Creating a colony

Picture borrowed from Enchanted Learning

Creating a colony of Meal worms

Just recently my husband and I got a bearded dragon who eats a lot of meal worms after many trips to the pet store and FWMA for said critters I thought how can I create a sustainable colony so we did not have to spend so much money. I started doing some research online and found out that meal worms is only the second stage of the Darkling beetle (Tenebrio molitor) and they are incredibly easy to take care of. 

All you need is simple 2-3 stage set up right now I am using a 2 stage cage system. I started out with a tank that I filled with sand since the meal worms like burrow and hide. Their food source is just as simple I added potatoes (you can also use carrots) and newspaper for pulp (you can also use cornmeal, oats or wheat).

 

 I did want to use a second smaller cage for the pupa stage but I have yet been able to catch them in that stage but you can use a small cricket cage such as the one on the right. When in the pupa stage they do not have to add sand and food to the cage this stage can last 2-3weeks up to 9 months in colder temps. My first 3 took less than a week and a half to break out of their shells. If you have the pupas separated from the worms you must keep a close eye out for the adults because when they break free they will start munching on the pupas who haven't emerged. Once you see the beetles you set up their habitat in the same way that you set up the worm cage and let them do their thing. The adults can start laying eggs as early as 4 days but could take up to 2 weeks to start laying eggs. A female can lay upwards of 500 eggs in her life time. The eggs can take 4-19 days to hatch you can transfer the new baby worms back into the first cage and let the cycle start all over. 

As my colony expands I will add more information.

 

Apple cider vineger toner

I started this project by making my own organic apple cider vinegar I will be writing a future blog post about the process of making your own ACV.

This is a great alternative to expensive store bought toners and a lot healthier for you with only 3 ingredients and only one ingredient that I had to get from the store.

1 cup ACV
2 cups purified or distilled water
1 tablespoon witch hazel

1. Filter 2 cups of water add to your container
2. Filter your ACV through a coffee filter or paper towel to remove the excess mother so it won't clog up your bottle and add to container with a table spoon of witch hazel.
3. Shake well use a cotton ball or cotton pad and gently rub on face and neck.
4. Gently pat face dry or let air dry 

That is it I know to some people the smell of vinegar is not appeasing but the smell only lasts a few seconds after it dries. Since I started using this I have stopped breaking out in acne and my nose no longer gets extra oily from wearing my glasses all day!

Florida Indian Pipe Flower

I found these beautiful Indian Pipe Flowers in my yard wanted to share.

They are still standing after the hard freeze but they are no longer the pretty white color

Jennifer P.