Are my mealworms gutloaded correctly??

[toph427]

I had read a small article about gutloading mealworms and was just wondering if I was doing it correctly. I have a small critter keeper and put in a bed of oats or uncooked oatmeal mixed with some of the dust that comes with the mealies. Then I added some baby carrots chopped up, sometimes apples or potatoes and let them feed, outside of the fridge for 24-36 hours. Then I put them back in the fridge until its time to feed and dust with Repashy with D3 about 2-3 times a week.

I was also wondering which of yall feed with Superworms, do you use them as a substitute for mealies or feed both for a varied diet. If you substitute for mealies, what size do you feed adults and subadult leos and how many per feeding. Sorry I know its a lot, I just didnt know much about Superworms, i've been using mealies and crickets for my leos.

 

[STUTFL]

Not sure I read correctly, but personally I'd feed off the mealworms after they'd eaten and come to room temp rather than putting them back in the fridge until feeding time? A warm mealie is a lively mealie. Carrots, apples and potatoes sound fine, if you have some other yummy, healthy veggie scraps once in a while you can throw those in. I'll leave more specific advice to others, I can get pretty sloppy when it comes to gutloading.

I've only fed supers a few times as I got a bad batch that sprouted mites right off (I was low on cash and went for the cheap worms -whoops), but I'd say an adult can take just about as big a superworm as you want. My gecko seemed to have a better feeding response for big supers as opposed to a bunch of little mealies. If I weren't so nervous about keeping them alive (can't just chuck them in the fridge), I'd probably feed supers as the staple. Heck, I'd try roaches if I had a place to keep them.

 

[Dog Shrink]

I feed supers mainly but have a few mealies that I give him a snack with on sundays. Eros eats mon wed and fri 3-4 super per feeding and about 4 mealies on sun. I keep them in a critter keeper on a bed of old fashioned oats and crushed high quality dog food plus 1 piece each of apple potato and carrot. cut lengthwise and just left in there. Eros is 8 mos old.

 

[tastyworms]

In my opinion, the best way to gutload is by removing only the portion you intend to feed the geckos the night before. Let them eat whatever mixture you've chosen as your gutload for 24 hours. Then dust them with calcium and feed them to the geckos.

Gutloading isn't something that lasts. So if you gutload, then throw them in the fridge for 5 days, then pull them out and feed them to your geckos, the gutload is no longer in the mealworms. Dusting the worms in the fridge seems like a waste of calcium to me. Also, you're going to eventually end up with a boat load of calcium in the oats... In some gut load recipes, there is a calcium. You might try adding a fixed amount (i.e. a quarter cup) to each batch of gutload you make.

I'll let someone more experienced with geckos chime in on a good recipe for you to use... I can only speak to the health of the worms, and to the gutloading process as we have experience with wildlife rehabilitation related nutrition.

Don't confuse gutloading with feeding the mealworms. What you're doing every week by pulling them out of the fridge and letting them eat some oats and veggies is perfect. They require this regardless of the needs of the gecko.