u/Planet-Bugs

TLDR: I tried leftover cooked rice instead of veggie scraps. The larvae just didn't like it.

1. Bedding: wheat bran, leftover bread
2. Normal feeding regimen: carrot ends, apple/pear cores, leafy greens on an irregular basis
3. 3 bin system - beetles lay eggs for 1 month in bin 1; small larvae in bin 2; large larvae in bin 3 (these go out to feed the wild birds). pupa removed from bin 3 and placed on egg cartons in bin 1.
4. system is in the garage, so highly variable temps - 50F to 80F and humidity swings from 20% to 80%. Bins 1 and 2 sit on top of heated seed mats that turn on overnight.

Normally I give my red wigglers the cooked rice that's been sitting in the fridge too long. I thought maybe the mealworms would like it since it has so much moisture in it. So, I took a small amount and put it on a Kleenex tissue in bin 3 with the big larvae. The second picture is from a few hours later. You can see larvae are curious, but they haven't swarmed it like they do with other things. The next day, I tried to entice them with a small bit of carrot in the middle, but that didn't seem to do much.

Has anyone else tried old, leftover cooked rice with success?