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can not find meal worms

18 years ago

Reptilefoods is out and sunshine meal worms is not accepting new customers

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Comments (11)

bluebirdbabe
18 years ago
Don't call Grubco either. I called today to order more and they will only send 1,000 on Monday.

The blues will be happy, I guess I will have to order waxworms.
dzyg
18 years ago
Wow, wonder what is up with everyone being out so early? I don't have nesting Blues (yet) so hopefully if I do get them the mealworm shortage is over by then.

Marthaye, do you have a petstore nearby that sells them at all? They are more expensive that way but maybe you could at least get some. I know Walmart always sells waxworms and I would get some there in a pinch.

Donna
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priswell... Thank you soooo much, that tip on alfalfa was great! On Thursday I went down to the local feed store and perused the horse feed aisle. I found alfalfa pellets @ $14 for 40lbs but saw alfalfa cubes on sale for $9 for a 40lbs bag. Got it. Yesterday after juicing, I just added my powdered-up layer mash to the wet pulp to suck up some excess moisture and then I opened the bag of alfalfa cubes (a strong scent of fresh hay filled the room... it really smells good) put just seven cubes (approx 1.5"x1.5" cubes) into the Vitamix, which didn't work so well because there just wasn't the weight of grains and so lacking sufficient gravity to get the proper flow going in the blender I ended up having to force the cubes into the blades (what a mess). However I finally did get it all powdered-up and added it to the pulp and immediately it suck up all the moisture and then some... the mix went from being slightly wet to grainy dry. I actually had to add a cup of milk to loosen it back up some. NOW, I see why you mention using it to adjust the moisture level in the bin... excellent tip. Depending upon where you're reading on the internet (the various horse feeding websites) "they" say alfalfa can absorb anywhere from 3X to 10X its volume in moisture... (some owners soak these cubes before feeding to their horses). Also the bag says not LESS than 17% protein which should work out to around 2.5-3% nitrogen... that's a lot... no wonder some people use this stuff as fertilizer in their gardens. I also read its C:N ratio is 24:1 which I think is nearly ideal for composting purposes. Also I added blackstrap molasses to my mix (been doing that for a while now without issue) and some powdered milk... That stuff is rather expensive as it works out to about $1 per quart (for the small size box)... it puts a LOT of calcium into the mix but still a bit pricey for me. In the end I got about three 8-10lbs bags of this mix into the freezer and will thaw and feed approx. one bag every 3-4 days. Even including our regular additions of kitchen scraps I'm beginning to fall behind on the feeding loads... these worms are voracious (not to mention how their numbers have just multiplied like crazy recently... honestly this increase in appetite has taken me by surprise). During my stroll down the horse feed aisle I spotted beet pulp (on sale $10 for 50lbs) and dried molasses called "sweet feed" @ $18 for a 50lbs bag of the premium (premium because of the underlying forage the molasses is sprayed onto is suppose to be the really good stuff horse-wise... I've read that cheaper stuff can be found for as little as $4 for 50lbs). 50lbs of any of this stuff will last me a couple years, so it is really cheap to feed through the winter months. I didn't put aside nearly enough pre-composted leaves for this winter and have been forced into giving the worms a lot of shredded cardboard lately, this new found source of nutrients (alfalfa) with an ideal C:N ratio (not to mention all the minerals and vitamins it contains) is just the ticket to get the bins through the winter until the snow and ice outside melts and the outdoor composting piles thaw so I again have access to the composting leaves... plus I'll now be able to keep up with the numbers of new worms provided I have bin space to hold them all. I really need to start a couple new bins... REALLY
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Red lava rock, or red-lava-sand, is a great source of iron and potassium. pH of red-lava-rock is 8.2. Red-lava rock is OK like 3 or 4 pieces, too much will UP the soil pH, plus prevent water from soaking through. I went to my neighbor when it was above 90 F one summer. She mulched her roses with THICK layer of black lava rock. I touched them, and they are the same temp. as our rock-hard-clay. She overkilled on the lava-rock: too much potassium drove down nitrogen, so her roses didn't have much leaves, lots of blooms. I would use no more than 3 pieces per rose .. too much and one gets iron-burnt (brown-spot). http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1539970/lava-rock-as-mulch ocdgardener(8) From what I understand about Lava Rocks is: Lava rock breaks down into Lava Sand. From all the sand in the bags I know it happens! Lava Sand is recommended as a soil amendment to HOLD MOISTURE. Now, the only thing I'm not sure about is temperature. I did notice though oddly enough last night when I got home from work the plants in the same bed mulched with cedar were wilting, the plants surrounded by lava were not. Here's the positives I've found thus far. On a slope where my bed is, compost, and every thing else added at the base of the plants washes down to the bottom and is replaced with bare soil. I have to add mulch over and over because it all slides away. The Lava Rocks are not only holding the compost in place but are keeping me from having bare soil. I know it does because we had a heavy rain this morning and I looked and everything was in place! --Not the usual bare soil I see after a rain! I think I should explain how I'm using the rock. I'm taking one rock at a time and pressing it into the soil. When you think of lava rocks as a mulch I think most people tend to imagine it piled up. ocdgardener(8) oh and btw you can't really see that much of the rock anyway - because the plants cover them. Example: This is what the yard looks like in the spring. ocdgardener(8) Update on the lava rock! I bought a soil thermoter and tested the temps. Although not lower, the temps were pretty close to the same by a degree. Also, I have calendulas blooming in the bed in the HEAT of summer. I've never had that before! mrwsm_yahoo_com Lava Rock has low thermal mass. It does not retain heat. Lava Rock keeps the soil soft like mulch, so if there is a weed, no problem, it pulls really easy. I prefer red lava rock, although I have both. Never put plastic underneath it! It keeps most weeds out as is. rickjones I don't know what happened to my original post, but here is a short repeat. LAVA ROCKS ARE WONDERFUL PLANTERS, ESPECIALLY IN THE EXTREME HEAT OF THE MOHAVE DESERT. Yup. I build and use cedar planters and window boxes all over my home, they are great, but do not compare with the flowers grown in the lava rocks that I hollow out and plant a variety of species in. Plants in these rocks see temps to 120 degress in our summers and do just fine! They retain moisture, cool with the air temps, and fertilize plants naturally. I don't use lava rock for bedding, I can see the problems with that. But as a planter? The best planter I have ever had. AND, no maintenance, and years of use looking great. jocoreed_yahoo_com Anyone who questions the ability of lava rock as a growing medium needs to come visit our islands out here in the Pacific. Our Hawaiian islands are completely volcanic is soil and sediment, covered in pure lava rock, and we have the most beautiful plants, trees, produce, and the like. Lava rock and volcanic soil is some of the most nutrient friendly planting medium on earth and is porous enough that it allows for good oxygenation and water flow. Come visit our islands and then come back and post how it's horrible to grow anything in volcanic rock or lava sand. Just my two cents : ) Aloooooha! http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1539970/lava-rock-as-mulch
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janie_may
18 years ago
There is a HUGE shortage. I was told that Nature's Way (they supply a lot of the WBU type stores) won't have them for 6 more weeks. Supposedly it's a trickle down effect. When one supplier has problems, it spreads. A week ago Sunshine and Grubco and Reptile had them, so I was told, and now that "trickle down effect" has trickled down to them, too.

