I order my mealworms online and usually order 5,000 or 10,000 at a time. Best places to get them are either Grubco.com or Rainbowmealworms.net
Grubco is very behind on their orders though so you would have to call. Rainbow ships second day air. Cost for 10,000 from either place is approx $60

Some people only put out a limited amount each day others give unlimited. I pretty much give unlimited...if I notice the dish is empty I put out more. I go through 10,000 in approx a month.

Mealworms can be kept in the fridge in oatmeal or wheatbran for quite a long time...just need to take them out weekly or every other week to give them a moisture source like apple, celery, carrots etc.

Congrats on your successful fledging!

Donna

thanks Donna! So you still go through $60/ month. Not sure that is in my budget, might have to cut that down some :)

I was going through about $60 a month worth (while I was growing my own), so I increased the amount I grow. I hardly ever buy them now. You do need a space to keep all those containers. I buy the stack-able plastic bins. I usually put them out three times a day while they're brooding their young, and again when they bring them back to the feeder. I feed summer and winter, so it really saves me money to grow my own. Congratulations on a successful fledging!

Congratulations! This is our first year with birds in our new house, so we're new too.
We order them online also from drsfostersmith.com When our geriatric kitty was alive, we ordered her supplies from them, and they were always friendly, affordable, quality, and prompt.
This year we first ordered 2k mealworms, then another 2k, then since we had a decent routine of feeding & cleaning, this last batch was 5k. We keep them in the fridge, except during weekends when they come out for their 'dinner'. The grocery store clear-plastic Salad clamshells work very nicely for punching holes in the top & top-sides, and make a nice worm-home in the fridge. We just pull the worm-homes out of the fridge, pick 20 or 30 worms out of them, then take them out to the feeder.

Hope this helps !

lori...yes I go through approx that a month...right now Dad is feeding the second nesting fledglings (first nesting fledged were chased away) and mom is sitting on eggs for the third nesting. I feed live mealworms until approx the middle of Sept when I switch to rehydrated dried ones..they take the switch just fine by that time as bugs are getting more scarce then. YOu can buy less than 5,000 or 10,000 of course but I usually order more to save on the shipping too. Shipping is the worst part of the buying online but even with the shipping it is cheaper than stores...I think Grubco probably has the best prices for shipping smaller amounts.

Donna

I tried Grubco for the first time this year. I was not happy with the quality or the quantity and shipping took a long time. I pay about $12.00 more for Rainbow but they are well worth it. I usually order 10,000 3 times a season. I am going to need to order a 4th time this year because the babies are being allowed to stay and are being pigs, the hatchlings are not quite ready for worms yet. I will post a new thread about who else have found the worm feeder! : )

thanks so much for all the help. I will order some and then try to raise them. Yum, yum worms growing in the garage :)