# Who do I believe about Morio worms and fat-tailed/leopard Geckos?



## violawench (Oct 16, 2009)

Hey guys

Just got m first Gecko Henry, who's leustistic, 2 years old and will only eat wax worms and hoppers...

Now Ive been reading up on them and bought a book about these breeds, and the book advocates feeding giant meal worms as they are supposed to be quite nutritious if gut loaded and can be left in the viv as a constant food supply (as opposed to crickets etc who will nibble) is what the book says.

Now I keep a good supply of adult hoppers, standard crickets, wax worms and morio worms, for my beardie, turtle and my banana tree frogs, but when I asked about morio worms as food in the shop, they said no as they can eat through a gecko's belly...

Now it leaves me with a problem, the size of hoppers he eats wont be in until tuesday, and I dont really wanna feed him wax worms till then as I usually keep these as treats for my animals, what is your thoughts on the above statements?

Yay or nay to morio's and geckos?

I am gonna try to wean him onto crickets and if I have to pull the legs off my adult hoppers I will, but they seem HUGE compared to him..

Any feedback is v.welcome


Sara


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## ReptileLady (Feb 4, 2010)

I'm afraid this is a debate much like the infamous substrate debate! Each owner to their own, basically.

However, I would suggest feeding mealworms rather than morios, mealworms are just the right size for adult leos whereas morios can be rather large! : victory:

All of mine have mealworms available in their vivs at all times, I do find that some need to be tempted to eat them though as they tend to ignore them if they're not wriggling around infront of them. Others will eat them with gusto though! :lol2:


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## violawench (Oct 16, 2009)

ReptileLady said:


> I'm afraid this is a debate much like the infamous substrate debate! Each owner to their own, basically.
> 
> However, I would suggest feeding mealworms rather than morios, mealworms are just the right size for adult leos whereas morios can be rather large! : victory:
> 
> All of mine have mealworms available in their vivs at all times, I do find that some need to be tempted to eat them though as they tend to ignore them if they're not wriggling around infront of them. Others will eat them with gusto though! :lol2:



Lol wasnt wanting to get into that...dangerous territory substrate is!!

i actually find it quite hard to find mealworms, whereas morios are everywhere!!


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

*morio worms*

eat through a gecko's belly? BULLPOOP! read the article about meal/morio worms as lizard food in practical reptile mag- i forget which edition, but you should be able to find it online. basically, it states that this is a myth, as all lizards kill their prey by crushing it in their jaws, before swallowing, & in any case, the digestive acids will kill any insect that's swallowed alive. if it's safe to feed them to other lizards, how can geckos be any different?


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## ReptileLady (Feb 4, 2010)

I usually get mine online 

And I agree with Steve, but I don't want to get into a debate about what is and isn't possible :whistling2:


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## violawench (Oct 16, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> eat through a gecko's belly? BULLPOOP! read the article about meal/morio worms as lizard food in practical reptile mag- i forget which edition, but you should be able to find it online. basically, it states that this is amyth, as all lizards ill their prey by crushing it in their jaws, before swallowing, & in any case, the digestive acids will kill any insect that's swallowed alive. if it's safe to feed them to other lizards, how can geckos be any different?



Well this is what I thought, but then I was advised by someone who's been in the reptile trade for a long time and who I trust and have a lot of respect for. Plus he was the guy who raised it when it had all the health problems.

However I do understand what your saying, I mean maybe it's just me because Im used to handling my beardie and turtle etc but the gecko just seems to soft and delicate, especially round the belly, that it made me doubt the suitability.


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

I feed some of my adult Leos on Morio worms with no problems at all - they really like them. I must say though that I have the opposite food supply problem to you - everywhere sells full sized mealworms but Morios I have to order off the net.


