what to feed mealies

[lepgeckosrock]

I am trying to find out what to keep my mealies is as a food source.I had some of the stuff they come in but it got full of there shed so I took the mealies out and was told to use dry baby food but it only seemed to get on the mealies and all over my tanks and nowhere around here sells just the meal they come in.

 

[acpart]

The easiest thing to do is to grind up unsweetened cereal like oats. I and many others have had very good success with progeckos gutload (www.progeckos.com).

Aliza

 

[lepgeckosrock]

The only thing I have is Quaker oats will that work

 

[techgirl]

I use a mix of oatmeal baby cereal, wheat bran, and cricket food. Works for me. In tight times I use wheat flour.

 

[karls-geckos]

yes, quaker oats will work. ll i used was quaker oats in my first tank with pieces of potatoe and/or carrot and i allready have beetles
2 weeks ago i got 5k mealworms and i bought horse crimped oatsfrom a feed store cause its only 10 bucks for 50 pounds, i blended it up in a blender and those mealies are also growing and doing well

 

[Emu]

if you live in an are where it's available you can try to get some wheat bran or oats from livestock feed suppliers, i got a 50 LB bag for 8 bucks. you just want to make sure it isn't treated with anything that's going to hurt your bugs. although with people saying the mealworm shortage might be caused by something that's wrong with the grain, i'd be a little hesitant to recommend it at the moment. if you do ever use something you've bought at a livestock feed supply, it's a good idea to microwave it a bit first, in case there are grain mites or anything.

 

[GeckoGathering]

Gut Load Recipe

Here is a published vet recipe I keep around. I use some of these things with other food products that I now add to the mix. .
Dry mix
1 large box dry milk (8 quart size)
1 box rice baby cereal
8 oz. raw unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup of chaff from loose alfalfa or 3/4 cup alfalfa powder
1 1/2 cup fresh bee pollen
1/4 cup powdered spirulina or Klamath Lake algae
1/2 cup crushed fine quality monkey chow (not Purina)
1/4 cup dried sea kelp
*1/4 cup dried egg yolk (or add freshly cooked egg yolk to wet mix (see right)
1/2 cup mixed unsalted nuts
1/4 cup coconut
1/16 cup brewer;s yeast
1/8 cup dried dandelion flowers (optional)

The above should be pulverized using a food processor, blender, or coffee grinder. The texture should resemble a "chunky" powder.