Mealworms or Crickets?

[Crewdog00]

Staples/Nutrition Facts

I have read multiple sites saying Mealworms and Crickets are both staple food for Leopard Geckos.

Only a few sources said Mealworms were treats. Wax worms/silkworms are fatty, and should be used rarely, aka "treat".

 

[Kaila]

I feed my gecko only mealworms.

 

[Crewdog00]

I'm on supers, mealies and crickets. Odd though the mealies I got seem huge for "medium" about an inch. Same size of her entire head and she ate 5.

I was shocked.

 

[geckos galore]

Which do you feed your Leo on?

I've fed mines a staple diet of super worms for the last 10 months..with crickets, Mealworms, and wax worms occasionally..I don't like to give crickets that often because I've read the carry parasites in their abdomen

 

[Crewdog00]

Interesting....
http://www.geckodan.com/articles/Pros and Cons of Mealworms.pdf

 

[Crewdog00]

Just tried feeding mealworms and my leopard gecko Annie only ate 2 but when I put in 5 crickets she ate 3 immediately. Guess she knows what she wants. Super smart and lazy she wait for the cricket to walk right up to her mouth haha

 

[Indigo]

I usually use mealies. Sometimes I'll throw in some silkies or a couple of waxies as a treat. I used to use crickets but they stank. Mealies are much easier imo.

 

[Crewdog00]

New feeding schedule...mealies every day and once Every two weeks I will get 36 large fresh crickets to feed once or twice a week. Crickets make her poop runny.

 

[Jordycakes]

I use mealworms for four of my geckos but i have one gecko that wont eat them at all so shes on crickets which smell =/ good job i got a spare room!

 

[CNest]

Crickets stink. So I used mealies as a staple with crickets once in a while. So long as I didn't have to keep them hahaha. But I also used phoenix worms along with the mealies. Wax worms were maybe once a month?

 

[JM_Daniels]

Crickets are more fun for the gecko to chase after. Some geckos are lazier than others and won't want to chase crickets after they've been spoiled with worms, but otherwise it's entertaining to watch and better for the gecko to get a little exercise.

 

[steve_gecko23]

Both : ) along with other feeders.. Zumi is a spoiled girl and gets a variety of feeders.. Roaches, tomato horn worms, butter worms, meal worms, giant meal worms, supper worms, wax worms,

my adult male wont eat anything other then cricckets i put mealworms right in front of hime and he wont even glance at it but the minute he hears crickets dropping in his tank hes out and hunting

 

[Russellm0704]

my adult male wont eat anything other then cricckets i put mealworms right in front of hime and he wont even glance at it but the minute he hears crickets dropping in his tank hes out and hunting

This isn't a bad thig because crickets are more nutritious than mealies and supers. Of course, variety is the best choice. I personally belieive that a gecko will never starve from havng a full bowl of supers in his enclosure.

 

[razorgecko1982]

crickets seems to sustain my geckos better than meal worms. I think that even though crickets are more expensive they are more filling than meal worms for my geckos.

 

[Ozy]

I feed my leo Dubia Roaches as a staple. She gets mealworms from time to time as a treat.

 

[Rainnovice93]

I do crickets and mealworms ..Everyone said crickets smell bad but mine don't. I keep them on rolled oats & have the flukers water gel & the food stuff (forgot the name) and Every other day i go threw and get the dead crickets out with some tweezers....Some days mine only eat the mealworms some days they want the crickets more..i guess it depends how lazy they are lol since the crickets run

 

[Kylerbassman]

There is a lot of bad info out there. Supers are actually a really good feeder for adult geckos. I shake them up real good in Repashy calcium plus to stun them. Also I pinch there heads a bit before feeding. They have better nutritional value than mealworms and only need to eat 2-4 supers a feeding versus say a dozen mealies. You really need to watch crickets as they can carry parasites/disease. You need to know what good and bad crickets are. I saw on another forum quite a write up on recent horror stories of certain crickets being sold that are not good. Look into it for yourself. The forum I got it from I trust 100 percent. Dubias are great too but hard to find in certain areas and they are a bit more expensive. I would show you the sources, but I'm trying to find them without linking you to another forum.

 

[B&B Geckos]

Dubia are most nutritious; more meat, calcium, protein and a longer digestive tract to load. However, these two choices have respective pros and cons. I don't feed crickets to avoid pin worm infections, besides they stink.

 

[Kylerbassman]

If Dubias would be more readily available for me, I would use them more so. Supers are easy to find near me along with crickets and mealworms. I just don't like crickets and have heard enough to scare me away from them. Mealies aren't bad, but they take more to keep than supers and like I said, nutritional value is better with supers than mealies.

 

[halffrozen]

Some great info in this thread.

Thanks guys for all of your suggestions based on experience.

I have looked to see what is readily available near me and have found that virtually everything possible, is. lol lucky me