I am considering switching my leopard geckos diet to meal worms. as there is no close place around here to get crickets, and when i get a bunch of them(thinking theyll last me awhile) most all die before my gecko can eat them. So mealworms can be stored in your fridge right? what type of container and what stuff do they need? and most importantly, how long will they live? Please help!
Answers:
they dont die. they turn into beetles, and i find if you keep them at room temp they stay alive for more than a month (dont transform into beetles either at this point) my chinese water dragon also loves the whitish fat ones (mealworms are also very good for powdering with calcium supplement, it sticks to them) . but BEWARE crix are still the best staple diet for leopard gecko's, i would suggest a variety of different insects including: -
Crickets
There are different sizes and colours of crickets. Some make noises some don't. As a rule you should feed your gecko food items which are no more than the length, and less than half the width, of the lizards head. Black crickets are slower than brown crickets thus making them easier for your gecko to catch. Crickets are known to nibble on geckos, so it is not advisable to leave crickets in the enclosure overnight without something to eat like a small amount of grated apple or carrot.
Cricket Nutritional Analysis
Cricket type Moisture Fat Ca:P Ratio Protein
Banded Cricket 71.8 6.3 0.64 16.5
Black Field Cricket 66.7 12.0 0.82 15.8
Silent Brown Cricket 68.8 9.3 0.77 16.4
Brown House Cricket 70.7 4.4 0.32 19.8
Source Reptilia Magazine
Mealworms
When feeding mealworms to your animals it can be an advantage to feed them newly moulted worms as this reduces the amount of chitin and increases the nutritional value ratio.
Locusts
We like to vary our geckos diet and locusts of the appropriate size can offer a high protein package. It is usually only the high cost, which prevents locusts from being considered as a staple dietary item.
Waxworms
You should not feed waxworms as a staple diet as they have a high fat content and can prove addictive. Feeding them one or two per week as a treat is sufficient.
Silkworms
Silkworms are sometimes difficult to get hold of but if you can they are a very good source of proteins, vitamins and minerals. Only purchase enough to last you one to two weeks as they have a short shelf life.
How often?
Hatchlings and young geckos can be fed 4-8 food items once per day. Adults can be fed 4-10 food items of the appropriate size every 2-3 days. Geckos being nocturnal prefer to hunt their prey at night, so it is advised to place food items with your Geckos after dusk.
Supplements
As well as our calcium dish we use Nutrobal once every week to powder their food. Nutrobal is a high potency calcium balancer and multivitamin supplement to help bone growth in snakes, lizards and tortoises. Leopard Geckos cannot overdose on calcium but they can on vitamins.
hope this helps
Until something else eats them.
i get 100 live mealworms, they come in like a tupperware thing with holes in the lid, filled with sawdust. they lie dormant while in the fridge, and wiggle a few minutes after taking them out. they seem to stay alive for 10 days or 2 weeks, usually, i don't keep them much longer. you can buy canned dead crickets and mealworms if your rep will eat them.
I am not 100% sure but the chick in our local pet store told me that meal worms turn into beetles? So they aren't suppose to die but transform.
Meal worms are very hard to keep alive. And most small batches only live a few days. I'd just stay on the crickets.
Mealworms are the easiest and cleanest live food to feed your pets.
They are beetle larvae so they technically live quite long but grow out of their larvae stage after about a week - 10 days depending on the local temperature and their diet. Try it out with one batch and see for yourself.
I remove them from the sawdust and fill their container with rolled oats or wholemeal bread. You can even drip some vitamins onto the bread so your reptile will benefit from this when it eats the mealworms.
I also leave a slice of apple inside to give them access to water. I change the slice once a day..
You'll see them grow plump and healthy on this diet. I use them for my fish and when I am raising baby birds. They seem to love the ones that have just moulted (they are whiter in colour than the rest) so you can pick them out and try them.
You gecko will go crazy for them I think.
Good luck.
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