empty toilet rolls as shelter, but the Mealworms did not seem to be annoyed. After about a month I gave it up because it was not meant to be a culture. However, I intend to try again, but with the mini-Mealworms instead of the normal size ones - in the hope that the posticus will recognize a little "snack"... Did any of you try the mini-Mealworms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drasar Posted December 14, 2008 Author Share Posted December 14, 2008 Haven't tried the mini-mealworms but I was thinking of trying a few either earthworms or nightcrawlers..to improve the soil and maybe even eat some of the Roach droppings..if it all works out may never have to clean the roach tank LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I added some mealworms to my peppered roach colony, seeing as I was having grain mite problems with them in their other container. They're all doing fantastic. The peppered roach dropping seem somewhat nutritious (mostly feed them oak leaves and lots of fruits + veggies!) and the mealworm beetles don't harm the roaches either! The substrate is crawling with baby mealworms and baby peppereds. I'd go so far as to say that starting a peppered colony without mealworms would be somewhat foolish, unless you really, REALLY didn't need the extra herp food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt K Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 I added some mealworms to my peppered roach colony, seeing as I was having grain mite problems with them in their other container. They're all doing fantastic. The peppered roach dropping seem somewhat nutritious (mostly feed them oak leaves and lots of fruits + veggies!) and the mealworm beetles don't harm the roaches either! The substrate is crawling with baby mealworms and baby peppereds. I'd go so far as to say that starting a peppered colony without mealworms would be somewhat foolish, unless you really, REALLY didn't need the extra herp food. That sounds pretty cool- I will give it a try as well. Should work great as I have loads of other beetles in my colonies with the same larvae-type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drasar Posted September 6, 2009 Author Share Posted September 6, 2009 I added a tub (20) of nightcrawlers to my Dubias enclosure and it turned out badly...they all died and left a rotting stink in there...I'm still harvesting mealworms all the time though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 Try red wigglers? They're a lot more acidity and temperature tolerant. I've also introduced mealworms into my discoid colony; I'm harvesting lots of big ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drasar Posted September 6, 2009 Author Share Posted September 6, 2009 I'll try the red wigglers but only a few this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 I have some type of native "mealworm" in with my Parcoblatta. They were collected in the same spot, and both species are exploding in population. They eat the roach waste, and grind up the wood for the young nymphs to eat easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscusmile Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 All very interesting, my prob with the mealworms is the mites, every time I get mealworms I get mites, what can I do? Also if you have a lot of roaches, will the mealworms really do any good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing dog Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 ive had my baby crix get into all my roach cultures, and mealies into one or two of the roach cultures, as well as some latts get in a culture of hissers, and all seemed to do better. im wondering if the crix have or would eat the roaches or mealies, or the latteralis harm anything else? its just a delightful excuse to putz with my colonies, but am wondering if its bad to have to go in to seperate out the guests, from my hisser, old dubia (my new ones dont get any invaders at all due to them chasing down and gobbling up anything that gets in their tubs), and gigantus, colonies every so often, or just doesnt matter so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscusmile Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I do not know what a baby crix is, and I did not know the roaches would eat the other guys, I have a lot to learn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing dog Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 cix is crickets. er.... sorry, i got used to the arachno boards lingo to much. lol i did not think so either, but apparently some roaches in the wild even eat other roaches supposedly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscusmile Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Oh! ok, I should of figured that out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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