crickets or meal worms

[Ipsl]

I was using mealies for my little girls and now I ve switched to phenoix (sp) worms. I feed my big guy supers mon, wed and fri.. all he's done is get bigger since Ive had him.

 

[johnnyboy4783]

I give them mealworms and some crickets dusted, but recentley they seem to only be interested in the crickets. anyone know why that would be? also how often does everyone give their leo's wax worms?

 

[SaSobek]

i only feed mealworms.
as far as feeding your geckos to the point of getting to fat. well i think that also has to do with the feeding by the keeper if you keep putting food in front of them they will keep eating and eating. you have to manage the geckos weight like you do with a dog or a cat. im sure if you feed and feed and the animal becomes fat and stops "searching for food" and just sits by its dish then of course its going to get fat and have liver problem. and liver problems do shortin th life of a gecko for sure. its about moderation. and watching your geckos. i feed 2 times a week and that usualy gives them a day that the food dish is emty.

actualy some of my geckos are on a dite and get feed every other feeding. and actualy over weight females do not breed as well eather. so i think as far as mealworms are to faty im not sure i agree with that waxworms yes but mealworms no. also the extra fat could be do to gut loading with things that might make the mealworms more fatty. i actualy gut load my meal worms with vionate that the meal worms dont get intill they are in with the gecko. so the mealworms are actualy starved intill they are fed, this could alos make my feeding ways less fatting.

i have a good size collection right now and i have no problems with mealworms at all on the other hand the crickets are noisy, messy, and can stress out the gecko if you put to many in, and i have heard can carry coccidia. and im not takeing a chance with my collection. "if its not broke dont try to fix it "

i think man breeders in the US will agree that mealworms are the way to go.

this is just my oppinion my full time job i also work as a vet tech and 75 % of the animals i see are fat. i think is do to we want are pets to be happy so we feed them all the time and in most cases to much. some times we think we are doing the right thing but in the end we arn't.

as far as life span mealworms vs crickets i dont think any studies have been done in that area. but i do agree that a fat gecko will not live as long :main_thumbsup:

 

[bigbuck270]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will stick with a combo for now and see what happens. Now I have to start a new thread on how much to feed them.

Thanks again.

 

[bigT]

Here just some more info about nutrient content´s of Insekts you can feed! :main_thumbsup:
Zophobas mordio
relative humidity : 58%
protein : 19%
Fat :18%
ashes :1%
other :4%

Mealworms tenebrio malitor
relative humidity :62%
protein : 20%
Fat :15%
ashes :1%
other :1%

silk worm galleria mellonella
relative humidity :63%
protein :16%
Fat :19%
ashes :1%
other :1%







Locust schistocerca gregaria
relative humidity : 71%
protein : 23%
Fat : 4%

ashes :1%
other :1%


Cricket grillodes sublicans
relative humidity : 75%
protein : 17%
Fat : 6%
ashes :1%
other :1%

Cricket grillodes assimilis
relative humidity :74%
protein :19%
Fat : 5%
ashes :1%
other :1%

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I feed both mealworms and occasional crickets. With as many geckos as I have, it would be impossible to feed all of the a staple of crickets. I must admit that since I started feeding mostly mealworms, my geckos have gotten quite a bit fatter. I am not worried about hepatic lipidosis, and the only time I have experienced this condition was with anorexic geckos when their fat reserves mobilized and clogged the liver.

I used to have problems with bacterial infections when I fed strickly crickets, no matter how clean I kept the bugs. I haven't had a single infection in about 2 years. I still think the geckos need to hunt down live prey, and crickets will gutload... you cannot gutload a mealworm.

 

[LeopardGeckoMom52688]

I have tried to stay away from Crix since my geckos got pinworms. And I heard alot of other people that fed from that shipment got them to so I went to meal worms. I feed them oatmeal and mealbran, and a little bit of a calcium suppliment just about a week or so before they become dinner. I only offer new worms when I don't see worms in a dish, or every two or three days. If I see a dish empty I wait a day or two and feed again. I have one gecko over 80 grams and he is about 9 or so inches and about 90 grams. All the rest I feel are at a healthy 75 grams. No one looks FAT. I love the meal worms, They don't smell, and as far as hunting I let the supers roam the cage and they love hunting them.

 

[scottd]

i like the statements made by steve sykes on his care sheet. it provides pros and cons of both. i personally think both should be used. crickets have more nutrients and are easier to digest. bad thing is they dont live as long and you should take all un-eaten ones out after each feeding or they can bite your geckos and eat their poop possibly infecting them with parasites. mealies are great so you can fatten them up and be lazy about taking them out. they also live a really long time, bad thing about them is their ecoskeletons are harder to digest. so like i said i use crickets and hand feed a few mealies and supers every few days.

 

[bigT]

agree, thats a good way to do!:main_thumbsup:

 

[paulnattress]

My Leos all ate crickets and used to run around hunting them but now that I've switched to mealies they don't get that exercise. Maybe this is what's making them fat? My older girl is getting a bit plump these days.

I'm going to alternate between crics and mealies to give some variety but I prefer mealies due to their convenience

 

[DAWNoftheLEO]

I use crix once a week or so..
Mealies are usually the staple, as I have too many as well to feed all crickets..
But a few only seem to like crix.. And they can be gutloaded.
As for those little buck toothed phoenix worms lol.. Most of mine have lost interest when given as treats..
They never willl refuse horn worms or waxworms though.
I like to give my babies small silkies!!! ANd they love em !

As far as being fat, I didn't see too much of a difference on my switch from crix to->mealies..