mealworms?

[orandablue]

Can I feed mealworms to my fish? And do I have to chop their heads off!?(the worms) And can they carry dis-ease?? I heard some mealworms carry or can have mites..?

[orandablue]

O.k. I am just going worm shopping then. Whatever I can "dig up" I will try. wax...meal...white...how bout "Super worms"! :cross_fingers::cross_fingers::cross_fingers::cros s_fingers:~~:worm coctail

[Cincy Ranchu]

I would leave meal worms out of the picture

[VeiltailGuy]

I agree with Gary...mealworms must be killed also before feeding to many animals, due to the fact they can possibly eat throu the stomach lining (used to keep reptiles on the side) also dont see them being easy to digest...

If you really want to feed worms stick with frozen bloodworms or sometimes ill pickup some redworms from the bait shop...if you have a small area to make a compost bin you can literally grow hundreds of tousands of them in no time, Google red worm breeding for anymore info..they would be great for conditioning to breed

Nutritional Analysis of Red Worms:
Moisture- 84.8%
Fat- 2.0%
Ash-0.7%
Protein- 10.5%

[orandablue]

red worms are earthworms??right. Well I just thought big fat juicy mealies would "beef up" goldies but Blood worms do get expensive to keep feeding to my big orandas! And I worry they are not getting enough. I used to feed earthworms to my bichir and got parasites so now I am skittish with them. hmmmm?

[VeiltailGuy]

Redworms are not a typical garden variety earthworm, they are relatively clean and they are very prolific if u set up a area inside or outside after a short while you should have a constant supply, 1000 redworms can yeild up to around 50 thousand a month once they get going, google redworm culture...you will find information on breeding and buying easily

also if anyone buys worm casting for there garden they are buying redworm poop from the farms they grown them in, great for veggie and flower beds!

[orandablue]

I will google red worms. Well I found some mealworms. I am trying them now. Orandas gulped n chewed em down. Here is the protein content********Larvae stage*****************
protein 48.31
fat 40.46
ash 2.92
this is a little unnerving though....(Do not buy "giant" mealworm for breeding, as they may have been treated with an insect growth hormone to discourage them from morphing into beetles, so they will grow larger. If giant mealworms do morph into beetles, they will be sterile.)

[orandablue]

A LFS told me worms are'nt good for goldfish! :confuse: I give up. I'm ordering everything on line. Where do you get good redworms on line.

[Guyonthecanal]

Hey.. try Gardens Alive (www.gardensalive.com). I have found them a great source for all organic garden products and beneficial critters for the garden. They do have redworms. Cheers!

[mattpadrigan]

actually, old japanese practice used chopped earthworms and mosquito larvae.

[Ichthius]

try craigslist We have several people selling 1 pound of worms for $15. Can't beat that.

[mattpadrigan]

I recently visited a new LFS and found they sell live bloodworms and some other live criters. As people here don't recommend using them I do not want to risk the chance of any disease.