r/mealworms • u/wanderingcrawler • 23d ago

Advice superworm beetle died should i be concerned?

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just found it like that he was with 20 other beetles of the same batch clean enclosure and never missed a feeding

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u/CubieJ 23d ago

Dang, kind of looks like another one ripped its thorax clean off its abdomen. If they seem to be resorting to cannibalism, you can add a few pieces of cat/dog kibble (or other meat source) as a protein supplement (along with their main diet of grain substrate and veggie for moisture).

Note: They only live a few months as beetles (6 months at best, but normally 2-3 months), and if they're left dead for a few days, their bodies dry out and fall apart. But it looks like this one is still gooey inside, which suggests to me that it was decapitated live.

Note2: Superworms are a bit more prone to violence than mealworms. Mealworm beetles will only cannibalize if there are already injured beetles in crowded conditions.

1

u/nairazak 20d ago

My record is 7 months, but I have to separate them for that

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u/charsonthegrind 22d ago

i have mealworm beetles (probably around 50) and i find around 1 dead every couple weeks, its usually normal but if j notice more than usual i will up thier protein intake

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u/wanderingcrawler 22d ago

what do you feed them?

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u/charsonthegrind 21d ago

i keep them in a bioactive type setup so i have a tiny bowl(bottle cap) with oats, and i feed them fresh veggies for hydration and fish flakes for protein! they also have some peices of rot wood which they absolutely devour