Do you feed your adult leopard gecko giant mealworms?

leopardgeckogeek1600 · May 5, 2011

I just thought this would be a curious topic to talk about. Is there anything special you do with them before you feed them to your geckos such as cut their head off?

ReptileWorld · May 5, 2011

i feed them the giant meal worms and super worms and anything else i can get my hands on. they seem to like it and have no issues with eating them. their main source of food now is Dubia's but i get a great deal on super worms so i also feed that.

fl_orchidslave · May 6, 2011

Just to be clear, giant mealworms and superworms are not the same worm species.

leopardgeckogeek1600 · May 6, 2011

So it is totally safe to feed leopard geckos giant mealworms without cutting their heads off first?

Sicairoslb · May 6, 2011

leopardgeckogeek1600 said:
So it is totally safe to feed leopard geckos giant mealworms without cutting their heads off first?

I was talking to a family friend who is a veterinarian as well as the lady i bought my first gecko from (worked at a vet) and both of them said that worms eating through the gecko is a myth. They said that basically when they are bit, they pop, killing them.

Hope this helps.

leopardgeckogeek1600 · May 6, 2011

Yes that does help thanks. Do you think that is like will fatten them up faster? Are they any more healthy then normal mealworms?

Magic Merlin · May 7, 2011

giant mealworms are sprayed with a hormone that causes them to delay/stop pupating and therefore they will grow larger......same exact species as a regular mealworm.

Pokersnake · May 7, 2011

Magic Merlin said:
giant mealworms are sprayed with a hormone that causes them to delay/stop pupating and therefore they will grow larger......same exact species as a regular mealworm.

I have always wondered if those hormones could affect leo growth. Kind of like there is some controversy about growth hormones in meat/milk consumed by people.

One strange thing is that I bought some giant meal worms from ye old local chain store and I kept them long enough for them to pupate. They morphed into beetles (all but one) and are now part of my meal worm colony. Now, I didn't separate them to see if they were fertile or not, but they're there and a bit larger than the rest of my beetles.

Golden Gate Geckos · May 7, 2011

I no longer feed my geckos giant mealworms after talking in depth with several feeder breeders. Regular mealworms are given growth hormones so they do not metamorphasize and grow larger. These worms are mostly meant for bait in the fishing industry and not suitable for feeders.

ProGeckoServices · May 7, 2011

Giant meal worms are the only way to go for me, I typically feed them those along with a diet of anabolic steroids. One of my males has 14 arms and weighs 4 pounds. (kidding of course). Unfortunately my lizards have no interest in anything other than dubia beatles and crickets, the one time I did try to make the switch they ended up boycotting their food.

Magic Merlin · May 8, 2011

A 4 pound leo would be 1814 grams.......that would be soo cool.........just imagine an 1800 gram crestie running up the wall.

ElapidSVT · Jun 9, 2011

lol
i got 1816g not buying pounds from you, you'd short me 2g!

Gillian708 · Dec 23, 2012

Giants are okay

Any insect that goes through metamorphosis does so because they have a decline in a certain insect hormone. Insects that have this hormone stay at high levels through their life don't go through metamorphosis (e.g. crickets, roaches). Mealworm breeders make sure they don't have a decline in the hormone; this makes them get bigger and turn into "giants."

If this hormone were harmful to reptiles, then they would have consequences by eating these insects that don't metamorphose and died off through evolution long ago. Insect hormones aren't active or recognizable to reptile/bird species.

Embrace Calamity · Dec 23, 2012

I had for a little while when I ran out of crickets, but after being informed that they were hormone treated, I stopped. Even the people who produce them don't recommend them for reptiles:

Do you recommend/sell "Giant" Mealworms?

The so-called "Giant" Mealworms are created by spraying "common" Mealworms with an insect growth hormone to keep them growing instead of pupating as they would normally. Because of this, we feel that the "Giants" are a poor food choice for your Reptiles. However, we do highly recommend them as fishing bait!

FAQ From New York Worms

Gillian708 said:
If this hormone were harmful to reptiles, then they would have consequences by eating these insects that don't metamorphose and died off through evolution long ago.

Not really, as giant mealworms (mealworms with abnormally high levels of this particular hormone) aren't something they encounter in the wild or often enough for it to have an evolutionary effect. No one's saying the hormone itself is dangerous to reptiles, obviously, but abnormally high levels are a different matter entirely.

Gillian708 said:
Insect hormones aren't active or recognizable to reptile/bird species.

Do you have a source for this?

Here:
http://www.pnas.org/content/92/13/6157.short
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1540559?uid=3739864&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21101587552627
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00280709?LI=true

Of course, there are many different hormones, so which one it is precisely (and if it's organic or synthetic) would need to be known.

~Maggot

Gillian708 · Dec 23, 2012

Insect hormones that regulate molts and pupation have long been used providing exposure to other classes of animals. For example the spray used for controlling mosquitoes is sprayed onto water, it stops the larvae from metamorphosing into adult mosquitoes, meanwhile the fish remain unharmed (there have been studies showing aquatic arthropods can be affected, which somewhat makes sense). Also, topical flea control for dogs and cats often uses the same juvenile hormone that stops pupae from the same metamorphosis.

This talks somewhat about it:
DEVELOPMENT INHIBITORS for veterinary use on DOGS, CATS and LIVESTOCK against external parasites

GeckOG · Mar 17, 2013

Until there is conclusive evidence that the hormones are harmful to your geckos i will continue to feed giant meal worms.
Most of it is just paranoia and just wanting to be safe (nothing wrong with that) I have feed colonies of adult leos giant meal worms with no problems whatsoever.

They love them, and properly gut loaded are my go to feeder, as for the rumor that they will eat through the stomach..it's a total myth, one of my leos bit a giant meal worm and dropped him and you could see the guts leaking out and the meal worm was pretty much dead at that point.

One time i counted how many bites a gecko averages after grabbing them, about 6 chomps before they swallow the worm..if the worm somehow survived that the stomach acid would take care of the rest...done deal.

Kylerbassman · Mar 18, 2013

Just get super worms. Better nutritionally and easier to keep. Just saying lol.

GeckOG · Mar 20, 2013

^No...just no.

Kylerbassman · Mar 20, 2013

^ why not?

GexPex · Mar 20, 2013

I know that with superworms, they can actually inflict some "powerful" bites on leopard geckos. Fiance used to feed supers, but 3 of his 7 geckos ended up with abscesses by their mouths (2 of them had another abscess form once the original was drained by the vet and the gecko was put on antibiotics). He started feeding regular mealworms and after 2 years, he hasn't had another problem with abscesses (he still has the same geckos). Not sure if the supers are what actually caused the abscesses, but we're not about to feed them supers again to find out.

Have also seen a thread, I think it was on GU, about superworms possibly causing gastrointestinal bleeding. Again, not sure if it's been proven that it was due to the supers, but I'm not about to risk the health of my geckos.

As for the giants, I personally don't feed them giants due to the hormones and the possible problems the hormones may cause with my geckos. I'd rather feed them more mealworms instead...although I feed primarily crickets/dubia roaches.

Do you feed your adult leopard gecko giant mealworms?

Do you feed your adult leopard gecko giant mealworms?

Yes

No

I cut off their heads first.

It's not safe to feed leopard geckos giant mealworms.

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