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## NBLADE (Apr 11, 2007)

violawench said:


> Well this is what I thought, but then I was advised by someone who's been in the reptile trade for a long time and who I trust and have a lot of respect for. Plus he was the guy who raised it when it had all the health problems.
> 
> However I do understand what your saying, I mean maybe it's just me because Im used to handling my beardie and turtle etc but the gecko just seems to soft and delicate, especially round the belly, that it made me doubt the suitability.


 
the story is a myth, it was started by someone whos animal died, and mealworms were in the viv, the worms then ate there way in, then out of the animal, starting the myth that they ate there way out and killed the lizard, if you have ever fed mealworms a carcass you will see how quick they eat into it, and then eat their way out, 

i feed morios to my adult leos, they are fine to feed,


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## violawench (Oct 16, 2009)

NBLADE said:


> the story is a myth, it was started by someone whos animal died, and mealworms were in the viv, the worms then ate there way in, then out of the animal, starting the myth that they ate there way out and killed the lizard, if you have ever fed mealworms a carcass you will see how quick they eat into it, and then eat their way out,
> 
> i feed morios to my adult leos, they are fine to feed,



I see, well I'll try to source some meal worms, and give him a go with the morios I have here, he's loving the wax worms, it's like all his birthdays have come at once...:lol2:


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## OrigamiB (Feb 19, 2008)

The idea that a little worm could first survive being chomped on by a gecko AND the extremly inhospitable conditions in the stomach is pretty crazy =P

Whoever started that myth deserves a high five for probably the best april fools joke ever =P


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## ambyglam (Nov 16, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> eat through a gecko's belly? BULLPOOP! read the article about meal/morio worms as lizard food in practical reptile mag- i forget which edition, but you should be able to find it online. basically, it states that this is a myth, as all lizards kill their prey by crushing it in their jaws, before swallowing, & in any case, the digestive acids will kill any insect that's swallowed alive. if it's safe to feed them to other lizards, how can geckos be any different?


I think I read somewhere it was only very young lizards that were at risk!

As you say an adult should be able to cope!


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## debz316 (Aug 22, 2009)

Hi
i have to agree wiv alot of these post its noway i feed mealies or morios can not eat though yr leos tummy i read it in a rep mag also i did some research leos have strong jaws an crush the mealie an morios its im possible an just a myth i feel
my molly wont eat anything else but morios i watch her and a c her snaps them in half an she enjoys them my leos love them but my uva aft only likes mealies 
my only concern wiv these yes they do bite even my finger gets a nip an they tend to hide down the sides of viv but i do like to remove them if not eaten if i can find the lil sh*ts i put then in a very small contaniner so the cannot get out molly is gettin fatter an ive told her we must change yr diet but will she likes morios an both of my african fat tails dont like waxies ethier lol 
ttfn
debz


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## mrhoyo (Mar 29, 2007)

The person at the shop is this:










(Talking bollocks)

The worms can't eat out of your lizard's stomach but they can give it a little bite if they fancy it. 
Morio s have around the same level of protein (%) to a mealworm but much less fat and shell.


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## beans333 (Jan 8, 2010)

well guys i have read that article too in Pratical reptile keeper and it def says that they cant eat their way out. If i were u i wud feed him mealworn as morios have a very touch shell which might be too difficult for ur gecko to digest. sometimes my bosc struggles. However if ya wanna try morios then i would just watch him eat and see how well he chews it and if he copes then thats fine. One more thing morios have a nasty bite so i wudnt personall y leave them roming around with a small gecko as they might nibble too jsut like cricks. Hope this helps


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## NBLADE (Apr 11, 2007)

beans333 said:


> well guys i have read that article too in Pratical reptile keeper and it def says that they cant eat their way out. If i were u i wud feed him mealworn as morios have a very touch shell which might be too difficult for ur gecko to digest. sometimes my bosc struggles. However if ya wanna try morios then i would just watch him eat and see how well he chews it and if he copes then thats fine. One more thing morios have a nasty bite so i wudnt personall y leave them roming around with a small gecko as they might nibble too jsut like cricks. Hope this helps


 
mealworms actually have a higher chitin ration then morio worms, so would be harder to chew and digest than morio worms, but a healthy lizard wont have an issue digesting either.


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## Dan27 (May 10, 2009)

As with everyone else on this.
My leo eats these regularly with no problems at all.

Just another stupid reptile myth like the snake sizing people up :lol:


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## Manoona (Jun 28, 2009)

all 4 of my leos eat morios, 3 are adults one is sub adult and she still has no problem...in fact she gobbles the most usually!!


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