Live mealworms 500g

I am so pleased with my first purchase of live mealworms delivered last week. They arrived well packaged. I was a bit apprehensive at first but they are very clean and easy to handle. I transferred them to a plastic tub with a lid and some airholes. They come packaged in bran. I also read to put a couple of pieces of potato in with them for food which l do every couple of days which they seem to like.
I put some mealworms out each morning as we have many nesting birds. After a couple of days the birds are now queueing up to take them. Mainly sparrows and Robins. It's a joy to help them along with a few easy meals for their young. I love to watch them cramming them into their beaks and flying off. Best £14 l have spent.

I don't want to give this product a -bad- review since the mealworms were just as described. However I seem to have fussy birds. The Bad arrived promptly (separately and before a load of other stuff I ordered from RSPB), in a suitable bag and box marked with live warnings.

The mealworms were all alive as far as I can tell, and supplied with what I assume is some meal to keep them alive enroute. They all looked healthy and I didn't see any dead 'worms or beetles, however...

Unfortunately my birds (mostly tits, robins, pigeons, collared doves, starlings, thrush and the occasional rare Jay) prefer the dried mealworms to the live ones. It took a lot longer for these to go - thankfully they stayed happy and healthy during their stay, just a shame that they weren't more popular as I was hoping it'd be a nice treat for the birdies.

That said, the 'product' was exactly as advertised so I'd still heartily recommend these, for birds that are happy to eat them!

I was a little nervous about ordering these, but the weather is getting cooler and the birds will need all the help they can get, so I ordered them, they came very well packaged, I placed them in a plastic tub and made holes in the lid, I put some out for the birds, I felt very guilty about, but shortly when the Robins and starlings came down and noticed them, and started feeding the feeling soon passed, especially when the magpie came down and took off with about 20 in his beak, not sure how long they will last but the price seems quite reasonable.

I have bought these meal worms a few times and they have been great. However the last couple deliveries have included live beetles, which is understandable. However the last delivery the bag had a small hole, hence a great escape by the meal worms, it doesn't take much!! Secondly I found more beetles and a clump of mouldy dead beetles - perhaps not quite so acceptable. Shame as I will be going elsewhere and see what the quality is like. However I did expect top quality by the RSPB.

RSPB response: Thank you for your review, please contact customer services as we would like to investigate this. It may have been due to the heat and a delay in delivery, but we would like to make sure as this should not be the case.

I bought my first batch of these a month or so ago, having only put out dried mealworms before. This year as I had robins nesting in my honeysuckle within view of the kitchen, I thought I'd help them along with some live food. It arrived in perfect condition, and I put the worms in a plastic tub with a clingfilm top - they don't seem to be able to climb out of that - in my shed. The birds took a while to realise what they were, but now can't get enough of them. Whenever I go out into the garden a robin ( one of I think 3 pairs in or near my garden) lands near me and looks at me expectantly until I head for the shed! The local blackbirds gobble them down too. That batch is now all gone so I shall have to get some more to maintain my popularity ....

Have ordered live meal worms a couple of times now - arrived promptly and all alive. They don't smell and are fine to handle; kept mine in the bag and fed mine gradually over a week or so. Note that the package is too large for the postbox so order mid-week if you can't pick up until the weekend. Birds love them - eaten within 15 minutes. Had the joy of watching a Starling feeding it's chick today and there are a couple of fat, happy blackbird chicks out there too. They are expensive but worth it if you can afford it.

I always buy the live food at this time of year to help the birds in the feeding of their chicks and I've just received my latest purchase. I would swear that the birds were lining up when I opened the box to put the worms out and within 5 minutes, the first batch had gone mainly by the starlings, and then a few brave sparrows to pick up the strays. I don't mind the starlings getting the lion's share as I do enjoy the murmurations in the autumn and their numbers have fallen over recent years but I do feel sorry for the blackbirds when they come along and there's nothing left! I feel another couple of bags coming on!

Unlike a previous reviewer, we've never had a problem with quality or delivery and if you keep them in a cool place (in the garage in our case, in a plastic tub with holes in the top) and keep feeding them, they will produce more worms. However, they don't last long enough in our house for that to happen regularly!

When I purchased my first bag of Live Mealworms, I was really impressed, as I looked after them, fed them well, kept them cool and they lasted months, in fact, I am sure they multiplied and of course the birds loved them.
But this second bag I bought, although most of the worms were alive when the bag arrived, some were dead and the smell was terrible. After a week all the worms had died and they 'stunk' this batch was sent to me in some kind of bedding or old food stuff, not sure really what it was. But they all ended up in the bin.
I will not be purchasing any more of these.

RSPB response - Thanks for your review. We will make sure your comments are passed to the supplier.

I bought these worms to help the birds during the time when they're feeding their young. They really loved them and starlings, sparrows and blackbirds were all coming down with their young to feed them. The only problem for me was I happened to get them when the hot weather came in and I found it hard to keep them cool. Also, I had a problem with feeding the poor little worms only to give them as food to the birds. I felt cruel to the worms, at same time as loving the birds looking so happy. I won't get them again as this was too hard for me, but I would recommend them if you don't have a problem with feeding live to live. I'm a wuss lol. Good luck :)

I have always bought fresh mealworms for the birds around breeding time and after moving house, have done the same. All the birds apart from the wood pigeons and collard doves love them and one male blackbird (one with a white feather so I know it's him!!) now comes by the patio door or on the kitchen window sill when he wants more! He has even brought 3 of his fledglings down to feed - so-o-o-o cute!! Never seen any food (apart from the suet blocks) vanish so fast! Only problem is keeping the magpies off them. I let them have a few and then step into the garden so they fly off and let the rest of the birds have some. I keep mine in a large plastic tub with air holes in the garage and feed them lettuce leave and oats more or less daily. Not that the worms last long the way the birds get through them. There is no smell and when kept cold, they barely wriggle in your hands either. I did have some escapees when kept in the bag they arrived in but was probably my fault for not closing it properly. The worms seem pricey but as the birds love them it doesn't matter.

