# Do mealworms bite?



## leolover (Sep 3, 2009)

Help! 
My leopard gecko that is housed on its own has got what looks like a bite wound to his foot which has become swollen and puffy looking. He only eats mealworms, can they have bitten him? As there are no sharp edges in the tank?
Also, what can I do to treat the wound? He seems ok in himself?


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## joe1504 (May 20, 2009)

mealworms can bite not sure really what to about the bite
i think you just supposed to bathe it in warm water untill you can see a vet if needed. im sure someone more experienced than me me with treatment will be along soon


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## Chapster5 (Oct 3, 2009)

A mealworm bit me once, gripped me with its little jaws on my thumb, hurt a bit...


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## Captainmatt29 (Feb 28, 2009)

Mealworms very seldom bite, infact i have never ever had this happen to me or my reptiles in 3 years :S

I'm wondering if its a possible retained shed on the toe causing circulation issues ?


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## the uro dude (May 5, 2009)

mealworms will bite but only if your fingers are made of carrots:lol2:


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## leolover (Sep 3, 2009)

he shed overnight last night, could it be that? We noticed the swelling this morning.
What do I need to do?


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## Captainmatt29 (Feb 28, 2009)

leolover said:


> he shed overnight last night, could it be that? We noticed the swelling this morning.
> What do I need to do?


Bathe the feet in some luke warm water for about 5 mins or so and see if you can get it off with a cotton bud if there is any shed left on the toes.


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## leolover (Sep 3, 2009)

its not the toes that are swollen, its the meaty part of the foot, will try and get a closer look


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## Snake-Assault (Aug 17, 2009)

They do bite on occasion but you can't really feel it, I think they do it more to anchor themselves to things more effectively. 

However did you say your gecko only eats mealworms? Because I was lead to believe that mealworms were a bit lacking in nutritional values and are only really used to bulk up feeding. I may be wrong but I think geckos should have a staple diet of crickets or locusts to give them more nutrients in their food.


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## leolover (Sep 3, 2009)

both of our other leo's eat crickets but this one seems to have trouble catching them and so for the last month or so he's been having mealworms, with only the occasional cricket fed to him by herp tongs, as he seems to have trouble otherwise.

obviously main concern at mo is the wound to his foot


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## Snake-Assault (Aug 17, 2009)

leolover said:


> both of our other leo's eat crickets but this one seems to have trouble catching them and so for the last month or so he's been having mealworms, with only the occasional cricket fed to him by herp tongs, as he seems to have trouble otherwise.
> 
> obviously main concern at mo is the wound to his foot


fair enough, was just a thought 
And if the foot does turn out to be shed then I'd suggest, as others have, to bathe it in warm water for as long as the gecko allows without getting too cold or scared. Either that or you can buy spray bottle shedding aids which often help relieve tightened shed.
I hope all goes well


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

Snake-Assault said:


> However did you say your gecko only eats mealworms? Because I was lead to believe that mealworms were a bit lacking in nutritional values and are only really used to bulk up feeding. I may be wrong but I think geckos should have a staple diet of crickets or locusts to give them more nutrients in their food.


as with most things ~ any livefood whether it's mealies,crix, hoopers etc is only as good nutritionally as the gutload/feed that they are fed


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## geemarge (Aug 23, 2009)

bath it in warm water water and keep it clean and set a time limit , ie if its not healing or any possitive change in 48 hours go to the vet , and yes they do bite but rarely . As its on his foot could be possibly a scrape from a log or ornament, maybe substrate such as sand irritating it ?


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## Art_Gekko (Aug 9, 2009)

I know most people are saying mealies don't often bite, but the last batch that i bought seem to be pretty vicious and both me and my boyfriend have been nipped by the damn things! Never had it happen before this batch though!


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## tomsam (Sep 26, 2009)

mealies do bite i would feed them to my axolotls and had to crush or cut off their heads so they didnt damage them coz they swollowed them whole.sounds horrible i know but my axies were well worth it


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## zune_lai (Feb 6, 2008)

Of course they bite how else would they eat. but there bite isnt very strong ive been bitten before and crickets are worse espescially black ones


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## Geckogirl_88 (Apr 24, 2009)

Yeh the worst insect bite i got was a large black cricket. I could actually see the little chuck of sick missing lol! With mealies, i find the smaller ones are harmless, but iv been bitten by a big one before (morio) and it hung on even with me pulling it off! Suffice to say i now only touch insects with tongs lol.
Except locusts. They're lovely lol
xx


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