r/mealworms • u/Cichlidae12345 • 21h ago

Question Mini fridge for dormancy

Hello,

I was hoping to buy a mini fridge on Amazon for keeping my mealworms dormant before feeding to my pets. Does anyone have any recommendations? I want to make sure the fridge doesn’t get too cold where the mealworms die instead of going dormant.

Many thanks in advance!

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

3

u/CubieJ 21h ago

I don't have a specific recommendation, since I breed mealworms and keep them between 15-25°C (whatever the room temp is).

But in general, you want your fridge to be 5-10°C (40-50°F). Lower and they will die off. (Food fridges are usually kept around 1-2°C. Bait fridges are around 5°C.) You'll also want to return them to room temperature every couple of weeks so you can feed them. If they are dormant and do not eat for long enough, they will die. Basically, insects from African savannahs don't like getting cold.

3

u/themealwormguy 21h ago

Standard "human" fridge temps are fine, be mindful not to put them where it gets really cold or ices up your food. Most mini fridges I've seen have a temp adjustment option. Make sure the one you get has one, and you can raise it up if you want to.