When I checked on the mealworms today I noticed that there was a lot of mould in their containers. The container that the babies are in has always had a bit of blue-green mold, but there was only a small amount before. Today, the amount of mold has increased significantly. In the adult beetle’s container there was a lot of orange mold covering the substrate. It has grown a lot quicker than the other container and I think this may be because I have been sealing the lid and it has been too damp inside the container.
I decided to remove all of the substrate from the beetle’s container and give it a good clean as I was not sure whether the mold was harmful or not. It was easy to move the beetle into a spare container whilst I did this – I just encouraged it to walk onto a stick and then moved it into the other container. I then cleaned the container with washing up liquid, and replaced the bran in the bottom. To prevent the mold problem in the future I cut a large hole in the lid and glued some net curtain over it. This should provide better ventilation and stop the beetle from escaping.
I cleaned out the beetle's enclosure, and put a lot less subrate in this time.
I made a mesh lid out of net curtain to provide better ventilation.
Previously I had been leaving the soggy tissue on a piece of cardboard. The problem with this is that the water eventually soaks through the card and makes the bran a bit soggy which may have contributed to the mold problem. This time I used the piece of plastic that I cut out of the lid to act as a barrier between the tissue and the bran – hopefully this will also help.
In the other tank the larvae are starting to get a lot bigger now – big enough to take a few baby pictures. Enjoy!
As promised: Baby pictures!
This little guy is about 1.5cm long (just over half an inch)
Sorry Steve, but all I can say to your babies is yuk! Still as long as you love them!