Kinda freaky ;)

Having mealy worms in the frig, but us songbird watchers are funny folks :)

Looking forward to some good pics soon :)

Dea

Same here Dea but my containers are covered with a colored plastic bag so the DH doesn't have to see them.
He really doesn't like them being in the fridge,lol.

This message was edited Jan 13, 2007 4:59 PM

I can't wait for the sun to rise pelle :)

Ha! No weirder than fat nightcrawlers ready for an evening of bait fishing. :)

We're a strange bunch us bird watchers and fisherfolks :) I'll be you've got some incredible bird photos Kimberley !!

Post 'em won't ya?

My zooms weren't very strong, so I typically only get pictures of friendly birds. LOL I'll see if I can find some. I know I have some posted at DG already and it'll probably be easier to find those than to locate the originals on my hard drives.

LOL!

Don't know if DH would let me have live mealworms in the fridge, even if they were in a solid plastic container where he couldn't see them.

Me too Dea, I'm off tomorrow and I'm hoping we have some decent weather for some photo opps.

Since Friday and at least thru Monday, all we're having is rain and more rain. No photo ops for me. Bummer! :-((

I'm so looking forward to Spring when a lot more types of birds will be eating the mealies!

Dea, Where do you buy your mealies from?

http://www.flukerfarms.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=14

We've been happy with the vitality by and large :)

Dea

Thanks, I was curious how they stay alive through the trip.

How long will they live in the fridge? Do the birds go through a lot of them?

Their dormant when their in the fridge but I'm not sure how long they'll last in there.
I only have the Carolina Wren eating them right now but when Spring comes different types will get them for their young ones so I'll be going through a lot more.

I probably give the Wren under 20 a day right now.

your can keep them alive and making more if you just put them in a big deep plastic container with a lid full of holes. Put about 2 or 3 inches of quick oats, slice a potatoe in half and put wet side up on top of the oats. Cover the top of the oats and potatoes with the paper eggs cartons. You have to let some grow to beetles to reproduce. When they die just pick them out but you will have continous worms at different stage unless you use them to fast

Ah, thanks, Donna and Pelletory.

Thanks Donna - had no idea !

Dea

Gosh darn...I just threw a container away. I fed them to my turtles..it was just to time sonsuming to get them out without the sawdust...and I didnt want it in the pond. Never entered my mind to put them out for the birds and let them peck them out. Think I might get some more!

I kept mine in wheat bran at room temp, and fed them apple. No lid necessary when using a container they can't climb out of (or chew through). It's important to avoid moisture build-up. The mealworms most relished by birds are the ones whitish in appearance that've just shed their skins. (:>
We (organization) went through 100,000+ mealworms per week. :o I developed a life-threatening allergy to mealworms and now use waxworms for my aviary birds.

oh my Magpied. That is really weird!!

Putting the paper egg cartons on top makes them easy to find. The like to hiding under it by the potatoes/apples. Yes if you have a big enough container you don't need a lid but my cat wanted to play with the crawling worm and I didn't relish looking at them when i was eating dinner. The diningroom was the only place I had to put them in winter

Keeping pet birds also entails keeping weird foods in the fridge. The bottom drawer has always been the 'bird' drawer. All sorts of overripe fruit, veggies and such were kept there, for a mixture of finches, softbills and parrots. I used to keep and raise lots of mealworms too! Also developed a horrible allergy to them, little buggers! My DH didn't like to see them, so I had a 3 lb tub from potato salad bought at Costco, punched holes in the top and kept them in wheat bran with apples. Also had a large bin growing out in the shed. Well, MIL didn't listen when I told her not to open the bottom drawer or the potato salad container. She open the potato salad container, screamed, dropped it, spilling bran and mealies EVERYWHERE! What a mess. Must say though, she listened about what *NOT* to touch in my fridge! LOL!

Susie

That's priceless, Susie! Gosh, both you and Magpied developed allergies to mealworms? I never would have thought of it. My first reaction -- a silly one because that's just how I think -- was "well, maybe you shouldn't have been sneaking any. They're for the birds!". ;)

Do the birds 'go just as crazy' for waxworms too? Are the waxworms alive or dead?

Marilyn, the birds *love* waxworms but they are more expensive and don't have as long of a 'shelf life'. Mealworms are beetle larvae; waxworms are moth larvae. ( :>

What's the allergy - what are the signs?

I cannot remember if it began with bumps on the skin or sneezing, or both. Any place on my skin that came in contact with worms or their droppings ("frass") immediately developed red bumps. I would sneeze on top of sneezes--almost couldn't catch my breath between sneezes!--and my nose ran like Niagara Falls (lol)... and my eyes got puffy and itched. I did okay for a while by trying to be careful (shook the worms from the newspaper in which they came outside), etc. but it took a toll on my health. (Bear in mind that I have severe lung disease though.) I also didn't realize that I was 'atopic' at that time. I didn't realize how much it was affecting my ability to breathe, and on a few occasions I would have died had paramedics not been called to the scene. Eventually, sneezing didn't need to be present for a serious reaction to occur.

Mealworms are a known allergen now, and I can look for my saved 'bookmarks' re same and post them later. :o

Ok thanks, no need to go searching though. Just want to be careful when our g-babe comes over :)

It's been a grey and dreary day here, but we keep checking :) The mealyworms are active just waiting for a songbird to arrive!

Dea

Yum, yum! :)

Nice feeder Dea!

Yep, red itchy bumpy rash on any part of hands that touched mealworms, sneezing till you can't catch your breath, itchy eyes and ears, runny nose, breathing difficulties similar to severe asthma. When we got to the 'I can't breathe stage" the mealworms were not longer ordered or hatched. Switched to waxworms, a friend is the largest bee man in AZ, has pallets of bees that are shipped by semi trucks all over AZ, CA, NV and NM for plant pollination. He was very kind (and a bird person) who would give me whatever that stuff was that accumulated in parts of the hive, not honey or combs, but like pollen (?) and it always had tons of worms in it. The birds loved it, I no longer got sick and they were free! Of course, had to use them quickly, otherwise there were moths everywhere! I sure had fat birds and the wild birds got very tame!

Susie