Is it ok???

steph86 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-10-2005, 04:49 AM

I went to a reptile show today and i heard that mealworms r not good because the hard shell makes it difficult to digest. Is this true??? Should i not feed my leopard gecko mealworms??

chrispaine · #2 (**permalink**) 07-11-2005, 02:00 AM

Anyone know?????

xxxjustinxxx · #3 (**permalink**) 07-11-2005, 02:11 AM

well if its bad for geckos then its bad for other reptiles that would eat them too ? at the store we feed our geckos, beardies, and babie monitors mealworms ? i wouldnt think it would be very bad, people have done it for a long time and i havent heard any bad stories b/c of mealworms being bad to digest.? so i guess the answers no, but i would wait for someone with more knowledge on mealworms to come along

bleeding_sarcasm · #4 (**permalink**) 07-13-2005, 05:39 PM

Small mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) are hard shelled animals, these are the ones you buy in the tubs and keep in the refrigerator. There is also a "super" mealworm that is a steroid version of the small mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) which is also thick shelled. The King mealworm (Zophobas artratus) is not THAT thick shelled of a meal worm. There is just alot more good stuff inside of a king mealworm vs. the mealworm. so, i think that you should be sticking with crickets for smaller animals, and as they grow larger, you could be feeding them king meal worms. But also remember there have been generations of animals raised on small mealworms with no side effects. And reptile keeping is a hobbie, not scientificaly proven.

psoulocybe · #5 (**permalink**) 07-13-2005, 06:18 PM

There is higher chitin levels in mealworms than in crickets, most roaches, etc.

The key is variety. A diet of strictly mealworms could be difficult on the animals digestion and possibly lead to impaction.

steph86 · #6 (**permalink**) 07-17-2005, 02:58 PM

Ok thanx for all your help.

rtb_lover · #7 (**permalink**) 07-19-2005, 04:14 PM

can you properly digest a peanut shell???????

it is not good to feed any animal mealworms...

chrispaine · #8 (**permalink**) 07-19-2005, 04:33 PM

right now shes just feeding crickets, it doesnt like mealworms anywayz. I was thinknin tho, i could be wrong but maybe its ok for larger retiles because the will have larger digestive systems, and less chance of impaction???

TheOtherAndy · #9 (**permalink**) 07-19-2005, 06:54 PM

Any lizard, especially a monitor, kept properly should not get 'impacted' with anything, period. You see, it's when you keep them half dead as it is (cant thermoregulate properly > gets fat and inactive > depressed metabolism) that problems like that show up. Short of feeding them styrofoam peanuts, 'impaction' is a sign of poor husbandry. Not an inherent problem with feeding certain types of prey. This is one of those silly herper dogmas that (still) gets spread around because many people could never imagine their lizard died because they didn't know what they were doing. No, it must be the lizard or the prey's fault. This is especially ridiculous when you consider that monitors (all of them....well, maybe not v. olivaceous) will eat *anything* that moves, and as much of it as they can in the wild.

There are valid reasons not to feed out mealworms (crummy meat to shell ratio, for one), but not because of this.

(sorry for the monitor tangent....I picked this up midway lol)

rtb_lover · #10 (**permalink**) 07-20-2005, 12:08 AM

ok if you feel its ok to feed mealworms..be sure you wait until after they shed...the shell will be soter and a lil bit easier on em

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