Waxworms, dead or alive?

[Pepper]

Okay, at our pet store here in lil ol' Fairbanks, we have wax worms. Now I know not to feed them but sparingly, probably once or twice a month.

Well, when I get them out of the fridge thing at the pet store, they "look" alive, although they aren't moving. They are a whitish cream color, but they are all squishy and icky.

I brought some home, and put them on the door of the refrigerator, but they never moved, or did anything so we brought them back.

Were they dead, or alive?

If they were dead, was it my fault?

If they were alive, I thought they were supposed to wiggle?! How do you wake them up?!

 

[Nigel4less]

Once WaxWorms turn Black they are dead... If they are white they should be alive and well just give them a day or so to adjust to temperatures before you feed them.

 

[Pepper]

Even if they aren't wiggling?

We had them for over a week and they never "woke up" like mealies do, or started wiggling at all..

 

[rawson5084]

I have noticed that the temp in the fridge makes a difference. Because I was buying mine from one guy that has his fridge really really cold (he has the waxworms in with the sodas) and I could leave them out of the fridge all day and they barely move. But I started buying them from another guy that keeps them with night crawlers (at a lower temp in the fridge) and half way home all you see is movement from the worms. I keep a mini fridge in my snake and frog room just to keep my animals food in and a few sodas for me lol but I keep the temp in my mini fridge at 45*

 

[nats]

It takes several minutes after taking them out of the refrigerator
before they start to move.
Do not store them lower than about 42F or they will die.

 

[Pepper]

They are kept in the same fridge section as meal worms and earthworms..
Well I stored them on the door of our refrigerator, then when I wanted one I put one in a bowl for like 10 or 15 minutes..but it still stayed non moving and white.

 

[nats]

If you guys have a spare small refrigerator, like one of those
"under the counter" types, you can put a digital thermometer in
it and adjust the temp however you want.
This is what I do, and it keeps my feeder worms a nice 48F :main_thumbsup:

I actually bought mine for under $100.00 at Home Depot, and its crammed
full of worms and beer!

 

[bubblez825]

I've learned(personal experience) that they stay alive longer OUT of the fridge and in nice and healthy gutload. I leave mine out and never put them back in the fridge.

white=alive
black=dead

 

[rawson5084]

this what I got from another site......

When you receive your Waxworms, you should immediately remove the lids and allow any condensation that has formed during shipment to dissipate prior to storage. Lids must be replaced, as Waxworms can climb both plastic and glass and will escape.

If maintained in the cups in which they are sold at a temperature of 65-70 degrees F, they will live for approximately 5 weeks. If refrigerated, Waxworms can be expected to live for 3+ weeks if the following directions are followed.

If you choose to refrigerate your Waxworms, do not take their container out of the refrigerator for any longer than the time necessary to pick the number that you wish to use. Condensation will form on the worms and in the cup, causing your Waxworms to die.

Do not feed your Waxworms. They will not eat if food is offered while in their cups with bedding and the food will only mold and shorten their life span.

 

[minitrent]

Little off topic but i thought you are not supposed to feed wax worms to your leopard geckos because they are high in fat and have little nutrition. I feed my leos a mixture of crickets, meal worms and superworms.

Pat

 

[rawson5084]

Little off topic but i thought you are not supposed to feed wax worms to your leopard geckos because they are high in fat and have little nutrition. I feed my leos a mixture of crickets, meal worms and superworms.

Pat

I believe you can give a little bit of waxworm a month as a treat

 

[nats]

Little off topic but i thought you are not supposed to feed wax worms to your leopard geckos because they are high in fat and have little nutrition. I feed my leos a mixture of crickets, meal worms and superworms.

Pat

Waxies are everything you mentioned but they do make wonderful
occasional treats. They are very useful for new arrivals that are stressed
and not interested in food, and to "fatten up" skinny geckos.

When mine are good boys and girls, they get a few waxies for dessert
(not more than twice a week).

 

[Spooki]

cold waxworms take forever to "wake up" and wiggle. when i go to feed them at the store i just stick them in dishes and let them warm up first. even when the don't move most of the animals don't seem to have any issues, they gobble them up.

 

[cheeseball705]

i worked in a bait store for yrs and we keep our waxies in same fridge as the rest of the worms and bait. they can be kept at room temp as we did that as well just as you find ones that are turning black remove them. but what i will often do is keep the container in the fridge (depending on amount most bait shops cup at 2 dz or the 250 ct.) and take out how ever many i need let them warm up some and then put them in for my geckos. usually a 2 dz cup will be good enough unless you have a wrack full lol.

 

[nats]

cold waxworms take forever to "wake up" and wiggle. when i go to feed them at the store i just stick them in dishes and let them warm up first. even when the don't move most of the animals don't seem to have any issues, they gobble them up.

They warm up much quicker if you put them in your hand.

 

[Snowy & Petra de Gecko]

You need

You need to have a tiny little alarm clock set next to the Waxie Container.:main_yes:

Then once the alarm clock goes off the Waxies will wake up.:main_thumbsup:

I couldn't help myself.

All the advice sounds good and you can feed your Leos Waxies a couple of times a week if you want. But, make sure that the temps are ok and that your Leo is active.

 

[Scoots85]

How old should a gecko be before I can feed her waxies? Mine is coming on 7 months now and I want to get her a few as a gift/treat.

Also, same question but with superworms: How old before I can feed her superworms?

Thanks!

 

[Pepper]

Well these weren't for my Leo, he doesn't really have an appetite for unmoving things.

But my baby, turning into juvenile tiger salamander will eat anything I put in front of him.

So I thought they'd be a nice treat.

 

[Spooki]

They warm up much quicker if you put them in your hand.

it's really not an option to hold enough waxies to feed 10 or so reptiles while trying to cut up veggies for birds and small animals and prepare fish food. :|