# Keeping mealworms alive in the feed bowl (?)



## rainyhex (Dec 30, 2008)

Hi, my son just got a Leopard Gecko and he seems to be doing really well - pooing every day and getting less timid and eating a little more every day. He loves his mealworms, and we put some in his mealworm bowl every night with a spray of water and some greens. Problem is, they die after a couple of hours! 

Does anyone have any tips for keeping them alive? At least overnight!

Also, we have to get the tiny locusts as the next size up we can get are too big, but they dont seems to get any bigger! The shop says that after a couple of days they double in size, but they dont. We feed them greens, beardie dried food, gut filling powder and give them water. We have had a packet for about a week and a half now and no change in size.

If anyone can give us tips, that would be great :2thumb:

Thanks!


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## Geckoman OZ (Feb 7, 2010)

They may be really dehydrated so give them a piece of carrot the day before as they should stay alive for alot longer imo
Im about to post a thread about reasons why they should not be used, keep an eye out


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## Bamboozoo (Oct 2, 2009)

Mealworms are very susceptible to moisture. Try giving the mealworms with just the greens, no spraying and see if that helps.


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

mealies stay alive in a dish fine ~ just add a bit of carrot or apple if needed but don't spray them with water ~ it kinda drowns them 



I.live.in.Australia.haha said:


> Im about to post a thread about reasons why they should not be used, keep an eye out


oh and why shouldn't mealworms be used? :halo:


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## Kerriebaby (May 12, 2009)

Mealies dont cope too well with being wetted (lost a whole box once by giving them water...felt a right meanie) Put them in the cooler part of the viv(so they dont cook) and out a piece of apple/carrot etc in the bowl...I change the mealie over in the morning (so that what is being offered is nicely gut loaded) what hasnt been eaten goes back into the tub


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## rainyhex (Dec 30, 2008)

Duh! Here's me thinking that the moisture would help! I will try without tonight, maybe he will be keener to eat them too. So far he doesn't go to the bowl and will only take them off feeding tweezers - now I know why! 

Thanks alot for the advice


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## JotnJosie (Apr 16, 2009)

i usually "bulk out" my mealies by just giving them fresh veg this stops them from getting dehydrated as there is water in the veg. plus it will make the mealies have more vits which is alot better for your gecko


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## Geckoman OZ (Feb 7, 2010)

Sorry i misread your post
spraying them with water will kill them


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## Kerriebaby (May 12, 2009)

rainyhex said:


> Duh! Here's me thinking that the moisture would help! I will try without tonight, maybe he will be keener to eat them too. So far he doesn't go to the bowl and will only take them off feeding tweezers - now I know why!
> 
> Thanks alot for the advice


Mine dont really eat them out of the bowl either, they only reluctantly eat them at all, does involve alot of tweezer dangling (scenting with a waxie works!)

I swear I am an unpaid slave to them two!


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## Geckoman OZ (Feb 7, 2010)

Personally i wouldn't bother with mealworms, they are full of fat, hard to digest and inhibit calcium absorption


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## rainyhex (Dec 30, 2008)

He wont eat crix and not giving too many locusts as it might put him off the more nutritional stuff! Have just read something on the web about roaches being even better than crix and dont jump. Anyone use roaches for beardies and leo's?


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

personally I would say that (along with many other keepers and breeders) even my hatchling leopard geckos are well able to eat and digest mealworms with no problem at all ~ also while studying various poop offerings I generally find that there while there is a natural amount of 'debris' this is usually evenly spread between the different livefoods offered.. the only time this wasn't the case was with a rescue who not only had a heavy parasite load but had also been kept in below optimum conditions for adequate digestion.
Andy (GlasgowGecko) has some excellent articles on chitin that are well worth reading


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## swift_wraith (Jan 4, 2009)

Like kerriebaby siggested, try putting the bowl in the cool end so they dont cook. Mealies are more active at room temp. Also, leo's are naturally inquisitive so will wander out and explore given half the chance. Try leaving the bowl with the mealies in the rub for an hour. Also, as leos are nocturnal, i find they feed better after around 9pm.


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## Geckoman OZ (Feb 7, 2010)

rainyhex said:


> He wont eat crix and not giving too many locusts as it might put him off the more nutritional stuff! Have just read something on the web about roaches being even better than crix and dont jump. Anyone use roaches for beardies and leo's?


Iv used them for beardies and imo they are one of the best live food in terms of nutrition


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## Geckoman OZ (Feb 7, 2010)

SleepyD said:


> personally I would say that (along with many other keepers and breeders) even my hatchling leopard geckos are well able to eat and digest mealworms with no problem at all ~ also while studying various poop offerings I generally find that there while there is a natural amount of 'debris' this is usually evenly spread between the different livefoods offered.. the only time this wasn't the case was with a rescue who not only had a heavy parasite load but had also been kept in below optimum conditions for adequate digestion.
> Andy (GlasgowGecko) has some excellent articles on chitin that are well worth reading


Ok i have only kept aussie species personally 
Have a read of my thread about meal worm nutrition


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## suez (Jul 8, 2007)

SleepyD said:


