what do you feed mealworms, are these ok?

H

henward

Guest
what you feed your feeders is what you feed your lizard.

so i am thinking, veges with high beta carotene and colouration is good to start with.

currently i am starting a breeding programme for mealworms.
but these are what i am currenlty thinkin of feeding them. any ideas and thoughts. is it ok for the worms or lizards?
anyone personally tried them?

carrots
sweet potato
pumpkin

i am thinking of feeding the following, any down sides to them?:
beetroot (very red, maybe get some red mealworms:) and make lizard red lol
red peppers
red cabbage
potato
butternut

any other suggestions on what to feed them?
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,118
Location
Somerville, MA
All that sounds OK and I know some people only feed their mealworms fruits and veggies, but you may want to consider some grain as well.

Aliza
 
D

DLS Reptile

Guest
I have been breeding for 10 years and all my females retain excellent weight through breeding (none of them go under 55 grams even after 12 plus eggs). I do not feed pinkies during breeding only mealworms. Here is what I feed them and it is pretty simple.
High quality dog food,I grind this to a powder in a blender). High quality all natural dog food has all your grains, calcium, vitamins/minerals protein, and vegetables mixed in.

oat meal, I mix the ground dog food in with the oat meal, half each..

Carrots and potatoes for a water source.

99% of my geckos reached 70 plus grams in there first year with this and only this gutload...
I also grind my own calcium and place that in the food container with the mealworms.. This gutload makes them grow like crazy. here is an example of there color with this recipe. Note: this gecko was only 3 weeks old with this pic. 2nd pic is an adult female 90 grams (not a giant) on the same gutload..
newhatchling-1-1.jpg

shtct.jpg
 
H

henward

Guest
oh yes, forgot to mention, i have bran flakes as the main food sourceof the meal worms and i put the veges on top.

i will try the dog food.
i also feed crickets and i gut load the crickets with good stuff too.

but will try the dog food , sounds awesome

how bout HIKARI fish food? to cut load into the mealworms
 
D

DLS Reptile

Guest
Yes, Fish food is awesome to bring out the color in the geckos. Sometimes I will even put a little in my mealworm dish so when the gecko strikes it also ingests some fish flakes. This also keeps the mealies gutloaded in the food bowl..
 

Kellyr

Member
Messages
826
Location
Philadelphia
May I jump in to ask how you grind up the dog food??
I use oatmeal, wheat germ, wheat bran, baby cereal and veggies.. I have had fish flakes in the past but they smell and they tend to get soggy and cause mold when my veggies are in ( I have lids on the containers, I open twice a week for air since I have yet to drill holes in the lids ) but this dog food method sounds great...
 
D

DLS Reptile

Guest
All I do is throw it in the blender a cup at a time. Basically this is the same as chic feed. I use a all natural high quality dog food though. Stay away from your cheaper kinds as they have mostly fillers. High quality dog food has all your wheat,rice,ground beef,chicken or fish, calcium and vits and minerals. I refrigerate my mealies in plain oatmeal. I take out what I am going to need for the week a few days in advance. I put them in this gutload for 2 days minimum (on a high shelf so they are more active to feed with the slightly higher temps) before I even feed them to the geckos. Again this is what i do.. My hatch rate last year was very high with my breeder females with this formula. I had first year females laying 10 eggs.. Out of 91 eggs 3 were infertile..

ground dog food mixed half with oatmeal.

a few carrots or potatoes for moisture (note these are left on top of the gutload and are changed every 2 days to avoid moisture and mold.

**Remember you do not need a ton of ingredients because your dig food already has it.**
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Western Gecko

New Member
Messages
69
Location
Calgary
I'm with Kelly on this one...

I use 50% wheat bran, 50% wheat germ for my mealworms. For moisture I use apples from the neighbours tree or carrots. I find potatoes tend to mold. The mealworms seem to like it.

I have a bag of dog food laying around as I put a nugget in each gecko tub to prevent the crickets from chewing on the geckos. Maybe I'll take some of this and grind it up. I've never really thought about using dog food!

Thanks for sharing!
 
D

DLS Reptile

Guest
Whatever works for you. If your geckos are big and healthy then you are doing it right. Another little trick for their color (beta carotene) is to place some fish flakes right in their feeder bowl. When the geckos lunge at their food they will pick up some flakes with their mealies. They love it. I have seen many of my geckos eat the fish flakes right out of the bowl. I only do this as a supplement maybe 2 times per week..
 

hoppslover

Definitely not Junior
Messages
662
Location
Fort Fun, Indiana
I feed my mealies a mixture of oatmeal, bran flakes, wheat germ, powdered milk, carrots, and potatoes. Out of 12 leos I only have 3 that are under 60 grams and 7 are over 70grams.
 

Kellyr

Member
Messages
826
Location
Philadelphia
Just a blender huh?? That sounds easy... I will have to give it a try.. especially for my gutloading during breeding season.. thank you :D
 

gordmit

New Member
Messages
25
Location
London Ont Canada
hey, I just threw some Betta Fish food in with the crickets and they went wild over it--unfortunately I threw out the container--I wouldn't think that it contains anything harmful for the leo...any thoughts?
 

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