Waxworms and mealworms for ill gecko ?

[SenSx]

Hello,

I have 2/3 years old leopard gecko (Mack Snow).
Unfortunately he has crypto, but it is dormant, so I don't plan to euthanize him just yet.
He used to eat 5 crickets peer week, but slowly stopped eating them, and now there is no way to make him eat hem.
He has lost weight (8 gramms in 2,5 months), his tail is a bit thin now.

So I tried to give him wax worm, and he loves them.
It seems it has given him the desire to eat mealworms again too (he never ate them before).
I know those two type of worms are not the best, but it seems I don't have other choices.
I don't want to but cockroaches because I am afraid of spreading in the house.
Even if there is no risk with dubias, I m forbidden to bring any in the house anyway.
I could try locusts, but I'm afraid they could harm my gecko with their legs, and I find it a bit disgusting and cruel to remove them.

So is it ok to give mealworm, and temporary waxworm as a threat untill he gain some weight back ?
I don't know what quantity and frequency for those foods.
At the moment I feed him : about 10 mealworm, nothing the day after (to give him the minimum time to digest), 3 waxworm the day after, nothing the day after, and about 10 mealworm again the day after and so on...
So he eats waxworms 2 times a week.
I know it is unhealthy, but he seems to need it right now.
What about mealworms ? I know they can cause impaction because of chitine.
Last time he ate 16 of them ! I should have stopped before but I never saw eat so much and I was happy....plus they are very small at the moment, I just bought them.
I gut load the mealworms with fresh vegetables 48hrs before giving them to my gecko.

Thx for any advice

 

[cowana]

Actually, a lot of people raise their geckos solely on mealworms. If he is willing to eat them then go with it! Like crickets as long as they are properly gut loaded and dusted then they are a fine food source.

I gut load mine by keeping them on a mix of baby cereals... oatmeal, rice, multigrain that have fruits and veggies mixed in the cereal. Then I add fresh fruits and veggies for hydration and a boost right before feeding (24 hours).

The waxworms are good to encourage eating and weight gain, but can be addictive and turn them off other foods if fed too much. So be careful how often you feed and how much. If he is eating mealies well I would try to cut out that waxworms completely or feed very few of them.

Hope this helps!

Amy

 

[SenSx]

OK thx
Eating waxworm does not prevent him from liking mealiworms it seems, so I'll continue for the moment, untill he gains more weight back.
I 'am still feeding the crickets every other day with fresh vegetables and proteins, even though he does not want to eat them anymore.
I'll try again later, maybe eating them too often got him bored.

 

[cowana]

Sometimes, Leos one day will decide they are just tired of eating one type of food. I guess if I had to eat steak everyday (even though I LOVE steak) I would eventually get burnt out on it, too. haha After a break from crickets for a while he may be ready for them again, if not mealworms are fine. Mine will eat anywhere from 10-15 per feeding typically, so his 16 wasn't outrageous.

Amy

 

[SenSx]

Ok cool thx
I'll give him 10-15 then.