About superworms and mealies...

[coldblood]

I have 3 leos, an adult male at 69g which does not touch any mealies at all and will only touch crickets. My two females at 50-55g eats very little mealies (like one or two per day at tops) but like crickets better. Is there any tips in making mealies more enticing? I place them in a small plastic dish with a little calcium powder.

I am thinking of feeding superworms to my leos. But they seems too big to feed the normal rulez of not long than the leos head itself (they are sold in mixed sizes... majority near adult size). Will my leos bite down on them enough to eat them easy? i don't wanna see any choking..

The leos are in the same room as I am but the crickets are keeping me awake!

 

[MSMD]

Mine have no problem at all with the supers. I don't offer them until they're 45-50 grams, though, just because I am paranoid. lol They gobble them right up.

 

[geckonoob]

I have the same problem. My geckos eat a lot of crickets, but when I stop feeding them crickets and give them mealworms, they don't eat as much mealworms. People suggest chopping off the mealworm's head and offering it to the geckos.. maybe that'll work, but I haven't tried it yet.

 

[DAWNoftheLEO]

At first I fed nothing but crickets and super-worms, now I run with all of my gex on mealies with the exception of my Gonis. With occasional crix and supers... I've even fed smaller super to younger gex..

Transition wasn't too tough to all mealies though.. Had no problems..

 

[rhino43grr]

mine has eaten supers with no problems and he was only about 4-5 months old at the time...

 

[coldblood]

Thanks for the advices.

Does removing of the mealie's head stop it from moving ? :main_huh: then its less enticing than a lethageic mealie in a feeding dish :sweatdrop: ... and all the worm goo and guts....

They seems to be interested in the mealworms...but after chomping down on one, and lose interest (probably not as tasty as they first thought!)

Hopefully i get 'em to eat some supers~

So say I should feed my babies up to 40-50g on mealies, than after on superworms?


- Geckonoob- Nice versicolor ~
- Great SHTCTB rhino~ I wish my male is just as fat~

 

[DAWNoftheLEO]

I gave a super to a 25gm gecko last night..

 

[coldblood]

I gave a super to a 25gm gecko last night..

:main_thumbsup:

i will try it tomorrow when i get the worms. thanks

 

[lpearson]

feeding superworms

I have 5yr old leopard geckos that aren't eating as much as they used to. I bought superworms, and I heard from somebody that it might be necessary to crush their heads b4 feeding them to the geckos. Is that true?

 

[Brhaco]

Most of my leopards have never cared for supers, when given a choice. They would eat them, but would much prefer regular mealies.

Brad Chambers

 

[Rejoice in the Lord]

I know it generally is recommended to feed your young leos the smaller supers and in most cases I would recommend the same . . . but . . .

I received my little Bell from a pet store employee who had rescued him, and nursed him for a few months. When I got him, he was probably about four months old, and weighed 18 grams. He had recovered from an eye infection, but his eyesight seemed poor, and he was unable to catch crickets. He wouldn't touch mealies or small supers, but the medium(1 1/2 inch) ones he would catch sight of, and then ?sniff? (do leos smell their food? that's what it looks like he does) and then eat them up.

Watching such a little guy take on such a big worm was quite comical. First he would sniff it for five or ten minutes. Then he would strike once or twice until he got it, then with it wriggling like crazy, he would chomp it one way or the other until an end found it's way into his mouth; and chomp and swallow until he got the whole thing in. Next were a couple BIG swallows followed by five minutes of licking his lips. Then he was ready for seconds!

In spite of their huge size and his little size, he never seemed to have any problems with them.

I have never crushed or cut heads off of worms before feeding them. Is the purpose to make them more desirable to the gecko in some way? Usually I have heard this suggested by people who are afraid of the worm eating it's way out of the gecko's stomach, but I have yet to hear of a case where that has happened.

 

[Brhaco]

Yes-the old "it'll eat its way out of the lizard's stomach" myth.:main_laugh:

You're right-never happened, never will. Patently impossible on the face of it!

Brad Chambers