> personally I would say that (along with many other keepers and breeders) even my hatchling leopard geckos are well able to eat and digest mealworms with no problem at all ~ also while studying various poop offerings I generally find that there while there is a natural amount of 'debris' this is usually evenly spread between the different livefoods offered.. the only time this wasn't the case was with a rescue who not only had a heavy parasite load but had also been kept in below optimum conditions for adequate digestion.
> Andy (GlasgowGecko) has some excellent articles on chitin that are well worth reading


 
i second this :2thumb:


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

I.live.in.Australia.haha said:


> Ok i have only kept aussie species personally
> Have a read of my thread about meal worm nutrition


I did and taking that you stated


> This advice applies to *all herps* and is a must read for anyone who uses it as a staple


then I would have to disagree with you in regards to leopard geckos 


> The tough exoskeleton of the mealworm can be difficult to digest and impactions of the gut from undigested mealworm skins is not uncommon.


 and while the above may apply to certain other reps I wouldn't say it applies to *all* reps as leos have been raised successfully for many years on a staple diet of mealies
As said there's two good articles on Andy's site which covers the aspect of nutrition, mealworms and chitin ~
Articles4
http://www.glasgowgecko.co.uk/Articles/Chitin.pdf

personally speaking I prefer to offer a varied diet of well-gutloaded livefood ~ as I believe *how* you feed the livefood is just as important as anything else ~ along with necessary supplements : victory:


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## Geckoman OZ (Feb 7, 2010)

My opinion is from the experience years of keeping and breeding Australian lizards
It is also shared by many non biased vets who specialize in reptile husbandry
Please read these FACTS and make up your own mind

http://www.geckodan.com/The%20Pro.htm


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## nuttybabez (Jul 21, 2007)

My leos are fed mealies and they do really well on them so I am afraid I disagree with you aswell. 

rainyhex - I gutload my mealies and then put them in a dish with some calcium and nutrobal, shake them up so they are covered in powder and let the leos help themselves. Water kills mealies very quickly and makes them all yukky-sticky so don't spray them. Good luck!


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

I.live.in.Australia.haha said:


> My opinion is from the experience years of keeping and breeding Australian lizards
> It is also shared by many non biased vets who specialize in reptile husbandry
> Please read these FACTS and make up your own mind


lmao and my opinion is also from the experiance and years of successfully keeping and breeding Leopard Geckos  ~ and there's quite a few others on here and elsewhere that could also say the same 
as to reading facts ~ I do read thankyou ... I read and research quite a bit before making any informed decision and whilst other reps may not be able to correctly digest mealies leopard geckos are not imo one of them


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## Kerriebaby (May 12, 2009)

I.live.in.Australia.haha said:


> My opinion is from the experience years of keeping and breeding Australian lizards
> It is also shared by many non biased vets who specialize in reptile husbandry
> Please read these FACTS and make up your own mind
> 
> The Pro’s and Con’s of Mealworms as a food for reptiles


there in maybe the difference. You refer to Aussie species, probs have a completely different make up to our Leos (do you have Leos in Aus?)

I dont know much about Beardies, but I do know they they shouldnt have mealies too often because of the make up of the mealies, so maybe that is similar to your Aus Geckos

Admittedly, mine dont eat mealies very often (only when im being a meany and dont offer anything else)


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## benjo (Oct 31, 2007)

im with nuttybab <3, i gutload for a week, then put some in a old candle holder thats made of clear glass, and smother them in a mix of 1:2 nurtobal:calcium mix, and leave some of it in the candle holder as mealies shell dont seem to hold powders well.

iv never had a problem with mealies, i used mini's for my baby leos but moved onto reg that i now breed my self.


also just if you new to mealies, never put veg into the livefood tubs they come in, and put lid back on. they will die very quickly as the weetabix or what ever they are on turns into a muddy mix and they just drown/die. found out the hard way, i have mine in a catlitter style propergator without the top on, and put veg in each 4 corners, pick out aliens and put them into a livefood tub with no lid and bobs your uncle


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## Geckoman OZ (Feb 7, 2010)

SleepyD said:


> lmao and my opinion is also from the experiance and years of successfully keeping and breeding Leopard Geckos  ~ and there's quite a few others on here and elsewhere that could also say the same
> as to reading facts ~ I do read thankyou ... I read and research quite a bit before making any informed decision and whilst other reps may not be able to correctly digest mealies leopard geckos are not imo one of them


Ok my bad
I wrongly assumed that leos would have the same problems with the high levels of fat,chitin,phosphorus etc as Australian geckos and dragons
So if a leo eats mealworms as a staple is it just as healthy as one on crickets or roaches?


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

I.live.in.Australia.haha said:


> I wrongly assumed that leos would have the same problems with the high levels of fat,chitin,phosphorus etc as Australian geckos and dragons


if by that you mean did you think that leo's would have trouble digesting mealies and face impaction through eating them (going by previous posts) then no, leopard geckos don't have a problem digesting mealies 



> So if a leo eats mealworms as a staple is it just as healthy as one on crickets or roaches?


bearing in mind that I cannot speak for the other breeders including large well known ones who have used mealies as a staple for 20+ years ~ then yes well gutloaded/fed mealworms along with required supplements can be used as a staple diet for leopard geckos... mind you making sure that any livefood whether fed singularly or as part of a varied diet is well-gutloaded and supplemented should be par for the course anyway

ps my apologies to rainyhex for going OT


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