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Meal worms (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter snapper
- Start date
madmike
Well-known member
Mealworms
Hi Snapper,
You could try your local pet shop ( I go to one at a nearby Hilliers garden centre) or even fishing tackle shops as they are also used for bait.
I think you can get them via the web although they will be the dried ones I would think.
My Robins/Thrushes/Black birds seem to prefer the live ones but they cost a lot more.
They certainly work in attracting birds and when feeding their young the birds will fly off with a beak full!
Helen is the BF MealWorm consultant if you get stuck!!
Good luck,
madmike
Hi Snapper,
You could try your local pet shop ( I go to one at a nearby Hilliers garden centre) or even fishing tackle shops as they are also used for bait.
I think you can get them via the web although they will be the dried ones I would think.
My Robins/Thrushes/Black birds seem to prefer the live ones but they cost a lot more.
They certainly work in attracting birds and when feeding their young the birds will fly off with a beak full!
Helen is the BF MealWorm consultant if you get stuck!!
Good luck,
madmike
You can buy online, - live mealworms - although they are a tad more expensive.
Try a reputable petshop, they usually sell them in small tubs. I find it's cheaper to buy 500g bags rather than the small tubs of them.
Keep them in a cool place (garage etc) or even in the fridge. If kept in the fridge, they will become torpid, but once they are in a warmer termperature they will soon liven up.
Beware, once you start, it's difficult to stop feeding them to the birds! oh, and it can put a dent in your wallet too.
Try a reputable petshop, they usually sell them in small tubs. I find it's cheaper to buy 500g bags rather than the small tubs of them.
Keep them in a cool place (garage etc) or even in the fridge. If kept in the fridge, they will become torpid, but once they are in a warmer termperature they will soon liven up.
Beware, once you start, it's difficult to stop feeding them to the birds! oh, and it can put a dent in your wallet too.
Thanks Helen once again, I am learning fast if you or any one else needs any advice on planting for birds trees, shrubs etc & how to feed them to produce good berry/fruit crops what plants for what soils contact me, Know more about gardening & gardening for birds then birds themselves Snapper.
Gill Osborne
Well-known member
A MASSIVE dent in your wallet but it's worth it to see the birds so obviously loving them! Especially the starlings who loved them SO much it was hilarious watching them trying to cram as many as possible into their beak and, upon trying for ONE LAST ONE, dropping the whole lot!
When I move in a few weeks I'm hoping I'll be able to get somewhere with a garden so i can set up my feeding station again and I'd like to start breeding mealworms so I have a constant supply.
GILL
When I move in a few weeks I'm hoping I'll be able to get somewhere with a garden so i can set up my feeding station again and I'd like to start breeding mealworms so I have a constant supply.
GILL
finchy
Well-known member
helenol,
all the common finch and tit family plus wrens,blackbirds,robins etc.
I even put the dish on the bird table but they still weren't interested.I've now put them in a dish inside an old open faced blackbird nestbox and will just let nature take its course.
Could be that they've never seen mealworms before i suppose.
all the common finch and tit family plus wrens,blackbirds,robins etc.
I even put the dish on the bird table but they still weren't interested.I've now put them in a dish inside an old open faced blackbird nestbox and will just let nature take its course.
Could be that they've never seen mealworms before i suppose.
Hi finchy, assuming you don't have predators, you could try putting the dish on the ground, rather than the bird table. Alternatively, scatter a few worms on the grass.
As I mentioned at the start of this thread, the wren is one of the main visitors for the worms, I tend to just scatter them now, giving all the birds a chance to take some.
Let us know how you get on.
Regards
As I mentioned at the start of this thread, the wren is one of the main visitors for the worms, I tend to just scatter them now, giving all the birds a chance to take some.
Let us know how you get on.
Regards
Gill Osborne
Well-known member
Once they DO suss out what the mealworms are you'll not be able to keep the feeder filled up fast enough!
I had to 'ration' my birds to first thing in the morning and early evening.
GILL
I had to 'ration' my birds to first thing in the morning and early evening.
GILL
madmike
Well-known member
Mealworms
Hi finchy,
when I first started using MW (for which I blame Helen!) I put the tray some distance from the house on my shed roof. It took a while for the Robin to find them, but then I gradually brought the tray closer to the house, and now I have Robins,BB,Thrushes and the odd BT come right up to my window all day long! It costs me a fortune but I get some great viewing!
Some people have a problem with Starlings but I don't seem to at all.
I buy dried and live worms and the birds take both although they seem to prefer the live ones!
Good luck,
madmike
Hi finchy,
when I first started using MW (for which I blame Helen!) I put the tray some distance from the house on my shed roof. It took a while for the Robin to find them, but then I gradually brought the tray closer to the house, and now I have Robins,BB,Thrushes and the odd BT come right up to my window all day long! It costs me a fortune but I get some great viewing!
Some people have a problem with Starlings but I don't seem to at all.
I buy dried and live worms and the birds take both although they seem to prefer the live ones!
Good luck,
madmike
I pay £7.50 for a 500g bag. Believe me, if you gave everytime the birds were present, you would go through kilos of them each day!!
I tend to give them a load in the late afternoon, and continue until the last bird (usually the song thrush) has had its fill. If I did this continually throughout the day, my other half would be living on bread and water for the rest of the month!
As I mentioned, the tubs (40g) tend to work out more expensive. Online I've seen 450g bags costing around £12.00.
I tend to give them a load in the late afternoon, and continue until the last bird (usually the song thrush) has had its fill. If I did this continually throughout the day, my other half would be living on bread and water for the rest of the month!
As I mentioned, the tubs (40g) tend to work out more expensive. Online I've seen 450g bags costing around £12.00.
You can get mealworms at www.birdfood.co.uk and from a seller on Ebay (although I think that one's slightly more expensive for the same amounts)
carol poole
Active member
mealworms
cage and avairy birds have the names of a couple of suppliers. they also sell waxmoth, locust, crickets and fruit fly and the birds love them. mealworms are the cheapest the others are more expensive and really are used by those who keep and breed birds in captivity
cage and avairy birds have the names of a couple of suppliers. they also sell waxmoth, locust, crickets and fruit fly and the birds love them. mealworms are the cheapest the others are more expensive and really are used by those who keep and breed birds in captivity
madmike
Well-known member
Mealworms
Hi snapper,
If it's any help, I've just been to my local MW supplier and they say they can do the dried ones by mail order. A small carton such as you get coleslaw in is £3.99 plus the P&P.
Their phone number is 01489 781260 and it's Grange Pet centre which is in Hedge End near Southampton.
Good luck,
madmike
Hi snapper,
If it's any help, I've just been to my local MW supplier and they say they can do the dried ones by mail order. A small carton such as you get coleslaw in is £3.99 plus the P&P.
Their phone number is 01489 781260 and it's Grange Pet centre which is in Hedge End near Southampton.
Good luck,
madmike
Thanks to everyone for the advice I am going to try a tub of each dried & live & see which the birds like the most, This week is the first time I have used a fat tray in a cage you know like a fat ball only in a wire basket I could not believe it I put it out in the morning when i came home from work it had gone its up on the wall so no squirrels can get at it so when I reckoned up the fat trays the meal worms, peanuts, sunflower hearts, plus my table mix that comes to £53.14p & I thought Photography was an expensive hobby, But the pleasure is tremendous out of curiousity what does everyone else spend on food per week. Snapper.
