What feeders work best?

[Golden Gate Geckos]

We do have some very picky adults that will only eat crickets. I am just starting to try out the King Mealworms.

I feed primarily mealworms, but I do have some gecko species that only eat crickets. I also have 2 leopard geckos that would starve to death if they had to eat mealworms, so they get crickets, too. YUCK.

 

[supperl]

If you mainly / only feed mealies aren´t your geckos start to get fat? I used to feed them mainly to a MS male and he became that pockets behind his forelegs. I´m not 100% sure if it´s causes by fat or the calcium but I´m feeding him Crickets only now and the pockets start to get smaler(I would say they do but I´m not 100% sure)
I´ve seen extreme weights on young Geckos for example I bought a MSB from Sykes which is born on 25.07.07 and has already 40 gramms(the weight from around 2 weeks ago) and Marcia you have 2 1/2 month old on your page that are 30-40 gramms. I think you are offering 24/7 mealies to you Geckos right? But don´t you have the problem that they start to builde these pockets and become fat?

 

[Ccrashca069]

I feed my leopards meal worms and Phoenix worms. After about 2 months I offered them some crickets. The mealworms and Phoenix worms have more calcium and nutrition then just crickets. I must admit, I like watching them hunt those crickets

 

[KHGeckos]

i feed all my geckos mealworms only. i just aquired a gecko that was fed crickets before i believe, and im trying to switch her to mealies. so far so good, just have to get her eating out of a bowl now.

 

[mynewturtle]

Recently one of my geckos decided he doesn't want meal worms he wants the meal worm beetles... I only fed him 5 mealworm beetles dusted with d3 once a week and other then that always had mealies in his bowl.
So I think I'm going to order 500 crickets and slowly wean him off crickets and try to get him on ethier mealies or supers.

 

[Alusdra]

You don't have to free feed mealies. If the gecko is getting fat you can ration them to ~a couple a day. I mainly feed them because they're easy, I have the colony already, and I've been using them a long time with no problems. Well, and I'd never heard of other feeders but crickets before coming here and crickets would have gotten my geckos discovered in the dorm. Not to mention probably not allowed to live at home on vacations and kicked out of my condo.

 

[GoGo]

Super/King/King Meal Worms.

 

[Geico]

i heard silkies are the best??

actually i feed crickets since they are low in fat!

 

[scottd]

wow alot of cricket haters! i think most people use mealies cause they are lazy and cant provide the proper care that they need. although i wont lie after my collection started growing i use mealies more. but i still use both cause i think crickets are healthier they just require more care.

 

[mynewturtle]

Scottd,
What makes you think crickets take more care then mealworms? I produce around 6-8k mealies a month and 2.5k crickets a month and a find the care equal if anything mealies harder.

Cricket breeding:

Have a egg laying chamber.
Have vegies/dry gutload availble.
Transfer the chamber into a incubator set at 85F and replace it with a new one.

Mealworm beetle breeding:

Leave 1-2 egg cartons in the encloser. (optional IMO)
Have Vegies/gutload availbe.
Sift beetles once every week. (optional every week thats a liitle often but I like to do it this way)

Seems pretty similar don't you think?
I have never had a problem with mealies. I feed 6-9 large mealies each day to adults and no fat problems the look like normal leos. If you have about 16 mealies avaible at all times then you are right geckos will easily get fat. Feed in moderate amounts then I think mealies are much better.

Just my thoughts some may disagree but hey, we all have our own opinions.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Marcia you have 2 1/2 month old on your page that are 30-40 grams. I think you are offering 24/7 mealies to you Geckos right? But don't you have the problem that they start to build these pockets and become fat?

I have big, healthy geckos. I don't think they are fat, although I do have one female that is obese that only gets fed about 15-20 mealworms and/or crickets once a week. I do free-feed mealworms, and I don't have any geckos with fat pockets.

 

[scottd]

thanks for the extra input. i only have experience in upkeep. i think i had more crickets die than mealies even when guttloaded. then again that could be my supplier i guess. im going to start breeding the feeders soon though cause i plan on more geckos

 

[Isis]

I definately prefer roaches! A big, nice, dusted and gutloaded roach is the best And with a prisonlike tank there is no possibility of an escape. And they are a lot easier to keep than crickets.

 

[ReptileMan27]

Mealworms all the way for my leos anyway.. Use to feed them stupid crix but so glad I switched to mealies, so much easier then dumb crix. I still have buy crix for the tokay,AFT,and scorps but thats not to bad, would need thousands if I fed them to my leos..

 

[Alchemy]

I definately prefer roaches! A big, nice, dusted and gutloaded roach is the best And with a prisonlike tank there is no possibility of an escape. And they are a lot easier to keep than crickets.

And they don't stink like crickets do. I've got somewhere around 50+ adults (and uncountable number of young) hissing roaches in a giant tank which I've never been able to smell at all, even if I forget to clean it for awhile.

The crickets, on the other hand, stink to high heaven just one day after cleaning out their tanks!

Mealworms have less smell than crickets as well, but they just don't wiggle that well for baby geckos. :main_rolleyes:

 

[MHGeckos]

If you mainly / only feed mealies aren´t your geckos start to get fat? I used to feed them mainly to a MS male and he became that pockets behind his forelegs. I´m not 100% sure if it´s causes by fat or the calcium but I´m feeding him Crickets only now and the pockets start to get smaler(I would say they do but I´m not 100% sure)

I think those pockets are not from feeding mealworms. I feed my geckos mealworms mainly (24/7), ocassionally crickets and waxworms (mainly female during breeding season). Some of my geckos have those pockets, some don't. All are healthy. In my opinion geckos develop them from too much calcium/vitamin suplements.

I´ve seen extreme weights on young Geckos for example I bought a MSB from Sykes which is born on 25.07.07 and has already 40 gramms(the weight from around 2 weeks ago) and Marcia you have 2 1/2 month old on your page that are 30-40 gramms. I think you are offering 24/7 mealies to you Geckos right? But don´t you have the problem that they start to builde these pockets and become fat?

I don't think 6 months old gecko weighing 40 g is too heavy. Some of my breeders are 8-10 months old and weighs 50-70 g... and they are not FAT at all:main_thumbsup:

 

[thegeckoman86]

hey everyone,
what would i need to breed meal worms?also how do i breed them? i've never breed meal worms before.i'm getting tired of crickets escaping and wondering all over the house.

 

[Firewind]

For me, I like crickets best, we keep them in an extra 15 gallon aquarium with some egg cartons and lots of food. We have about 130 in there at a time we go through them pretty fast. How ever I don't get to choose only one feeder! Our Leo's are so dang picky! One of our adults (Grant) loves super worms, where Lin loves a mix of crickets, mealworms and superworms. Our two younger ones, love meal worms one day, and crickets the next and never seem to make up their minds. So I have to keep a full stock of all of the above! Gets expensive fast since we don't breed any yet.

 

[vctkiller]

i didnt choose cuz i love variety

 

[RepBex]

i feed mealworms and hoppers

i find that if i keep the mealworms in the fridge they last so much longer and when i keep them in a bowl they can help them selves when they are hungry