Meal Worms or Super Worms?

[LepGeck]

I am a new owner of a baby leopard gecko and right now I have him on a diet of small crickets. But for when he gets larger (he's 2 1/2" now) do you think I should feed him meal worms or super worms? I am breeding crickets, and will start breeding mealworms or superworms depending on which you think I should feed it. Mealworms are alot easier to breed so i'm leaning more towards them but if superworms are worth the extra effort i'm fine with that as well.

So mealworms or superworms:main_huh:


Thanks for all the help

 

[LeoTheGodFather]

Superworms are usually used as more of a treat. They are kind of fatty. But to be honest...you could stop with the crix all together. They stink, don't live as long...and well...they STINK. Did I say that already?
Your gecko can go it's whole life on mealworms alone IF IT HAD TO. I don't feed mine crickets ever. She gets mealworms as her main food source. And every other day or so I give her 1 superworm. A little more than that lately because I'm trying to get her a bit bigger for possible breeding.

Anyways...if you are going to breed one over the other, breed the mealies, and just buy some superworms when you need them.

 

[Taquiq]

I prefer mealies and use them as a staple.
.

 

[gothra]

Variety is always good. I personally prefer to use crickets and roaches as staple, then all sort of worms (mealies, supers and silkworms) as treats.

 

[GrimmyX15]

i would say Mealworms. my leo loves them. But i feed my leo cricket sometimes. Not everyday. :}

Superworms are sometimes .. eh. bitey.

 

[sammer021486]

Been having trouble with Firefox dropping the connection while submitting a post, so multiple posts may appear.

It really depends on the gecko, some will not mealies and others will not eat supers. I have leos that only eat supers, 1 that only eats mealies, and another that will eat both.

If grubco is basing their nutrient results on a per worm basis then superworms do in fact have more fat at 18%, compared to 13% for mealies, but 1 super fills more then 1 mealie so the gecko would in fact be ingesting more fat by eating more mealies. Correct me if I am wrong, helps me learn.

As far as breeding the worms go, supers are more difficult but not impossible, I have one that is in its pupa form now and others hopefully making it there soon.

Mealworms are really easy, I got 1000 on Nov 19 and already I have had them turn to beetles, lay eggs, and now I have worms that are 1/4" already from those beetles.

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

i feed a staple of superworms and my leos love it and do well with it but variety is better. mealworms, crickets, and superworms, and roaches are all good for leos. just make sure all insects are gutloaded thats most important.

 

[Tony C]

Both, as your collection grows you will wind up with picky geckos that only like one or the other.

 

[Falcons]

I feed supers only and they went from 40 or so grams 15 nov 09.
To 70 grams for my male and 60 grams for my female. Weighed them yesterday.

So when your baby gets 5-6" I would start giving supers IMO.

 

[Landen]

In my opinion variety is best for your gecko. I personally feed mostly mealworms, several superworms a week to each, and twice a month I do crickets for about 3 days in a row. Also by starting your hatchlings on a variety diet, it'll help weed out most of the picky eaters as adults. At least it has for me.

 

[ElapidSVT]

i feed mostly supers tho some of the smaller hatchlings need mealies to start off.

 

[rubym]

I try a variety but I have several picky eaters. We have 2 that will only eat crix, 3 that eat only supers, a mealie only girl and one girl that will only eat silks. The rest eat a variety

 

[Shera]

Been having trouble with Firefox dropping the connection while submitting a post, so multiple posts may appear.

It really depends on the gecko, some will not mealies and others will not eat supers. I have leos that only eat supers, 1 that only eats mealies, and another that will eat both.

If grubco is basing their nutrient results on a per worm basis then superworms do in fact have more fat at 18%, compared to 13% for mealies, but 1 super fills more then 1 mealie so the gecko would in fact be ingesting more fat by eating more mealies. Correct me if I am wrong, helps me learn.

As far as breeding the worms go, supers are more difficult but not impossible, I have one that is in its pupa form now and others hopefully making it there soon.

Mealworms are really easy, I got 1000 on Nov 19 and already I have had them turn to beetles, lay eggs, and now I have worms that are 1/4" already from those beetles.

Correcting you If it was % of daily intake as you sometimes see on human nutritional information, then you would be right, but I assume it's % mass, so the percent stays the same even if the mass (or number of mealies) increases.

 

[adam&nikki]

i feed crickets and mealies

i find that yes crickets stink but if you put them in a well ventalated container and use clean egg creates then there is no smell mealworms are great aswell but i do like how a cricket makes my geckos move rater then lean over a bowl to get their food

 

[sammer021486]

Correcting you If it was % of daily intake as you sometimes see on human nutritional information, then you would be right, but I assume it's % mass, so the percent stays the same even if the mass (or number of mealies) increases.

Contacted grubco and their analysis is based on 100 gram samples. So that means what exactly for nutritional analysis and intake?

 

[Jheuloh]

Asides from the more complex care involved with super-worms, remember that they are blessed in the way of scaling walls, simply because of their size. Only matters if you use feeding dishes, however.

If they have neighbors to climb on, they can scale about 1.5 inches or so of plastic; it's a bit of a stretch, but they can do it, as I've observed.

Something to consider if you choose to breed superworms.