Disgustingly Amused

I catch myself being strangely amused by our worm babies, pupae teenagers, and beetle adults. It's disgusting actually. These freaky creatures just....amaze me. Sorry this post is random, but trying to sum all my thoughts up into one cohesive statement just isn't working. So bare with me.

Welcome to your new home wormies and.....beetles?! You're not invited. 

 Trying to get a close up (unsuccessfully) of the worms and the half n' halfs.

Left: long worms. Right: disgusting beetle. 

Who thought that beetles came from WORMS?! Not I. 

The grossest picture of them all. There were seriously probably 30 of these nasties at one point.

Half n' halfs I like to call them. Half worm, half beetle. Fitting.

 A lonely beetle looking for friends who aren't worms or half n' halfs.

Ok, so I've had these stinkers for about 2 weeks by now. More than my fair share I think. But I took these pictures just the few days after I got them. Can I just tell you that every time I look the number of beetles has seriously tripled? It's frightening. I thought all the worms were dead because they kind of just shrivel up in the corner and hibernate for a few days. But then, before you know it, there are 500,000 beetles in there. (Ok, so you know that's an exaggeration, but not by very much....) 

Also, the night I got them I was really concerned that they would get out. Now that they can crawl and all. No more slithering. So, that night I had a dream--use your imagination. They were all in my bed, everywhere I went. In fact, that's why I didn't get a date with this boy I like. Sad, right? Yeah, turns out they're so "unintelligent" (I was going to say dumb but that seemed rude) that they can't even climb out. 

Observation #1,000,000: They don't eat. I put new fresh apples in when I first welcome them to my home. They didn't eat one bit. I have never seen a single worm and/or beetle eating anything. And to be honest, I haven't tried anything else. I'm starving our pets. Does that count as neglect? Well, they're still living...I guess that's a good sign? 

Ok, next thing. I know I need to clean out their cage, but I can't do it. There are old nasty shell-like things, skin, etc. all over. Rotten apples too. I can't. I'm so terrified of the beetles. 

Who wants 'em? They're up for adoption. 

METAMORPHOSIS!

You guys, our little babies are all grown up! I was getting nervous because I didn't see very many mealworms moving around; there always seemed to be about two on the paper towel, but the others looked dead. Today I went to clean their habitat and see what the death toll was, but I found a surprise under the paper towel! We have pupa and beetles! BEETLES! ALREADY!

The pupae look really interesting! They're fatter and lighter than the worms. I'm so glad I didn't just think they were dead worms! Also, there are at least three beetles hiding in the oats. Some of the beetles are black, and some are lighter brown.There are a few shedded skins/exoskeletons around the aquarium. I was worried the beetles might need something else to eat, but reading up online it looks like they eat the same thing as the larva (mealworms).

Overall, it looks like most of the mealworms are transitioning to pupa form, so there isn't much movement going on. It's all kind of exciting!

P.S. Maybe Rebekah should have had them before they became adults, lol :)




Also, it doesn't seem like the mealworms and beetles are eating the apples very much anymore. I put new ones in because I think it helps provide a little moisture in their aquarium/cage, but I rarely see any of them on the apples. Maybe they're more into grain now that their maturing?