I've never heard anyone suggest mealworms as a staple, but have heard many suggest avoiding mealworms altogether. On the other hand, I have heard of some people using kingworms as a near staple. I dont recommend that myself. I dont recommend any one feeder be a staple.
I feed mealworms to my chameleons about once a week or less. Usually only one or two mealworms to each chameleon. I look for recently molted worms, soft and white, their chinton not yet hardened. You can gut load mealworms to some extent. But even so, they are not the best feeder option. I only use them because I like variety in the cham diet and because I have plenty of mealworms on hand (I breed them because my frogs and fish like to eat them and because its too easy not to). Often the day my chams get a couple mealworms they are also getting a couple crickets, and/or a roach, or other, so the mealworms are pretty much like a treat.
Superworms, aka Kingworms, are easier to gutload, and though their skins look similar to mealworms, apparently superworms are easier to digest. I offer superworms twice a week. Again I look for recently molted ones if possible, but I dont worry about it if they're not.
I've never had an impaction problem. But I also dont tend to offer the same feeder twice in a row and I think the variety is likely good for digestion systems, as well as keeping chameleon interest and ensuring better nutrition.
I prefer silkworms to kingworms and mealworms. I prefer kingworms to mealworms. I also like to include hornworms and butterworms on the menu, and occasionally waxworms (on their birthdays
) and cabbage moth larva.
P.S. I heard if you're buying mealworms you have to be careful. Something about inbreeding the beetles and possibly melamine in chicken feed or pesticides on the bran used to feed the worms causing issues with geckos. I may be totally wrong on this. Just something i heard.
