Mealworms

In the wild. each species of bat, eats certain insects. In captivity, whether for rehab, or long term care, replicating same feeding conditions is impossible. Who want his/her house filled with flying mosquitoes, beetles, moths, etc? It's simply not ideal, nor easy, to feed a bat's choice of daily intake of insects.

Instead, rehabbers feed mealworms to captive bats. The mealworm size is relative to the bat. Pipistrelles may eat small mealworms, where, hoary bats would eat large mealworms. Rehabbers often will buy mealworms from mealworm producers, in order to relieve themselves of the time-consuming hassle of raising enough of their own to feed. Two years ago, however, there was a country-wide mealworm shortage. This left all rehabbers- bat and avian, as well as many others, such as those with iguanas, etc, in dire straits.

The shortage was rumored to have been caused by many things. The bottom line was that there were no mealworms, and therefore, many bats, and other animals, went hungry. Rationing mealworms daily was the only answer I had at the time. It occurred to me quickly, though, that in order to avoid future issues, as well as the very high cost of shipping them, I would need to begin growing my own.

Raising mealworms isn't fast, nor precise. It involves many hours spent sifting the larvae, from the "frass" (mealworm waste product), as well as sifitng beetles from their eggs, and the pupae from the larvae, as well. The mealworm and beetle stages are the only two stages where food is consumed. The pupae stage is one of transition from the larvae to the beetle.

Mealworms are kept in a media of wheat germ, wheat bran, powdered vitamins, calcium, spirulina, and bone meal. The raw fruit and vegetables they consume are cabbage, apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, and lettuce. These must be rotated and checked daily so there isn't too much moisture building, or the mealworms can get moldy, rendering them unfit, unsafe food for bats.

Beetles are also fed. They eat apple peel with a little apple meat on the inside. Moisture is a big factor with them as well. The lifecycle depends on the season, I have found. The warmer it is outside, the quicker the cycle. Cold weather affects the cycle adversely. A general cycle is about 5 weeks from consumable larvae to new consumable larvae.

At any given time I usually have 8 large Rubbermaid containers filled with "worms" in varying stages of growth, to pupae and beetles. Currently, I think I have about 500 beetles in egg-laying mode, 10,000 or more "worms", and 100 pupae. Generally I use about 7,000 mealworms a month in feeding the bats.

The time I put in with raising mealworms is worth it to me. I know where all my worms come from as well as the health of what I am feeding the bats. Now I am also saving about $1,000 a year, also. The time may or may not balance out with that, but to me, it's also sort of a meditative, relaxing, task.