I'm buying them from my local Wild Bird Centers store but her source is somewhere in GA and she said she's not telling ANYONE where she's getting them or then that supplier will also run out. I got 5,000 from her on Sat. and I'm guarding them like gold!
lisa11310
18 years ago
Karen, I am a currant Sunshine customer,they may send me some, you could come get them!
marthaye
Original Author
18 years ago
I do have babies so I will go and pay wild birds price. I have decided to look into raising my own. It has become very expensive. Thanks for the replies at least I will not keep looking.
The ones here at the pet store never look fresh.
erictammy
18 years ago
Maybe its time to start raising them again. I HOPE NOT!! I was finding worms every where and had moths too!
donnalovesblue
18 years ago
Marthaye...I'm a Sunshine customer as well, and didn't know there was a problem...I was out of town for a week and placed an order before I left and requested a Tues. 5/27 delivery date...when in a pinch, the dried mealworms work just fine...I purchase mine from a local feed store, and feed the blues until the live ones arrive..they might prefer the live ones, but they do gobble up the dried when that's all there is!

Wonder why there's such a shortage???? If anyone is interested, I will be more than happy to increase my order from sunshine, and send to any of you!

Donna
janie_may
18 years ago
Donna, I have yet to get a straight answer on "why" there is a shortage but apparently when one large supplier has a problem, it does become a trickle down effect. From what I've been told, Nature's Way was the first to have a problem and so many large wild bird retailers were having to order from other suppliers and then everyone was running short on worms.

I got lucky and found 5,000 very nice ones yesterday and have 10,000 more ordered for next Wed. I'll split those with a friend who lives close by. The store where I got mine (Wild Bird Centers) does not buy from Nature's Way and is keeping her supplier's name a big secret so that she will continue to get worms. I paid $42. for 5,000 and that is more than I'd been paying but at least I got 'em and they are med. to large in size! :D
donnalovesblue
18 years ago
Thanks for the explanation...unfortunately for me and probably many others, the only place I can purchase mealworms locally is PetCo and the quality is very poor, although I did have to buy some to supplement the ones from Sunshine, while out of town...The closest WBU store is 90 miles from me, and I've not checked with them...have you had any experience with them? If I begin to have a problem with Sunshine, I'll be up a creek, especially now that Mama's second nesting is well under way!
mullipuff
18 years ago
Donna - I've tried using waxworms, because even our pet stores here are running low on mealies. My blues LOVE them. You could give it a try in a pinch. And they're softer than mealies, so Mama may be able to use them with "newborns". Good luck, I feel your pain.
janie_may
18 years ago
Donna, be sure to call that WBU before you drive that far. My guess is that they are OUT of meal worms. The ones in Atlanta are. We have about 7 WBU's in my area and 5 Wild Bird Centers and out of all of those stores I only know of one that is still getting good meal worms. And only because the owner of that store found a supplier last year who is off the beaten path and not well known nationally.

These stores are franchise stores but I think most of them used Nature's Way as their meal worms supplier. WBU and Wild Bird Centers.

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