can you feed the leos the meal and superworm beetles?

[enigmaslim]

I was just wondering since I'm starting my own meali colony

 

[Misstasha]

i noticed it depends on the leos - out of 11 geckos i have only one of mine eat beetles.

 

[mindgamer8907]

I may be wrong, but I've heard that the mealworm beetles give of a scent that makes them smell poisonous though they're not. I expect it would be fairly difficult to feed them the beetles, though someone may have had other experience and maybe it's not that hard. I just know that if Khrysty leaves hers in the dish long enough and they become beetles, the leos won't touch them.

 

[Khrysty]

Jazzy eats beetles, Joe. I think it just depends on how adventurous the gecko's palate is lol

 

[mindgamer8907]

Darn wrong again, thanks for the correction babe.

 

[enigmaslim]

I was wondering since I never heard anyone mention them as an option

 

[Khrysty]

yeah, most wont eat them, but some will

 

[erik]

One of my geckos once ate one, the question would be how nutritious they actually are...and if it's not too much exoskeleton for the gecko to pass through when they would be fed beetles on a regular basis. You could always try one

 

[enigmaslim]

Yeah I didn't know if they had any nutritional value, I figured they would carry some over from there transformation.

 

[catvettech]

Waste not, want not......the beetles and the aliens get fed to the chickens.

 

[mindgamer8907]

You know, I was just thinking that it doesn't make too much sense (assuming you're keeping colonies) to feed away your breeders. I'd probably only let them eat the beetles if I was pressed for mealies and aliens.

 

[Khrysty]

It's really easy in even small colonies to end up with too many beetles. Trust me.

Start with 5k worms, feed off 3k in three months, end up with 2k beetles...which produce 7k worms 3 months later, feed off 3k again, end up with 4k beetles..etc...

 

[Digby Rigby]

The beetles are as nutritious as the worms. Perhaps less fat. Leopard geckos eat beetles in the wild so exoskeleton should not be an issue for any healthy gecko. Most lizards will not eat the worms...except when they are freshly molted. At that time they are usually eagerly eaten by most animals that would otherwise show no interest. They can be fed until their exoskeletons harden to most animals that would not eat them ordinarily.

Digby Rigby [email protected]

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

they may eat them but the beetle emit a foul odor as a defense so this may turn off your leos from eating them. Stick with the worms.

 

[enigmaslim]

Thanks for the imput, I just started my colony and wondered just incase I don't start my roach colony