2part Question re: parasite overload & 'recycling' mealworms

[tangerineman]

ok, I have had an experiemnt in trying tyo get mealworms to make their own colony, and I did this by grabbing the mealies that weren't eaten from old dishes of food, or from the occassionaly ones that were crawling around in tubs that weren't containing a lot of feces matter (relatively speaking, there were many mealies I just threw out)

My question is this, is it possible that any mealies that had eaten any leo feces could be 'cleansed; by feeding them well in separate containers away from leos?

I don't feel like risking anything when it comes to feeding the leos,
OTOH I know have a colony of very big, healthy mealworms...

part 2:
will mealworms eat dead mealie beatles?
...and is this bad?


thanks for any help in this-
Duane

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Mealworms do not build up bacteria or parasites in their bodies like cricket can. As a matter of fact, it's impossible to even gut-load mealworms because they are larvae, and everything they eat is used up to sustain the worm until it can go through it's metamorphosis. However, if you are concerned you should just throw them out, or use them for your adult beetles and not feed them to your geckos. I personally don't think it's a good idea to 'recycle' food items.

 

[CSgecko]

i would be careful with recycling because if a beetle dies it probly dosnt have much nutrients left in it so its just like eatin a shell.

 

[Leopardbreeder]

Instead of throwing them out, why don't you throw them in ONE bin, and ONLY use the offspring?