I bought live mealworms because I thought the fare being brought back by great tits to the bird box by the kitchen window looked a tad thin. For half an hour the tits swooped from the box to the bird table and seemed happy! Then came the magpie and the remaining mealworms were snaffled in seconds. The next day I tried again, but word had spead and 9 starlings turned up....at one point a blackbird and a starling had a fight over a beakful....and not only did we get a repeat visit from the magpie, but I looked out to see a rook attempting to get onto the bird table. I'm going to have to rethink the way I present live food. I am happy to feed mostl birds but magpies and rooks? Not sure about them

About to order next batch after first one lasted months. Followed advice of review on your website feeding dandelion or lettuce leaves or a small handful of porridge oats. Tried muesli and more scrunched up newspaper and baby worms kept arriving. We used a plastic sweetie jar with small holes melted in the lid with a hot skewer and turned the jar regularly. Must be kept really cool however to prolong life so at this time of year ( June/July )it will be difficult. ( unless you have a spare fridge in the garage )

I was nervous about handling live worms but it turned out to be really easy. I kept them in the garage in the stitched bag they came in with the top folded down and it was absolutely fine. There were no escapees and in the cool conditions the worms were pretty still and didn't have an odour. Although the local blackbirds didn't seem interested in the mealworms they were an instant hit with the local robins, nuthatches and starlings who all seemed glad of a source of live food for their chicks. They came back again and again until every last worm was found and gobbled! Having got over my nervousness I'll definitely buy live mealworms again. They are a bit pricey for including in the regular food order as I have no doubt that the birds in the garden would easily consume as many as I can provide! However, they're great for supporting parents rearing chicks especially when natural food sources aren't plentiful and/or when the weather conditions haven't been good

I started out with dried mealworms because my wife did not like the idea of live worms in the house. The birds loved the dried worms but did drink plenty of water immediately following their meal. I agreed to keep the worms in a plastic tub, in the garden shed and so bought my first batch of live worms. The blackbirds love them, as do the robins. The robins have realised where I keep the worms and often come into the shed if I leave the door open. They are so poular that I feed them only up until lunch time so the birds will go and forage for themselves in the afternoon.

I bought these live worms and the birds love them, they are gone faster than I can blink. Only problem is the starlings seem to get there first and scoff them all. I put more out after they have gone. Couldn't buy them all the time though as it would cost too much. I read on the internet how to look after the worms, I placed them all in a plastic tub didn't need to put the lid on as they didn't crawl up or escape. I kept them in my gargae where it's cooler and they stay quite still but when in room temp they sqirm around more. I also put them some food in

First time I've bought live meal worms, so a bit nervous, however, apart from leaving the top of the pack a little open, thankfully still in the box they arrived in, and having them try to escape, they were brilliant for the birds. I had blackbirds and robins galore, wonderful to watch. Am just about to order my next batch.

When i put live mealworms out on the bird table in the breeding season thousands of starlings come and come with a mouth full of mealworms and fly away with them.And if one of the starlings has to much mealworms then they all go and chase it until it drops some.Don't be squeamish i would really recommend these wiggly worms.10/10

I have never enjoyed watching all the birds feeding in my garden so much since I started giving them live mealworms. The blue tits start gathering on the branch above the feeder when it is being filled with an excited twittering and it is like the first day of the sales with lots of pushing and shoving to get there first! All the fledglings are now full and happy!

There is rather an element of grim luxury in being able to have thousands of these critters delivered to your doorstep! The mealworms are dry and clean and come in a sturdy bag with several leaves of newspaper inserted (presumably for them to nibble on and cosy in - a great use of old paper too). Don't be afraid to touch them; there really is a child-like joy in being able to handle them! I was a little apprehensive about blindly sticking my hand into the bag the first time, but you immediately become used to the mealworms. Food-wise, the birds love them. I have seen many a blackbird (or probably the same one many times!) coming and grabbing them by the billfull, just as in the picture above. Needless to say that other birds are all too glad of the meal as well - assuming that the mealworms make a great substitute for caterpillars, you can do your parent birds a massive favour, especially as there is talk of caterpillars hatching too early in the year.

IF YOU WANT TO ATTRACT BIRDS TO YOUR GARDEN THEN THIS IS THE WAY TO GO! THE STARLINGS ARE ALWAYS TO FIRST TO HOME IN, THEN WORD GETS ROUND THEN ITS THE REST OF THE GARDEN BIRDS. ITS BEST MAYBE TO SCATTER THEM AROUND THE GARDEN AS WELL AS PUTTING THEM IN A FEEDER AS THE STARLINGS WOOF THEM DOWN IN ONE SITTING! AND AS THE OTHERS HAVE SAID IT BEST TO PUT THEM IN AN ESCAPE PROOF CONTAINER AND A COOL PLACE. BEWARE THOUGH THESE BOYS ARE EXPERT CLIMBERS

the starlings and robins love these and with patience will feed from the hand, blue tits and blackbirds are also partial. to keep alive I decant the worms into an open top, large plastic (shiny plastic as this prevents them from climbing) storage box, then crumble a single wheatabix (or similar) into the box once a week, keep them in the dark in the shed and they last for two to three weeks.