Biased towards mealworms for convenience ?

[Hayabusa]

Ive been reading loaaaads on this site about the best thing to feed my leo.

Generally ive found this forum and most breeders prefer mealworms.

But ive also read that crickets provide better nutrition to the geckos.

I know they both have their ups and downs, but surely crickets are the best choice in regards to the health of the gecko?

Are mealworms the food of choice just because they are more convenient to us? (they dont smell bad, make noise, escape as much, hurt/stress out the geckos)

Just wondering as im debating which food is really best for my leo

Thanks :main_thumbsup:

 

[acpart]

My feeding choices (crickets for some, mealworms for others) are for a variety of reasons:

a. I can breed meal worms more easily than crickets, although I am inadvertently breeding some crickets in my AFT tank

b. some of my geckos prefer mealworms only and some prefer crickets only

c. I bring up my babies on mealworms because when I sell them I'm aware that some novices don't want to deal with jumpy crickets

d. also, I'm afraid my house would be overrun with escaped small crickets if I had to feed crickets to all my babies.

e. I have a bearded dragon and AFT's who eat only crickets

Aliza

 

[crotaphytidae]

I feed mealworms not only because they are easy to breed and prsent to the gecko, but also because they can't run over or eat the feces of the gecko which could lead to all sorts of problems. :main_thumbsup:

 

[voretaq7]

Well, I'm definitely biased -- My fish eats mealworms, and since it seems a lot of people use 'em with no ill effects and my gecko doesn't seem to mind them I see no reason they can't share a food supply.

I do gut load the mealworms pretty heavily - They come out of the refrigerator & go into a veggie+oatmeal box for a day, then before they become a meal they go into a cup of chopped up veggies (carrot squares, bits of apple, green beans - whatever I've got around from dinner basically ) to pig out while I'm at work.
in the 10-12 hours that they're in the cup they usually gobble up most of the food I leave them, and as a bonus a lot of the time I'll catch them mid-molting so the gecko and fish don't have to deal with the chitinous exoskeleton.

[ Edit: It's also convenient that they don't jump around, smell bad or attack the gecko if he doesn't eat them right away! ]

 

[Grinning Geckos]

I do use mealworms, and a lot is convenience based. Not to mention, I HATE crickets...the noise, the smell, etc. When properly gutloaded and used, the geckos can be quite healthy on a diet of mealworms.

As far as I'm concerned, crickets aren't the best feeder either. Of the feeders I've tried (wax, crickets, mealworms, superworms, various roaches, pinky mice) I think the roaches are far superior as a feeder in terms of health. They can present other problems...but still nothing as bad as crickets do. There are other feeders out there, but I've never tried them to form any sort of opinion on them.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Are mealworms the food of choice just because they are more convenient to us? (they dont smell bad, make noise, escape as much, hurt/stress out the geckos)

Yes. With the mealworms shortage, I've been feeding mostly Supers and crickets, but it takes me several hours to feed crickets. I believe crickets are probably a better diet for leos, but I still think feeding a variety is best.

 

[LeapinLizards]

I definitely agree with Marcia. I do know that crickets are a better staple diet than meal worms, however even with feeding my 6 geckos, it takes me about twice as long as if I were to feed mealies. I actually just got my starter kit of Dubia roaches, so here's hoping that once those mature and breed I'll never have to deal with another cricket lol.