"Giant" Mealworms?

[Andyrc]

Hey everyone. I purchased a Leopard Gecko just a few weeks ago. I've owned Leos for years but I've just recently gotten back into it after I left the country for a couple years and couldn't bring them along with me. I've been feeding her mealworms since I've had her but I've been entertaining the idea of switching to superworms for a staple. I've never fed superworms to my leos before so I have just a few questions.

First off, I went to a local pet store the other day and I asked if they had superworms. They told me no, but the guy at the counter said "We do have LARGE mealworms, though." I asked him to show me, and he pulled out a 75 count tub with a label that said "Giant Mealworms." To me, they just looked like superworms. So my question is.. Are they superworms just labled as giant mealworms? Or do mealworms come in varying sizes?

My next question is, has anyone had any problems feeding supers as a staple? I know it's not ideal, and I should be offering a variety. However, since I decided to spend the rest of my life with a woman whom I love dearly, and who just happens to hate crawly bugs. Worms are really the only thing I can get away with.

Thanks for taking the time to read this over. And comments and suggestions will be much appreciated.

 

[Akari_32]

From what I understand, Giant Mealworms are just regular Mealworms treated with a hormone that prevents them from pupating for however long. That doesn't sound healthy at all to me, personally. The shop I buy my feeders from doesn't even sell Giant Mealworms. That alone tells me I probably don't want to be feeding them, if a reptile specific store won't even sell them.

I use Supers on occasion, but I'm paranoid about the whole eating through the geckos stomach thing. I know its highly unlikely, but I'd rather rather not give it the chance. When I do feed Supers, I crush their heads first. There are several members that use Superworms on a regular basis, though. Two of my three geckos love them, and one is scared of their fast, jerky movements. I feed mainly Mealworms, with Supers, Crickets and Wax worms thrown in.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Akari is correct, giant mealworms are regular mealworms treated with hormones to prevent them from pupating. Some people think it's ok to feed those, I prefer my feeders to be more natural so I avoid them. The choice is up to you. There are no studies to whether they're good or bad, so you make your own choices for your pets.

Superworms are generally safe, I've had a couple of incidents with superworms but I still do feed my geckos supers. What you want to look for is whether you have a gecko who's a good hunter/eater or if you have a passive gecko that tends to swallow the worm whole without chomping. Most geckos know how to go for their heads and they're chomped & crushed before the worm enters their throat. But some geckos are more passive and they may swallow the super whole without chomping their heads. These passive geckos are more prone to have issues, as I've had a few violently regurgitate these supers within 10 seconds of them swallowing them. That tells you the worm was probably biting or making movements that are uncomfortable to them.

So if your gecko is passive, pinch their heads (or really just crush their mandibles), you should have no issues. If your geckos are good hunters and know how to eat, then you should have nothing to worry about. Feeding supers as staple is fine, but I would still recommend purchasing something different every 2-3 weeks to give your geckos some variety. Varied diet is always best.

 

[Andyrc]

Well judging by the way she's eating her normal mealworms she's pretty good at making sure they are nice and broken before swallowing. I'll do some more research on the giant mealworm thing, but I don't really plan on feeding her those anyway. I'll probably go out and buy some supers this week and see how she fares.

 

[Akari_32]

Akari is correct, giant mealworms are regular mealworms treated with hormones to prevent them from pupating. Some people think it's ok to feed those, I prefer my feeders to be more natural so I avoid them. The choice is up to you. There are no studies to whether they're good or bad, so you make your own choices for your pets.

Superworms are generally safe, I've had a couple of incidents with superworms but I still do feed my geckos supers. What you want to look for is whether you have a gecko who's a good hunter/eater or if you have a passive gecko that tends to swallow the worm whole without chomping. Most geckos know how to go for their heads and they're chomped & crushed before the worm enters their throat. But some geckos are more passive and they may swallow the super whole without chomping their heads. These passive geckos are more prone to have issues, as I've had a few violently regurgitate these supers within 10 seconds of them swallowing them. That tells you the worm was probably biting or making movements that are uncomfortable to them.

So if your gecko is passive, pinch their heads (or really just crush their mandibles), you should have no issues. If your geckos are good hunters and know how to eat, then you should have nothing to worry about. Feeding supers as staple is fine, but I would still recommend purchasing something different every 2-3 weeks to give your geckos some variety. Varied diet is always best.

There is a third option, actually. You could have one like mine that that get so excited about food that they hit it really hard and swallow it whole, all in about 1/100th of a second. There is very little chewing at my house lol I'll even crush particularly feisty mealies and crickets if I think they'll cause a problem.

 

[Phantom240]

Mine gets so excited, she makes dubia explode when she gets a good strike, but after two or three, she just slowly bites and crushes them before retiring to digest. lmao.