Meal worms

[macka]

I am about to become the owner of a southern spotted velvet gecko (thanks to geckodan). I have been trying to find information about caring for him and what to feed him.

Mum has bought some meal worms for me to use but my friend, who has a bearded dragon, was told by the man who sold it to him to never use meal worms because they will eat him from the inside out and kill him. Is this true?

Can someone out there tell me if meal worms are safe for geckos (or bearded dragons for my friend).

Also, if anyone can give me some info about caring for a southern spotted velvet gecko, please tell me.

Cheers,

Macka.

[SnakeWrangler]

I am feeding meal worms to my three hatchling eastern water dragons and they crush the head of the worm, I can't see it doing any eating once in the gut, besides, it would have to survive the acids in there, and I am sure it wouldn't last long enough to do any damage.

[ether]

never use meal worms because they will eat him from the inside out and kill him. Is this true?

There has been a few cases of this reported. It isnt very common and if you wish to stop this then you could just remove the head before feeding. The major problem with mealworms is the chitin, or the hard stuff around the body. This is bad because it is made up of rings which the animals find hard to digest properly and therefore can cause blockages. This isnt all that common either.

Mealworms should not really be used as a staple diet for lizards because of these reasons. But they are fine every few feeds. I feed them to my shinglebacks and they seem fine. They are also very easy to breed. if you want to keep your mealies for long periods of time put them in the fridge and they will keep longer.

Regards Alex

[macka]

Eeeeeek. It's straight out of an Alien movie! It's a good thing our yabbie has been enjoying them as I don't think I'll give them to the gecko.

Please, if anyone can find a care sheet for a southern spotted velvet gecko, let me know.

Thanks

Macka

[instar]

http://www.gekkota.com/html/oedura_tryoni.html


http://www.a1reptiles.com/austvelvetcare.html

[Bombie]

mealworm are fine as a food treat in moderation for beardies and other lizards.
you can use the worms that have just changed skin as they are a bit softer too eat, you can also use the middle stage of the growth cycle, which is a strange looking white worm/grub!
they are probably best avoided with smaller dragons, except as a treat on occasions though.

[macka]

My meal worms have now started turning into beetles. Can the beetles be fed to anything?

[Bombie]

dont worry about them turning into beetles. if you put some bran into the box and leave them alone they will easily breed and lay eggs!
in no time at allyou will have yourself a nice little colony of worms.
and it is fine to use them for dragons and geckos, just not as their staple food source. mix them with your fruit/veggies and other insects when you feed the lizards.

[Bouncer]

All my lizards get mealies. I use them to put vegies on, makes the vegies move and they eat em, lol.

[jezza]

We feed our beardies and central netted's meal worms, but not as a staple diet, they live mostly on woodies and grass hoppers! We have a 300mmx200mm plastic container into which we put about $15 worth of meal worm's. They are breading now and we haven't run out in 3 month's now, but as I said they only get a few each a week!

[hugsta]

I don't feed any of my hatchy dragons mealies, they can and will eat the insides out on a hatchling, it doesn't happen all the time but it can and will happen. I have seen it on several occasions with a mate of mine that also breeds beardies, he had no food other than mealies and lost three of them overnight. Not worth the risk IMO. They are fine with adults though.

They can also cause gut impaction as ether has said, just another reason not to risk it.

[macka]

Can I use the beetles as food? Wouldn't a wild lizard eat beetles?

[Magpie]

The beetles can be used as food.

[ether]

My mealies have finally had some little ones and it looks like i will have 100000's of them.